《万里长城建造时》中卡夫卡的“中国想象”

Kafka’s “Chinese Imagination” in His When the Great Wall Was Built

弗兰茨·卡夫卡是西方二十世纪最具影响力的作家之一,他从未到过中国也不懂中文,但是他对中国的诗歌、绘画以及哲学都有强烈兴趣。《万里长城建造时》是其创作的直接与中国相关的短篇小说。小说中的长城作为被赋予象征意味的指称符号,其意义阐释掌握在西方话语操纵者手中。它代表的既可以是强大,也可以是虚弱;既是帝国的有效集权,也是百姓的顺从愚昧。小说构建的“长城”并不是历史事实,而是一种东方主义的叙述。“长城”成为烘托主体理性进步的愚昧落后的“他者”。

Franz Kafka is an influential writer in the 20th century in the West. He has never been to China and does not understand Chinese. However, he is very interested in Chinese poetry, painting and philosophy. When the Great Wall Was Built is a short story directly related to China created by him. The Great Wall in the novel is a sign of reference, and its interpretation is in the hands of Western discourse manipulators. It represents both strong and weak;it is not only the effective centralization of power in the empire, but also the obedience and ignorance of the people. The “Great Wall” constructed by the novel is not a historical fact, but an Orientalist narrative.The “Great Wall” has become an ignorant and backward “other” that sets off the rational progress of the subject.