论明清小说创作中的“对联思维”

On “Antithetical Couplet Thought”in Novel Writing in Ming and Qing Dynasties

明清小说在设置人物或编织情节时,常常像作对联一样,"一联""一联"地让不同的叙事单元两两相对地组织起来。这种对联思维直观地体现在"回目对联""章回尾联"和"章回插联"等三种不同类型对联的安置和运用上,成为小说构思的一个有机构成部分;但在设置人物、编织情节时,明清小说有时又脱略对联的外在形式,把不同的叙事单元像作对联一样两两相应地组织起来。

When designing characters or plots, the novels of Ming and Qing dynasties are usually like making antithetical couplets, couplet by couplet, and organizing various narrative units relatively. Such a antithetical thought is intuitively embodied in the application of the following three different types of couplets ： ＂couplet of the chapter subtitles＂ ,＂ tail couplet of the chapter＂, and ＂inserted couplet of the chapter＂, which become an organic composition of the conceptions of the novels; yet in the design of characters and plots, it sometimes breaks away from the external form of the couplets, and organizes various narrative units relatively like making antithetical couplets.