“真实故事”的虚构与阅读——评蒂姆·奥布赖恩的《怎样讲述真实的战争故事》

On Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story"

本文主要讨论美国当代小说家蒂姆.奥布赖恩的《怎样讲述真实的战争故事》的叙述特色。通过采用对同一事件的不同叙述、叠套叙事以及介入故事的作者评论,作者将"故事"及其虚构过程同时呈现给读者,以此提醒读者对故事表面宣称的"真实"、"道德"予以怀疑。换言之,通过将"怎样讲述真实的战争故事"有效地转变为"怎样解读真实的战争故事",故事叙述者颇具悖论意味地向读者揭示了"故事"本身包含的一种抵抗的阅读立场,即,对于任何一个声称"真实的战争故事"及其相关的道德说教,我们都应该予以警惕。

This paper explores the relationship between the process of constructing a 'story' and its explicit 'counter-story' by revealing the process of making up a story as such.By using Tim O'Brien's 'How to Tell a True War Story' as an exemplary text in this respect,the present discussion analyzes how narrative techniques such as different retrospective reconstructions of the same event,narrative embedding,and authorial intrusive comments function as counter-techniques that subvert the 'true war story' as is ironically described in the title of the story.