明清小说之季节叙事及其文化意蕴

Narratives of Seasons in Novels of Ming-Qing Dynasty and Their Cultural Implication

明清小说许多作品尤其是传诵久远的经典杰作中多有"季节叙事",即通过对故事情境中四季现象及其流转变迁的描述与刻画,以表达其思想与艺术上的用心。文章从明清小说季节叙事的主要内容入手,对故事展演的四季情境进行概述,进而探讨其以营构循环时序与聚焦时间刻度为主的叙事功能,和以承继诗性传统、营造意境为特色的抒情功能,最后试图揭橥明清季节叙事之文化意蕴:表层是关于冷热的世态隐喻,深层则是中国传统观念中的"天道循环"。

There are many narratives of seasons in many novels of Ming-Qing Dynasty, especially some classic masterpiec- es, and narratives of seasons are narratives in which authors show their thoughts as well as artistic expressions by describing the seasons and their changes in the stories. On the basis of the main contents of narratives of seasons in novels of Ming-Qing Dynas- ty, the paper discusses the narrative function of the seasonal situations around which the story develops with focus on the cycling of seasons and certain time scales, and the lyrical function featured by the inheritance of the poetic tradition and the creation of mood as well. Finally, the paper reveals the cultural implication of narratives of seasons, that is, the literal meaning of narratives of seasons is the metaphor of inconstancy of human relationships, and the deeper meaning is the cycle of ＂Tao＂ in traditional Chi- nese culture.