“艳情小说”之概念辨析与研究新思路

Three Issues about Erotic Novels

"艳情小说"本是民国学者对唐代传奇以男女恋情为主的作品的概括,是在中国小说史研究逐步成型,渐次深化的时代背景下产生的一种新的分类;但在近30年来的小说史著中,"艳情小说"却成为"淫秽小说""猥亵小说""色情小说"的同义词,这导致将"艳情"的词义贬低淆乱;对于明清两代的涉及大量性描写的"艳情小说"作品应秉持开放宽容的文化心态,适当汲取西方的相关理论作出惬当的阐释。

＂Erotic novel＂ was a term originally used by scholars in Republic of China to refer to legends of Tang Dynasty that focused on love between men and women. The name of this new genre was gradually formed along with the gradual maturation and deepening of the studies of the history of Chinese novels. However, in the writings of the past 30 years about the history of Chinese novels, the term has become a synonym for ＂dirty novels,＂ ＂obscene novels,＂ and ＂pornographic novels.＂ This change derogates and confuses the meaning of the word ＂erotic.＂ We should adopt a more tolerating cultural attitude towards erotic novels that have abundant descriptions of sex in Ming and Qing Dynasty. Certain theories from the west can actually be borrowed to give a satisfactory interpretation of the novels.