以有限想象无限——对“小径分岔的花园”与《盗梦空间》的比较研究

To Imagine the Infinity by the Finitude:A Comparative Study between“the Garden of Forking Paths”and Inception

博尔赫斯的短篇小说“小径分岔的花园”(1941)与克里斯托弗·诺兰的电影《盗梦空间》(2010)向来被认为是营造出时空迷宫的典范作品,其中的叙事策略也备受论者关注。然而,多元、非线性的时间图景不足以表达无限,循环重复必须经由“梦中梦、戏中戏”的演绎才有意义。作为叙事艺术的文学和电影,要想以有限想象无限,并非依赖于面向外部时空的扩张、堆叠,而是要在自身内部引入自我指涉的机制。作为有限性的存在,人可以想象的无限只能是一种借助数学符号、视觉图像亦或语言叙事的悖论式表达。

This article makes a comparative study between Jorge Luis Borges's“The Garden of Forking Paths”(1941)and Christopher Nolan's Inception(2010)to reflect on the artistic expressions of infinity in film and literature.Although these two works have been regarded as successful models of constructing temporal spatial labyrinth in literature and in film respectively,most of the interpretations either confuse the multiple non-linear time,parallel universe with infinity,or neglect the narrative impact on circulation and repetition made by the structure of“story within a story.”To imagine or express the infinity in literature and film,we must introduce the self-referential paradox into the narrative of works instead of relying on the expansion of physical time-space or the accumulation of possible worlds.As a sort of limited beings,the infinity that we can imagine and perceive could only be paradoxical expressions with the help of symbols and representations.