宋元话本小说之媒人要素初探——以基本面貌、异素互联与书场情境为中心

The Matchmaker in the Novel Scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Perspective of Basic Appearance, Interconnection of Different Elements and the Storytelling Scene

媒人是宋元话本小说中一个极具价值的文学要素。话本小说中的媒人形象为我们揭示出不为正史所载的宋元时期媒人的基本状况。她们多为70岁以上的专职化私媒,在市井中普遍受到尊重。贪利热心、性格圆滑、抗压能力强是媒人的普遍特质。在与其他文学要素的互动关系中,媒人常常作为小说中不可或缺的伏笔,抑或推动情节发展与折转的关键,发挥着积极的作用。同时,牵连与映衬其他人物也构成了媒人存在的重要使命。及至书场情境,程式化的说媒方式不仅可以减轻说话人的记忆负担,亦能够实现其亲近观众的理想。而说书人在演绎媒人时采取的视角变换与市井俗语,则突破了常规的叙事范式,并将表演现场的氛围推向了高潮。

The matchmaker is one of the most valuable literary elements in the novel scripts of the Song and Yuan dynasties.The image of the matchmaker in the novel scripts reveals the basic situations of the matchmaker at the time,which are not recorded in the official history.Most of the matchmakers are over the age of seventy,providing specialized service to individuals,and are widely respected in the marketplace.Being greedy,enthusiastic,sophisticated and capable of handling pressure are the common characteristics of the matchmakers.In the literary field,the matchmaker often foreshadows the novel,serving as the key to the development and twist of the plots of the novel.At the same time,serving as a link or a contrast to other characters is also the important mission of the matchmaker.When it comes to the storytelling scene,stylized match-making expressions are used to reduce the memory load of the speaker,and bring the audience closer to the story,whilethe change of perspective and colloquial expressions by the storyteller break through the conventional narrative paradigm and push the atmosphere of the scene to the climax.