“为文造情”一辩

An Argument on “Expressing Emotions in Order To Write”

对于刘勰所区分的"为情造文"和"为文造情",大多数学者均与刘勰一样,尊"为情造文"而黜"为文造情"。究诸写作实际,"为文造情"并非我们通常所认为的那样十分要不得。正如"为情造文"会有败笔一样,"为文造情"也会有佳作。单方面肯定"为情造文",会使我们对传统文论中的一些盲点视而不见。重新审视并评价"为文造情",有助于我们反思传统文论中一些被视为理所当然的基本假定。

Since Liu Xie made a distinction between＂writing in order to express emotions＂and＂expressing emotions in order to write＂,most scholars have agreed with him in advocating the former and rejecting the latter. However,judging from the practice of writing,＂expressing emotions in order to write＂is not as undesirable as we tend to think. Just as＂writing in order to express emotions＂may produce clumsy works,＂expressing emotions in order to write＂may also lead to good works. Merely affirming ＂writing in order to express emotions＂may prevent us from seeing some blind spots in traditional literary theory. Reexamination and reevaluation of ＂expressing emotions in order to write＂can help us rethink some of the basic assumptions in traditional literary theory that we have taken for granted.