“揭短”与“护短”:夏志清、浦安迪《金瓶梅》阐释之比较

Two Extremes of Views on Chin Ping Mei:A Comparative Analysis of the Interpretations of C.T.Hsia and Andrew Plaks

夏志清与浦安迪是北美汉学界卓有成就的中国小说研究名家,他们的《金瓶梅》阐释却大异其趣,走向了“揭短”与“护短”两个极端。夏志清以西方19世纪小说为标准衡量《金瓶梅》,对《金瓶梅》的叙事结构、思想意义与性描写持批评态度,以致走向“抑长”而“揭短”的极端;浦安迪从西方思维下的中国立场出发,突出《金瓶梅》作为中国16世纪“文人小说”与“奇书文体”的典范性成就,以“反讽”为核心阐释《金瓶梅》的思想艺术,不惜“拔长”而“护短”,难免溢美的过度阐释之嫌。辨析二者批评的“过犹不及”现象,对当今的学术研究具有一定的启示意义。

s:C.T.Hsia and Andrew Plaks are both accomplished researchers on Chinese classical novels in the United States,though their interpretations on Chin Ping Mei go to two extremes.Hsia analyses Chin Ping Mei by the standard of Western novels in the 19th century,adopting a critical attitude towards the narrative structure,the thinking and meaning and the sexual descriptions in the novel,while Plaks takes the opposite approach by highlighting the exemplary accomplishments of Chin Ping Mei as a“literati novel”and“curious genre”in 16th-century China,and illuminating the irony and allegory of Chin Ping Mei in an effusive way.Since too much is as bad as too little,the comparative analysis of both cases is of enlightening significance for current research.