摹写英美与想象南洋--中国现代域外游记的两种书写风格及其精神图像

Analysis on Two Writing Styles and Mental Images of Overseas Chinese Travelogues from Portraying Euro-America to Imaging Southeast-Asia

19世纪下半叶开始,伴随着一批批国人的出国考察学习,现代域外游记应运而生。从游记的内容和形式来看,其录见闻、发议论、抒情怀,都是在书写对一个地方的感觉。地方感的获取不仅来自游记主体的外在知识,还源于其内在经验以及归属的场所等。这是一个连续的过程,在这一过程中无法逃离主体心灵的痕迹,游记者在游历中主观与客观相互作用共同塑造了书写的“地点”。具体到英美和南洋,因了“地点”的不同,中国现代域外游记建构和生成了看英美和看南洋两种不同的方式。这种不同导致英美游记和南洋游记二者无论在书写内容还是表现手法上都形成了相异的风格:英美游记多对现代大都市以及经济、金融、教育、农业、现代科技等现代文明的种种表现进行介绍和描述,书写务实理性,表现出对现代性的追求与思考;南洋游记书写的主题则多是淘金梦、情欲梦、桃源梦,以及围绕这些主题对“过番”、“土人”、“土女”、“娘惹”等展开的“化外”想象,视角感性浪漫,其话语置于现代性的追逐之外。英美游记与南洋游记书写风格所呈现的异质结构,在一定范围和程度上反映了中国现代知识分子的精神图像。

Since the second half of the 19th century,with a group of Chinese people studying abroad,modern external travelogues have emerged.In terms of the content and form,travelogues are all about the description of the observations,comments and feelings in a specific place.The sense of being local derives not only from the external knowledge of the travelogue,but also from its internal experience and belongingness.This is a continuous process,in which the travelers,deeply rooted in their mind,reshape the“place”in their writing subjectively and objectively.When it comes to Britain&America(BA)and Southeast Asia(SA,or Nanyang),China’s modern external travelogues have developed two different ways to see outside societies(BA)and(SA)due to the difference of“locations”.Consequently,distinctive styles have been developed in BA and SA travelogues.BA travelogues deal mainly with the writing of modern metropolis,economy,finance,education,agriculture,modern science and technology,displaying the writer’s pursuit of modernity and thinking.In contrast,SA travelogues mainly concern the dream of gold rush,lust,fairyland and so on.The description is romantic,less to do with the pursuit of modernity.The heterogeneous structures displayed in BA and SA travelogues reflect the spiritual images of modern Chinese intellectuals to a certain extent.