尼伯龙根神话:黑格尔的误读与瓦格纳的扭曲——兼论西格弗里的形象在德国文化中的异变

Hegel's Misunderstanding and Wagner's Transfiguring on Nibelungenlied

黑格尔反感《尼伯龙根之歌》原因有两个 :一是他认为诗史没能展现一个真实可感的社会环境 ,因而不符合他的史诗理念 ;二是他误解西格弗里的原始英雄特性 ,他从自己的美学观出发 ,拒斥人物身上的怪诞特征。但黑格尔对《尼伯龙根之歌》的反感还有内容方面的原因。史诗中的原始英雄西格弗里的性格有着相当严重的自身缺陷 ,因而无法成为德国民族正面的英雄形象。西格弗里的形象在瓦格纳的《尼伯龙根的指环》中被重塑为一个激情的浪漫主义英雄 ,但瓦格纳又赋予他毁灭一切的意志力量 ,使他看起来更像《尼伯龙根之歌》中铁血般冷酷的哈根。瓦格纳对西格弗里的改造迎合了特定时代的德国青年的英雄崇拜心理 ,但它所带来的狂热激情却是有害的 。

This essay tried to observe firstly Hegel's criticizing on the epic Nibelungenlied and its hero Siegfried. It thought that, Hegel's disagreement with the epic may come from a contradictory between the works itself and Hegel's concept of the form of epics. Then it observed Wagner's comments on the same mythology in Der Ring des Nibelungen, which was certainly an extreme transfiguring of the same hero. It was evident that both Hegel and Wagner have distorted the original image of the hero. In the observation of the epic itself, this essay found out more complicated characteristics of the heroes: an outstanding but childish Siegfried and a humble but truly heroic Hagen. However, neither of them could be proper enough for the ideal German hero until Wagner transfigured Siegfried. What the essay suggests here was that Wagner may have conferred Hagen's character unconsciously into the ideal hero Siegfried, and, as a result, it contributed to the German youth an idol, who desired either the absolute realization of his own will, or the absolute destruction of everything. Wagner was strongly criticized by Nietzsche, which represented the self-criticism of the nation's conscience.