空间形式:现代小说的叙事结构

Spatial Form: The Narrative Structure of Modern Novels

长期以来,叙事学理论对时间问题关注较多,对空间问题着力甚少。在关于现代小说叙事结构“空间形式”的探讨中,其“空间”非指日常生活经验中具体的物件或场所,而是一种抽象空间、知觉空间、“虚幻空间”。只有在完全弄清楚了小说的时间线索,并对整部小说的结构有了整体的把握之后,这种“空间”才能在读者的意识中呈现出来。构成现代小说空间形式的要件是时间,或者说时间系列。小说的空间形式必须建立在时间逻辑的基础上,才能建立起叙事的秩序;只有“时间性”与“空间性”的创造性结合,才是创作伟大小说的条件,也是未来小说发展的趋势所在。

For a long time narratological theories have focused on temporal problems rather than spatial problems. In the discussion of “spatial form” of the narrative structures in modern novels, “space” refers to an abstract, conceptual and virtual space rather than some concrete thing or space. Only through an understanding of the time sequence and the structure of the whole novel can this “space” be understood by the readers. The key element of constructing the spatial form of modern novels is “time” or “time series”, and the logic time is the basis for the narrative order. The creative combination of time and space is the condition for creating great novels and also the trend of development of novels in future.