论金圣叹之“草蛇灰线法”

ON JIN SHENGTAN'S LITERRARY CRITICISM TECHNIQUE: GRASS SNAKE AND ASH THREAD

金圣叹在评点《水浒传》时总结出了"草蛇灰线法",这种技法经常被明清小说评点家用来点评作品,直到今天人们对这种技法都有自觉的运用。但对它,现代人却有很多误解。笔者通过对草蛇灰线法进行具体文本语境分析,结合金圣叹取喻的"草蛇"与"灰线",对该技法进行阐释:草蛇灰线法是中国特有的印象式批评的一种体现,是用草中之蛇的变化不定,和手抓灰烬画线的时有时无来比喻,着眼于层次与层次或段落与段落的为文章法,是在叙事性文学作品中,作者常有意识地对物件、状态、时间、细节作形式的反复以此来充当某一情节的贯穿线,但每一种重复都表征着内涵的差别,言说着情节的发展。

When commenting on Outlaws of the Marsh, Jin Shengtan generalized the literary criticism technique Grass Snake and Ash Thread. It was often used by critics in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and is still used selfconsciously even nowadays. However, many modern critics have misunderstandings about it. Through making a practical textual context analysis and combining Jin Shengtan＇ s metapl＇_-ars of Grass Snake and Ash Thread, the author tries to offer an interpretation about the technique. Grass Snake and Ash Thread is a representation of the characteristic Chinese impressionistic criticism. It makes an analogy of the changeable movement of snakes in grass and the not - always - visible thread when drawing with ash and focuses on the art of composition among levels and paragraphs. In narrative literary works, authors often consciously repeat the objects, conditions, time and details so as to run through a certain plot. However, each repetition denotes a different connotation and tells the development of plots.