在小说与戏剧之间——《檀香刑》的文体形式及其价值悖论

Between Novel and Drama——On the Literary Form of Mo Yan's Sandalwood Death and Its Value Paradox

莫言在小说《檀香刑》中呈现了五种形态的戏剧表演,既有作为"常态"的猫腔戏和日常生活中的表演,又有特殊历史情境下"非常态"的义和拳大戏和刑场大戏,以及抹除现实与虚构之界的终极形态人生大戏,由表及里,彼此勾连,以戏剧式的内容、语言和结构为载体,深入到对中国人戏剧式的思维方式、表达方式及其价值观念的表现和思考。小说与戏剧的结合创造出一种内蕴丰富、极富张力的文体形式,两种文体各自负载的价值指向也发生着对抗与消解。《檀香刑》以有意味的形式建立起内蕴丰富的可阐释空间,超越了作者预设的价值立场,在悖论之中切入真正的文化反思与价值重建命题。

Mo Yan presents five forms of dramatic performance in his novel Sandalwood Death,including the Cat Cavity Play and Daily Life Performance as normal forms,the Boxer rebellion and the public penalty execution as abnormal forms unfolding in specific historical situation,and the ultimate form of dramatic performance of life,which has erased the boundary of reality and fiction.These dramatic performances present and reflect on the dramatic thinking mode,dramatic expression of Chinese and their concept of values.The combination of novel’s and drama’s stylistic features creates a special literary form of abundant innovation and tension,as the respective intrinsic value orientations of novel and drama are antagonistic to each other.Such a meaningful form allows much room for interpretation,which may even have gone beyond the presupposed value standpoint of the author,and penetrated into the topic of cultural reflection and value reconstruction.