论当代英国华人文学中的“文革叙述”

Narrating the Cultural Revolution in Contemporary British Chinese Literature

"文革叙述"是当代英国华人文学的重要题材,由于相似的族裔身份和出版市场,英华作家笔下的"文革叙述"具有相似的叙事特征。本文拟通过归纳这些叙事特征,综合考察英美读者市场对英华作家"文革叙述"的制约和影响,进而挖掘不同作家之间的差异。文章指出,英国华人文学的"文革叙述"时常出现一种既亲历又疏离的悖谬式声音,这既应和西方读者市场的需求,也体现英华作家于离散境遇中建构"自我"的游离坎坷。在反思文革方面,这类作品经历了从政治控诉到女性人文关怀、从文革叙事到后文革叙事这一流变进程。尽管英华作家在"文革叙述"上各具特色,但在挪用"文革"符号上却有一定共性。在其笔下,"文革"蜕变成一个族裔性符号,成为一个勾起西方猎奇食欲的中国文化佐料。

Narrating the Cultural Revolution has been a leitmotif of contemporary British Chinese literature. Due to the authors＇ resemblance in background and in publication opportunities, British Chinese narratives of the Cultural Revolution have displayed some common features, which show the impact of the Anglo-American book market despite their internal differences.This paper argues that contemporary British Chinese writers usually employ the paradoxical voice of a narrator who both experienced the cruel events of the Cultural Revolution and detached himself/herself from the irrational masses. The voice nevertheless reveals the predicament that British Chinese writers find themselves in when reconstructing a new self in diaspora. Over the years their reflections on that part of Chinese history have changed from political indictment to feminist humanism, or from Cultural Revolution narratives to post-Cultural Revolution ones. Despite the period markers, however, all narratives of this type tend to indulge in exotic symbols of the Culture Revolution to more or less cater to western tastes.