指示性与民族记忆:中华民族共同体视域中的符号建构

Indexicality and Ethnic Memory:Semiotic Construction by the Community of Chinese Nation

指示性作为符号认知的基本框架,能使符号与记忆、记忆与认同产生联结关系,因此,指示性不仅是民族记忆的基础,更是形成民族认同的作用机制。基于现实因素,民族记忆在不同的时期可能会发生流变,成为区别于历史文本或其他族群文化的全新记忆,因而具备积极建构的可能性。在指示性理论的框架下审视"龙"作为中华民族之共同记忆的符号再现,可发现,它不仅是各族群共有的与世界之关系的缘起锚定,也是跨民族的时间节气指命名与仪式的重要符号,可由此反思中华民族共同体视域中的符号建构应当如何达成。

As the basic framework of semiotic cognition,indexicality plays a function of setting different cultural texts in order,and incorporating signs,memory and identification into a unity.Specifically,indexicality can be found in the spatial distribution of the architecture of different ethnic groups,as well as in the cultural concepts in various ethnic languages.These are often hierarchical within the context of the levels of geographic distance as well as within the relationships between family members.Such indexicality is clearly demonstrated in the following two cases.First,with regard to Mongolia yurts,the distance between the yurts of the younger generation and the central one occupied by their father explicitly refers to the degrees of kinship in the clan.Also,the ring structure and seating arrangement inside the yurt is connected to the shared family memory by way of metonymy.Secondly,people in the Pumi ethnic group use the concept of"bones"(or Gu,■u35)to distinguish the social relationships within the clan and the ethnic group,and such a sign is a typical index.When members in the group communicate or interact with each other,multiple references to"signs"construct the collective memory of a family,combining them into a continuum,thereby giving rise to a sense of kindred and formulating selfidentity.Thus,not only is indexicality the"base"of ethnic memory,but it is a mechanism for forming identification as well.With the effects of elements such as consanguinity,geography or resources,the present ethnonarrative,in turn,influences the indexicality of a sign in different aspects.Driven by affective preference,ethnic memory may vary in different periods,and could be possibly built into a new one distinct from the historical texts or the other ethnic cultures,and then worked accordingly into the expansion or contraction of ethnic identity.For example,the Qiang people,located in western Sichuan,China,have absorbed both Han culture and Tibetan culture into their ethnic cultural memories thereby forming their own culture.In this way the boundaries of identification are flexible.Consequently,whether it is within a family,a clan,an ethnic group or a nation,a sense of community can be constructed with a self-awareness.Signs,which are important resources in memory,can summon the sense of community by conjuring up indexicality by producing common emotional feelings among community members.Therefore,from the perspective of the theory of indexicality,the symbol Long(or dragon,龙)can be examined as a representation of the common memory of Zhonghua Minzu(or the Chinese nation).There are two aspects to this representation as follows.Firstly,there is a diachronic aspect,namely,Long is that which anchors the relationship between oneself and the world shared by all Chinese ethnic groups,which points to a common ancestor of the Chinese nation.Secondly,there is a synchronic aspect.Long is a significant symbol linked with the naming of solar terms and ceremonies of various ethnic groups.On the basis of indexicality,people of different ethnic groups perform different folk rituals,yet,together they completed the narration that Long is taken as an ancestor and the worship of its image as a god.In this way,the common memory of the Chinese nation has been formed.It can be concluded that via an examination of the mechanism of indexicality we can reflect upon what measures can be taken to construct national symbols and national narratives for the Community of the Chinese Nation.