公案小说与侦探小说在晚清时期的“合流”

Fusion of Case-solving Novels and Detective Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty

在传统的文学史叙述中,明清以来的公案小说在进入晚清以后呈现出逐步衰落的发展态势。尤其在西方侦探小说译介并进入中国之后,公案小说更是被认为为侦探小说所取代,这一过程通常被形象地描述为“包拯与福尔摩斯交接班”。但在公案小说与侦探小说此消彼长、前后更替的表层现象之下,两类小说之间其实产生了一系列更为复杂的文本纠葛和对话关系。通过对公案小说如何受西方侦探小说影响及其在文本内部发生的种种微妙变化的分析研究,可以发现,这种影响并非是单向度的,公案小说反过来又潜在地、持续不断地影响着中国侦探小说的理论和创作,二者最终形成“合流”,发展成为具有中国本土特色的侦探小说。

In the traditional literary history,the status of case-solving novels since the Ming and Qing dynasties has gradually declined in the late Qing Dynasty.Especially after the western detective stories were introduced into China,traditional Chinese case-solving stories were replaced by detective stories,vividly described as substitution of Bao Zheng by Sherlock Holmes.However,during the process of the rise and fall of each,the two types of novels interwoven with each other.Research on the influence of western stories on Chinese stories and the subtle changes happened in the Chinese text can be concluded that the influence is not one-way.Instead,case-solving novels have a potential and continuous influence on the theory and creation of Chinese detective novels.The two eventually fuse with each other,eventually,detective novels with Chinese characteristics came into being.