“治疗我们祖国健壮躯体上的局部痈疽”——《班主任》、《伤痕》精读

A Close Reading of The Class Master and Scars

"救救被‘四人帮’坑害了的孩子"等呼唤,其实是一种修辞,一种身份认同的狡计,就在一声声殷切的呼唤声中,呼唤者成了审讯者,成了无比清洁、神圣的"我们",而"四人帮"等一小撮坏分子则成了万劫不复的"他们","他们"是妖魔鬼怪、病菌和痈疽。这样一来,对"浩劫"的反思就成了对于局部痈疽的割除术,割除术既能证明祖国躯体本质上的"健壮",也能反过来强化"我们"的无辜和正义。基于此,我可以认定,"伤痕文学"是国人踏上改革开放旅程之前喝下的一碗"孟婆汤"。

There is a kind of public appeal, like ＂Please rescue the children corrupted by the ＂Gang of Four＂, which is actually a figure of speech as well as a trick for identification. Ardent as this kind of appeal seems to be, there is an obvious logic of dichotomy： those making the appeal are clean and holy ＂us＂ ; while those evil souls like the ＂Gang of Four＂ are ＂ them＂ beyond redemption; ＂we＂ are flawless interrogators whereas ＂they＂ are demons, viruses and ulcers. With this logic, the reflection on ＂holocaust＂ is simplified to the removal of partial ulcers, which not only proves that our motherland is healthy in essence but also emphasizes ＂our＂ innocence and justice. Based on this, it is deemed that ＂trauma literature＂ is like Lethe water for Chinese people before setting out on the journey of economic reform and opening-up.