言意之辨:关于文学语言的困惑与超越

Argumentation on Words and Meaning: about the Bewilderment and Transcendence in Literary Language

老庄学派的“言不尽意”说,原本是哲学命题。它所关注的是人能否正确地认识客观世界,人的思维内容能否用语言来作最准确得当的描述。延伸到文学领域,则是作者、鉴赏者的语言究竟能否准确地达意。尽管人们越来越娴熟地运用创造着语言,同时却也为语言深深迷困。那就是:言不尽意。老庄的这一学说深深影响了中国历代文学批评及创作,同时也隐含着文学作为一门依托于语言文字的艺术门类的特殊的困惑。

The theory of ＂words cannot convey all the meaning＂ by Zhuangzi school used to be a philosophical proposition, tt concems whether man can properly understand the objective world, and whether man＇s thoughts can be described accurately and appropriately by words. In literature, it means whether the words of the author and the reader can nicely convey the meaning. Although man is more and more adept in using and creating words, he is still bewildered by them. Namely, words cannot convey all the meaning. This theory has deeply influenced the literary criticizing and writing in Chinese history, moreover it reveals the special bewilderment of literature which is a category of art relying on words.