活着,又不仅仅是活着——论当代文学的一个重要主题

Being Alive Is Not Just Being Alive:An Important Theme of Contemporary Literature

当代文坛上,“活着”成为世俗化浪潮中一个格外引人瞩目的主题。作家们对这一主题的书写体现出他们对底层的理解、对“国民性”的重新认识。另一方面,也有作家以对于“成功”故事的讲述表达了对超越“活着”的活法的探询,而关于成功以后的悲剧的揭示则具有发人深省的思想力量。此外,还有一批作家在世俗化浪潮中执着于生存意义的追问、生存“底线”的思考,对超越“活着”的可能进行了深入的探讨,也与“活着”的主题形成了潜在的对话关系。由此可见,当代文学在叩问生命的意义、帮助当代人“重新选择生存的峰顶”方面,仍然发挥着积极的作用。

In contemporary literary arena,“being alive”has become an especially noticeable theme in the wave of secularization.On the one hand,works in this theme reflect authors’understanding of the lower class and re-cognition of“national character”.On the other hand,some works based on success stories explore the higher level of“being alive”,in which the revelation of miserable life after success carries thought-provoking power.Furthermore,many writers in the tide of secularization persist in questioning the meaning and the bottom line of existence,and in probing into the possibility of transcending“being alive”,all of which start a potential dialogue with the topic of“being alive”.Hence,contemporary literature still plays an active role in seeking the meaning of life and helping people to“re-select the peak for survival”.