《世说新语》非小说论

“Shi Shuo Xin Yu" should not be taken as a novel

虚构性和自觉的创作意识是判断是不是小说的两条重要标准。唐以前的作家缺乏自觉的创作意识 ,不能自觉地进行艺术虚构 ,因此 ,唐以前无真正意义上的小说。从创作目的上看 ,刘义庆等人编撰《世说新语》的目的 ,是为想当官的人提供敲门砖 ,他们提供的参考资料必须准确真实 ;从写作手法上看 ,刘义庆等人摒弃虚构 ,采用“实录”手法记述当时社会上层中流传的名人逸事 ,嘉言隽语 ,具有极高的史料价值 ;从社会效果上看 ,《世说新语》所记皆实 ,为唐人修《晋书》大量采用。这些都说明 ,《世说新语》不是小说 。

Fabrication and conscientious creating consciousness are the two criterions for judging a literature work to be a novel. Writers before the Tang dynasty lacked these features and failed in artistic fabrication. So it is concluded that there was no real novel at that time. In terms of purpose, “Shi Shuo Xin Yu” was aimed to provide a guide for those who wished to enter the official circle, so the content in the book might not be true. In terms of writing technique, LI Yiqing, the writer, abandoned fabrication, instead, he used the technique of “facts recording” to write anecdotes of those high-rank people. Together with its beautiful language, the book has a high value as a historical document. In terms of social effect, the book provided many true stories which were adopted in “Jin Book' written by Tang Renxiu. All the above facts prove that”Shi Shuo Xin Yu' should be taken as a historical stories collection rather than a novel.