兵法与小说叙事的关系(对话)

On the Relationship between Art of War and Novel Narration(Dialogue)

小说叙事与中国传统的兵法之间,有相通之处。如二者都有变死法为活术、奇正相生的玄机,从学到用,从用到会用,从会用到致用,不仅需下功夫,也都需要天赋;小说叙事中,奇巧要从“正”出发,还要回到“正”,只有用局用得好,谋局才能奇巧而不离正,这与兵法中的“奇正相生”之术是相通的;用象、选象、布象的能力,决定着一个作家能走多远。

There are similarities between novel narration and traditional Chinese art of war.For example,both of them have the mystery of turning death into a living technique,and have the magic of interchangeability between the direct tactics and the indirect tactics.From learning to using and even to application,both hard work and talent are necessary.In thenovelnarration,the“indirect actions”—the surprising or odd actions—should generate from“direct forces”—the expected actions—and then return to“direct forces”.Only when the tactic is well used can the story keep in the track,which is similar to the interchangeability between the direct tactics and the indirect tactics in Chinese art of war.How far a writer can go is determined by his ability to use,select and distribute images.