中国古代通俗文学作品“道德困境”式人物探析

An Analysis of Characters Faced with“Moral Dilemma”in Ancient Chinese Popular Literature

中国古代通俗文学作品最大意义即反映许多深刻的社会问题,其中一些社会问题受特定社会历史环境的影响,在当时的时代无法得到妥善的解决,因此一些作者在著作中表现出一种“梦醒了无路可以走”的困惑,不得不“皈依传统”。对《封神演义》中马氏、《说岳全传》中曹宁、《张协状元》中贫女等人物形象进行“道德困境”分析,可以看出我们看待作者处理“道德困境”问题表现出来的“皈依传统”的处理方式,应在特定的历史时代背景下解读,进而给予同情和理解。

A host of profound social problems can be reflected in many ancient Chinese popular literary works,some of which were influenced by specific social environments so much so that it was impossible to seek proper solutions to these problems at the time.Therefore,authors would generally portray a catch-22 scenario in which the characters were faced with the moral dilemma of having no alternative after disillusionment but to resign themselves to convention in the end.An analysis of the‘moral dilemma’embodied in such characters as Madam Ma in Investiture of the Gods(封神演义),Cao Ning in General Yue Fei(说岳全传),and the poor woman in Zhang Xie—the Principal Graduate(张协状元)reveals a general tendency of the authors’resigning their heroes and heroines to convention,which should be interpreted in particular historical context with due empathy.