赛珍珠《群芳亭》与沈复《浮生六记》的比较

A Comparison between Pearl Buck's Pavilion of Women and Shen Fu's Six Chapters of a Floating Life

赛珍珠的《群芳亭》是一部具有鲜明中国传统文化印痕的长篇小说,主要内容与清代沈复《浮生六记》有许多相似之处。赛珍珠可能藉由林语堂《吾国与吾民》、《生活的艺术》等著作的启发而关注到这部清代随笔。《群芳亭》在情节基础和人物性格设计上虽受该作启发,但人物身份地位、生活目标和生命轨迹都发生了现代性转变。作者的写作目的是要为中国传统女性探索一条通向现代的自救之路,体现了她特殊的东西方文化观,但人物形象难免因观念先行而有失自然真实。

Pearl Buck＇ s Pavilion of Women is a full length novel with distinct print of Chinese traditional culture. It has much resemblance with Six Chapters of a Floating Life written by the Qing Dynasty author Shen Fu. Pearl Buck＇ s attention to this work of Qing Dynasty essay was probably inspired by Lin Yutang＇ s My Country and My People, The Art of Life and other works. The design of the basic plot and personal characters in Pearls＇ novel are influenced by that of Shen Fu, yet the social status, goal and destiny of life of these characters are modernized. The purpose of Pearl is to explore a road toward modern salvation for Chinese traditional women, demonstrating her special view of West - East cultures. But the figures in her novel are unavoidably lost the natural truthfulness due to her priori concepts.