人生:“文学是人学”命题不可或缺的维度和要涵——以“人生主义”的两岸演绎为证

Life:The Indispensable Dimension and Element of the Proposition that“Literature Is the Study of Man”:As Demonstrated by the Deduction of the“Life Doctrine”in Taiwan region and China’s mainland

新时期以来,"文学是人学"命题广获接受,文学表现人性及其与现实社会、时代政治无关的纯艺术观点盛行。然而梳理相关理论概念的建构论争史,可知此类观点与长期形成的文坛基本共识——文学通过人生描写以表现人性——颇有距离。周作人基于人类进化观点建立了融合兽性和神性的人性观,以"人间本位主义"、记录研究"人生诸问题"等表述,强调文学的社会性,并将传统的"人生主义"视为中国文学发展的"木本水源"。夏济安、夏志清兄弟将周氏"人的文学"理念传衍到台湾,提倡从新旧过渡时期的道德演变中展现复杂人性,主张以捕捉描写"人间的冲突悲苦"作为衡文准则,明确反对以审美形式、艺术性等作为评价标准。梁实秋的人性论具有两个版本:在台湾影响正面的"人生三境界"说与周作人相似,将人性定位于兽性与神性之间;早年与左翼作家争论而抛出抽象人性论,则暴露了梁实秋畏惧工农运动的阶级立场和悖离时代语境的思想弱点。相似一幕也曾在台湾文坛重演。上述过程丰富了中国新文学的经验宝库,其启示包括:"文学是人学"仅强调"人性"是不够的,须将"人生"描写作为其最主要的内涵和不可或缺的维度,如此才能趋近文学的本质规律,也切近20世纪中国文学的基本精神。

Since the beginning of the new period,the proposition that"literature is the study of man"has been widely accepted,while the view that literature reflecting humanity is pure art with no relation to society and politics has prevailed.Nevertheless,by analyzing the construction process of relevant theoretical concepts,we conclude that these opinions are different from the general consensus formed in the development of literary history which holds that literature reflects humanity through description of life. Zhou Zuoren put forward the viewpoint of humanity which integrates animality and divinity based on the viewpoint of human evolution,and he stressed the sociality of literature through research on the"human-world-oriented doctrine"and"kinds of questions associated with life". Zhou regarded the traditional"life doctrine"as the root and source of the development of Chinese literature. The Hsia brothers brought Zhou’s concept of"human literature"to Taiwan.They proposed revealing complicated humanity from the evolution of morality during the transition period and regarding capture and description of"conflict and bitterness of the world"as the criterion for judging literature rather than as the evaluation standard of aesthetic form or artistry. There are two versions of Liang Shiqiu’s theory of humanity. Liang’s theory of"three states of life"defining humanity between animality and divinity has a positive influence in Taiwan and is similar to Zhou’s theory of humanity. The concept of abstract humanity proposed by Liang when he debated with left-wing writers in his early years exposes Liang’s class stance of fearing workers and peasants’ movements,as well his ideological weakness of deviating from the background of the times. A similar scene has been re-acted in the literary world of Taiwan. The abovementioned process enriches the treasure trove of new Chinese literature,revealing that it is not enough to emphasize "humanity"only when we talk about the proposition that"literature is the study of man";rather,we should take the description of"life"as the most important connotation and the most indispensable dimension. Only in this way can we approach the essence rule of literature and the fundamental spirit of the 20 th-century Chinese literature.