晚清“新小说”中的少年形象及其形式症候——重读《二十年目睹之怪现状》

The Youth in the New Novel of the Late Qing Dynasty——On Bizarre Happenings Witnessed Over Two Decades

晚清"新小说"是近代知识分子应对时代危机的产物,它着眼于对大众情感进行整合与教育,其目的在于想象和构建一种新的主体。在除旧布新之际,"少年"表征了新的时间起点,而"少年"之"成长"则意味着将线性时间注入进步历史观念之中,二者共同构成了中国近现代小说的基本母题与形式结构。"新小说"代表作《二十年目睹之怪现状》中引人注目地出现了第一人称少年主人公形象,通过讨论其中所呈现出的多种形式症候,可以更深刻地理解时代危机下半殖民国家面对现代转型时的难题与困境。

The New Novel in the Late Qing dynasty is the product born to respond the crisis of the time. It aims at educating the masses through an emotional way, with calling for the creation of modem subjects as its final purpose. During the changing periods, the youth in the novel represents a fresh start of time and the growing of the youth represents a modem progressive view of history. There is a youth with first person in the masterpiece of the New Novel On Bizarre Happenings Witnessed Over Two Decades. Through the discuss of the youth in this novel, I will show how it is combined with the crisis of the late Qing.