空间冲突与存在之思——高尔基《底层》论析

Space Conflict and Thought of Being:An analysis of Gorky's At the Bottom

《底层》属于典型的人像展览式结构,时间被压缩,空间被凸显。“底层”既是物理空间,也是伦理空间,是被排除在正常社会规范之外的异托邦。人物通过介入、脱离该空间而划出各自的生命轨迹。与“底层”相对的是“上层”,二者组成完整的内部空间;与内部空间相对的是由国家权力控制的外部空间,空间的跨越造成戏剧冲突。与物理空间相对的是记忆空间和想象空间,三重空间互相碰撞,突出生存境遇的危机,把该剧引入形而上层面的思考。而生存空间的丧失,或者说“无空间性”所引起的存在的焦虑是剧中人物所面对的本然性问题。高尔基没有给人物安排通向“黄金之国”“正义之邦”的道路,留下一片混茫,召唤读者去进行一场存在之思。

At the Bottom adopts a typical portrait-exhibition structure with compressed time and highlighted space.The“bottom”is not only a physical space but also an ethical space and it is a heterotopia that is excluded from the normal social norms.Characters find their own life paths by intervening and breaking away from the space.In opposition with the“bottom”is the“upper”and together they constitute a complete internal space.In opposition with the internal space is the external space controlled by the state power.The spanning of space leads to dramatic conflicts.Besides,in opposition with the physical space is the memory space and imagination space and these three kinds of space collide with each other,highlighting the crisis in living conditions and intriguing the metaphysical thinking.The loss of living space,or the living anxiety caused by“no space”,is the essential problem confronted by the characters in the play.Gorky did not design a“golden country”or a“state of fairness”for the characters but leave them with confusion,urging readers to reflect on the thought of being.