叙述空间与中国小说叙事传统

Narrative Space in the Narrative Tradition of the Chinese Novel

所谓“叙述空间”,即叙述行为发生的场所或环境。以“叙述空间”概念考察中国小说叙事,可以看出中国小说发展至唐代已正式形成了自己独具特色的叙事传统,这种叙事传统在形式上最突出的特征表现为:叙述空间与故事空间往往共存于同一个叙事文本之中,并成为该文本叙事结构与文学修辞的一个重要组成部分。无论是文言小说还是白话小说,“叙述空间”都堪称中国古代小说叙事传统中最富有文体特征且最具有标识性的重要形式,这一叙事形式从唐传奇开始一直延续到晚清,甚至在接受西方影响的五四新小说中亦时有所见。真正构成中国小说叙事传统的,既不是某种题材或母题的书写,也不是某个观念或思想的表述,而是“叙述空间”这一结构性要素在叙事文本中或隐或显的存在。

The term“narrative space”refers to places or environments in which narrative action happens.Studying the narration of Chinese novels in the perspective of narrative space,we can see Chinese novels have formally formed unique narrative tradition since the Tang Dynasty.The most prominent feature of which is:narrative space usually coexists with story space in the same narrative text,and then becomes an important component of the narrative structure and literary rhetoric of the text.Whether in classical Chinese novels or vernacular novels,narrative space has been regarded as the most stylistic and recognizable form in the narrative tradition of ancient Chinese novels across tang legend to the late Qing Dynasty,even appeared in May Fourth new literature influenced by the West.