“多元竞争的现代性”视野下的现代中国小说研究——以“新女性”与“新青年”在作品中的演变为中心

Chinese Fiction through the Perspective of Plural Modernities in Competition:With the Transformation of “New Women” and “New Youth” as the Focus

近年来,对于如何阐释现代中国的政治/社会现代性和文学现代性之间错综复杂的关系,学界有不同的路向。以20世纪40年代的中国小说为例,可以借助"新青年"与"新女性"这些"五四新文化"的核心概念,以及它们在40年代小说中显现的发展和变异这个"中介",来阐明二者的有机互动。以不同"新文化"规划为重心的"多元竞争的现代性"的历史经验,在文学创作中显现为不同的主体性和个人主义症候,而对一种新的主体性的寻求,经常是通过对"新青年"和"新女性"的身份危机的克服来进行。换言之,新身份的建构基于对新主体性的寻求上;"主体性"的创造是现代中国知识分子设想不同的"新文化"的内在需要和实质。正像"新文化"有不同的版本和规划,不同的主体性也被塑造并被当作现代中国人的主体性本身。因此它们在文本中显现的状态,可以被用来观察社会现代性和文学现代性如何交织互动。

Studies on the fictional writings as well as the correlated cultural debates could offer us the knowledge of the competitive,plural modernities in modern China,with their multiple modalities and connotations being shown as various＂new cultures＂contending with each other. As a result,this study could become a new methodology of literary studies per se. This paper suggests that we need to engage in a praxis of historical/political hermeneutics,and delve into the dialectics between the＂content＂of the Chinese society and historical experience,and the textual＂form＂which is the crystallization and refraction of that experience. Furthermore,by focusing on the transformation of the images of＂new women＂and＂new youths＂in modern Chinese literature,this study tries to proffer new thoughts on the issue of＂how to modernize and how to create literature＂in modern China of the early half of the twentieth century.