诗词参与古代小说叙事之原因探析

On the Role of Poems in Ancient Chinese Novel Narration

中国古代小说中的诗词之所以能够承担叙事功能,源于文本必须穿插诗词的文体规定,但作者一般根据小说体叙事的要求来创作或引用穿插诗词,由此使诗词承担了相应的叙事功能。同时,古代诗词存在便利于小说体叙事的特征,因此作者利用这些特征来使诗词承担起一定的叙事功能。而随着中国小说体叙事的进一步发展,穿插诗词于叙事流程的负面影响日趋明显,诗词参与叙事的现象也就最终淡出了现代小说文本。

Poems were stylistically required in ancient Chinese novels. However, novelists usually added or quoted poems when necessity of narration occurred and thus poems came to bear the narrative function. In addition, ancient poems themselves are characteristic of narration and therefore they are used in narrative writings. With the growing negative effects, the using of poems in the narrative finally disappears in modern Chinese novels.