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汪曾祺小说文艺民俗审美研究

Studies on the Aesthetics of Literary Folklore an Analysis of Wang Zengqi’s Novels

【作者】 霍九仓

【导师】 陈勤建;

【作者基本信息】 华东师范大学 , 文艺民俗学, 2014, 博士

【摘要】 20世纪80年代,社会生活发生了天翻地覆的变化,文学也随之进入了崭新时期,文艺理论界开始百家争鸣,“为政治服务”的“宪法性”口号遭到普遍唾弃,文学审美特性的研究、主体性的研究、文学语言的研究先后登场。期间,文艺民俗批评也竖起了理论大旗,旨在以民俗文化的新视野进行文艺理论架构,以拓宽文艺批评新路子、新方法。汪曾祺小说一直被学界称为“风俗画”小说,汪曾祺本人也常有一些关于民俗与文学的言论。然而,对汪曾祺小说的研究,虽然多数论者注意到了“风俗画”特征,却还没人正式提出过文艺民俗的研究视角,更没有就这一视角进行过系统的、深入的研究。本文拟从文艺民俗学的角度对汪曾祺小说进行系统的、全面的研究,把文艺学、美学和民俗学有机结合起来,通过文艺民俗批评,以阐释汪曾祺小说独特的审美特性,并揭示其小说在创作、欣赏中所蕴含的民俗机制,更清楚地了解其作品的社会底蕴和文化密码。论文一共分六章。第一章为作家研究,主要从汪曾祺对日常生活的审美观照、对乡土风情的醉心描绘以及对民间人物的诗意刻画等几个方面,研究汪曾祺小说创作的民间审美立场。汪曾祺自称是一个“生活现象的美食家”,道出了他的艺术精神之所在。他倾心于日常生活现象,关注现象的审美意义。他对生活的欣赏态度、对作品的审美把握、对作家的责任要求,都可见出其“日常生活审美化”的立场。汪曾祺长期生活于民间,对乡土风情更是情有独钟,他不惜笔墨,甚至可以连篇累牍地叙述当地的民俗风情,把民风俗韵纳入自己的审美视野,谱写了一曲曲风景美、风俗美、人情美的赞歌,给读者带来特殊的审美享受。汪曾祺笔下多为凡夫俗子、贩夫走卒、引车卖浆之流,极少知识分子和官场人物,着意于表现普通人物身上的美和诗意。第二章为作品研究,主要研究汪曾祺小说的民俗文艺叙事模式。现实主义小说理论强调三要素,即人物、故事情节和环境,汪曾祺一心突破三要素的限制,提倡小说的诗化、散文化,被论者称为“诗体小说”、“笔记体小说”,甚至归入现代主义行列,认为其消解了人物塑造和情节构建。其实汪曾祺为了拓展小说的表现领域,喜欢尝试不同的叙事手段,他的叙事更接近于民俗文艺的特点,特别是民间文学作品,三要素往往只突出一个方面,要么写人物,要么写故事,汪曾祺小说也多如此,要么以塑造人物为主,要么以讲述故事为主,要么以描绘风俗为主,当然也不缺乏三要素共存的情况。第三章为作品研究,主要探讨汪曾祺小说的文艺民俗审美范畴,对其作品中的民俗意象、民俗意境、民俗情节和冲突做了全方位的考察。长期积淀而成的民俗事象,作为意象引用到文艺作品中,即成为民俗意象。汪曾祺小说中,既有点缀于其间的单个民俗意象,也有贯穿于整篇小说的整体民俗意象,从人物的姓名称谓、肖像描写、性格刻画等方面,参与人物形象的塑造。民俗意境指因作品中民俗事象的感发,读者和作品中的场景发生了共鸣,从而产生了一种强烈的情感体验。汪曾祺小说诗化、留白技法的应用,创造出了特有的民俗意境,吸引和感动着多数读者。汪曾祺小说中描写了大量民俗事件,有时作为情节的一环,有时成为情节链上的核心因素,有时即是情节的基本环节和根本骨架。汪曾祺小说表面看缺少“戏”味,但深层里却隐含着丰富的民俗冲突,他善于选择民俗文化作为素材,用经济的笔墨构建民俗冲突,小说故事性虽然不足,但直指深层的文化意蕴,涉及丰富的历史内涵,更易激起读者心灵的隐痛,引发对人生、社会、文化的深度思索。第四章为比较研究,通过作家作品比较探讨汪曾祺小说的审美风格。在对待民俗生活上,鲁迅为了“揭示病苦,引起疗救的注意”,采取批判的态度,而汪曾祺认为小说“作用是滋润,而不是治疗”,则采取欣赏的视角,鲁迅批判的是传统文化中落后、愚昧、腐朽的一面,汪曾祺赞扬的是传统文化中进步、光明、优秀的一面,殊途同归,都是为了革除假恶丑的弊病,弘扬真善美的精神。汪曾祺的小说追求和谐,赵树理的小说要解决问题,在对民俗素材的处理上,汪曾祺以和谐着眼,以俗自乐,而赵树理关注的是民俗与新时期政策的冲突,与现代文明的对立。同是以日常生活为描绘对象,汪曾祺化俗为雅,处处散发着淡淡墨香,飘逸着文人雅趣,有些新写实小说则以俗写俗,粗俗的语言随处可见、丑陋的场景充斥作品。读汪曾祺的小说,如沐春风,暖意融融,而寻根文学中有些作品因对陋俗的描绘过分渲染和夸大,甚至血淋淋的展示,令读者惊骇、颤栗、寒心。第五章为创作研究,主要考察从生活中的原生态民俗到作品中的文艺民俗,汪曾祺所进行的整合与构建。汪曾祺小说通过人生与民俗文化的融合,描绘出了人与自然、人与人、人与社会的和谐,演绎出了优美和丰富的人性,体现了儒家仁者爱人的人文精神。汪曾祺强调“春秋笔法”,倾向性多潜伏于字里行间,他以真挚的情感,描绘了民俗生活内在的欢乐、淡淡的忧伤,以及对命运无可奈何时发出的带有苦味的嘲谑。汪曾祺的文艺民俗内容是经过审美选择和全新创化的,他倾向于感性主义伦理,尊重自然生命的元气,使民俗文化审美内涵得以丰富和扩展。第六章为意义研究,主要探讨汪曾祺民俗审美理论和创作的影响和意义。汪曾祺小说以1980年代作品为主力,其审美思想既是对二、三十年代乡土小说的继承,也是其综合传统儒释道思想以及西方现代主义,而对民间生活的重新解读。在80年代初期伤痕、反思文学大行其道时,汪曾祺小说只能算作文学殿堂一抹别样的色彩,日后寻根文学的蓬勃发展,无疑又受到汪曾祺开路先锋般的实践指引。而在学界大谈现代性、后现代性的今天,对传统民俗生活的审美关怀也应该有一席之地,聊为现代人提供一个心灵栖息的家园,进而为和谐社会的建设提供支撑。

【Abstract】 Social life in China has experienced an unprecedented transformation since the1980s. Chinese literature has also entered a new development phase. Different Literature theories have begun contending. The former principle of "literature should serve for politics" faded away. Studies on the nature of literature aesthetics, subjectivity, and literary language have sprung up. Folklore critics introduce the framework of folk culture as a new method into literature criticism.Wang Zengqi’s novels has been considered as a genre of "folklore painting". Wang Zengqi once made comments about folklore and literature. Many scholars have noticed the characteristics of "folklore painting" in Wang Zengqi’s novel. However, very few have conducted a systematic and in-depth research from the perspective of literary folklore.The thesis conducts a systematic and comprehensive analysis of Wang Zengqi’s novels from the perspective of literary folklore. The thesis draws theories from literature and arts, aesthetics and folklores to interpret the unique aesthetic features in Wang Zengqi’s novels and to reveal the folklore mechanism underlying his novel writing and to explain the social meaning and cultural gene in his novels.The thesis is composed of six chapters.Chapter1studies the writer himself from three aspects:the aestheticization of everyday life, the aestheticization of folklore customs and the focus on ordinary people, which clearly show the position of the folk aesthetics in his writing. Wang Zengqi claimed to be a " life phenomenon gourmet ", revealing where his arts spirit lies.He paid attention to everyday life and its aesthetic significance. His position of "the aestheticization of everyday life" is revealed in his appreciation of life, the aesthetic grasp in his works, and his responsibility requirement on writers. Wang Zengqi had lived in the countryside for a long time and he had a soft spot for the folklore customs. He spared no ink to describe the local customs at a great length. He rhymed the local customs into his writing and wrote an ode to the beauty of scenery, customs and human relations, giving readers a special aesthetic enjoyment. The characters in his novels are mainly ordinary people, such as peddlers and porters; while elite figures such as intellectuals and officials are rarely seen. Wang Zengqi was trying to show the beauty and poetry within the ordinary people.Chapter2analyzes the narrative pattern of literary folklore in Wang Zengqi’s novels. Realist novel theory often emphasizes three elements, namely, characters, plot and the environment. But Wang Zengqi attempted to break through the restriction of these three elements. He advocated the poetization and prosification of novels. Thus commentators label it as "verse novel" or "note-taking styled novel". Some even classify it as a modernism since it dissolves the characterization and plot construction. As a matter of fact, Wang Zengqi often tried different ways of narrative to expand the scope of novels. His narrative was much closer to the folk literature. Especially the local folk literature tends to focus on only one element, either characters or plot. Wang Zengqi’s novels are much the same. Some of his novels focus on building characters, some focus on story-telling, and some focus on describing the folk environment. Of course, there are also novels where all the three elements coexist.Chapter3discusses the folklore aesthetics of Wang Zengqi’s novels. More specifically, the folklore imagery, artistic conception, plot and conflict in his novels are analyzed.When a longstanding folk custom is introduced to the literary work as imagery, it becomes folklore imagery. Both single and whole folklore imagery can be found in Wang Zengqi’s novels, contributing to the shaping of characters from names and portrait description. Artistic conception refers to the intense emotion experiences that readers have when they resonate with the folklore scenes in the novels. The poetization and blank technique in Wang Zengqi’s novels create a special artistic conception of folklore, which moves many readers. Wang Zengqi described a lot of folklore events, which sometimes served as part of the plot, sometimes the core element of the plot chain, and sometimes the basic framework. Wang Zengqi’s novels seem to lack of "drama", but deep down they contain rich folklore conflicts. He is good at treating folklore culture as basic materials and constructing conflicts with a few words. Plot might not be his strength. But he goes deep into the cultural meaning and carries rich historical implications, which easily penetrates the mind of readers and triggers their thoughts over life, society and culture.Chapter4conducts a comparative study to discuss the aesthetic style of Wang Zengqi’s novels.In terms of the attitude towards folk life, Luxun adopted a critical view and disclosed the pain and agony in order to draw the public’s attention; while Wang Zengqi adopted an attitude of appreciation because he believed that the role of novel lies in "moisture" rather than "cure". Lu Xun critized the backwardness, ignorance, and decadence in the traditional culture; while Wang Zengqi focused on the the progressive, bright and good side of traditional culture. They are the two sides of the same coin. The purpose is to get rid of the fake, the evil and the ugly ills and to promote the true, the good, and the beautiful spirit. Wang Zengqi’s novels are to pursue harmony; while Zhao Shuli’s novels are to solve problems. In terms of the treatment of folklore materials, Wang Zengqi kept harmony in mind and enjoyed the common things; while Zhao Shuli concerned the conflict between the folklore and the policy of the new era, and the contrast between folklore and modern civilization. When treating the everyday life as object, Wang Zengqi could turn vulgar into elegant. Readers can smell the scent of ink and appreciate the beauty of his works. While the new realistic novels use vulgar language to describe the ugly scenes. Reading Wang Zengqi’s novel is like bathing in the warm spring breeze. While the exaggerated and even graphic depiction of the new realistic novels makes readers frightened, shivered and chilled.Chapter5examines the creation of Wang Zengqi’s novels, mainly focusing on how Wang Zengqi integrated the original folklore into the literary folklore in his works. His novels depicts the harmony between man and nature, man and man, man and society through the integration of life and folklore culture. His novels show the beautiful and rich human nature and the Confucian benevolent love. Wang Zengqi emphasized on " Spring and Autumn Annals " and his opinions often hid between the lines. He sincerely depicted the inner joy of folk life with a touch of sadness. He also teased the fate with a bit bitterness. The content of literary folklore in Wang Zengqi’s novels is the result of aesthetic choice and recreation. He is inclined to sensibilitism and respects the vitality of natural life and enriches the aesthetic connotation of literary folklore.Chapter6assesses the impacts and significance of Wang Zengqi’s aesthetic theory of folklore and his writing. Wang Zengqi’s novels were mainly written in the1980s. His aesthetic thoughts were not only influenced by the rural novels of the1920s and1930s, but also integrated the traditional Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and western modernism. He reinterpretated the folk life. His novels stood as an alternative in the1980s when the scar and introspection Literature dominated. Undoubtedly the emergence of root literature in later years were guided by the pioneer works of Wang Zengqi. Today, literature criticism is flooded with modernity and post-modernity. But there should be a place for the aesthetic concern of traditional folk life, which might serve as the spirit home for people and support the construction of a harmonious society.

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