如何正确理解“隐性进程”和“双重叙事进程”?——申丹教授访谈

申丹教授是北京大学博雅讲席教授、人文学部主任,国际顶级期刊《叙事》(美国)和《文体》(美国)的顾问、《语言与文学》(英国)的编委,以及欧美《劳特利奇叙事理论百科全书》的顾问编委。近10年来,申丹教授在国内外陆续提出"隐性进程"以及由隐性进程和情节发展(显性进程)所构成的"双重叙事进程"概念,在叙事理论和文学研究界引起了巨大反响。2021年夏,申丹教授以电子邮件的形式,接受了复旦大学外文学院段枫副教授的书面访谈。申丹教授对"隐性进程"和"双重叙事进程"概念进行了细致说明,介绍了这一理论在西方理论界引起的一些误解和争议,也深入剖析了造成误解和争议的根本原因。究其根本,对"隐性进程"和"双重进程"的把握,不但涉及对这一理论如何超越了长期研究传统的正确理解,也需要将这一原创性术语与其他概念进行辨析和比较。这一访谈旨在厘清"隐性进程"和"双重叙事进程"等概念,并阐明这一理论在应用于批评实践时容易遇到的问题。

Shen Dan is Boya Chair Professor of English and Dean of the Humanities Division of Beijng University.She is on the advisory or editorial boards of the top American journals Narrative and Style,and the British journal Language and Literature,as well as being a consultant editor of Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory.Since 2012,Shen has successively proposed the innovative concepts of“covert progression”and“dual narrative dynamics”comprising both the plot-based overt progression and the covert progression,which have become highly influential both abroad and at home in the field of narrative theory and literary studies.In the summer of 2021,Professor Shen was interviewed via email by Duan Feng,associate professor of Fudan University,on relevant issues concerning covert progression and dual narrative dynamics.In this interview,Shen further clarifies the picture and discusses some misunderstandings and challenges concerning these ground-breaking concepts.She also reveals the root cause for such misunderstandings and contentions.To grasp the essence of“covert progression”and“dual narrative dynamics”calls for an accurate understanding of such issues as:In what sense have these concepts broken free of the bondage of the Aristotelian narrative critical tradition?And how are they different from existing concepts concerned with the deeper-level meanings of the text?The interview also deals with how to avoid misuse of these concepts in critical practice.