凝视与倾听——试论中国当代文学中的视听审美范式问题

Visual and Audio Aesthetic Modes in Modern Chinese Literature

视觉与听觉属于审美消费过程中的两种范式,前者偏重于理性,后者偏向于感性。以古希腊哲学为基准确立起来的西方形而上学正是以视觉为本位的,而中国古代老庄哲学构建起的则恰是与其截然相反的听觉中心主义传统。如此两种哲学传统直接促成了东西方不同的文学艺术样式。但“五四”启蒙运动对于西方理性的推崇和借用,消弭了中国这种听觉范式的文学艺术品格,将其引向了视觉中心主义的道路。这一道路通向当代之后,愈走愈远,致使文学艺术严重疏镦了情感,转向欲望的无节制膨胀。文学艺术不再是丰富人们的感受,而是剥夺人们的感受,将读者训练成冷漠的“凝视”者和“窥视”者,进而遏抑住他们想象的冲动。特别是当下这个所谓“读图时代”的来临,更是表明了人们仍然还没有意识到视觉对于我们的无情剥夺。

Vision and audition are two modes of aesthetic process, with the former focusing on rationality and the latter on perception. The western metaphysics based on ancient Greek philosophy relies on vision whereas the one modeled on ancient Chinese philosophy centers on the tradition of audio centralism. The two philosophic traditions have resulted in two different literary and artistic modes in the east and the west. Nevertheless, the respect for and borrowing from the western rationality during the May 4th Movement has hindered the literary and artistic character of the Chinese audio mode of aesthetics and directed it onto the road of visual centrality. Up till now it has been led to the extent of estranging literature and art from emotions and uncontrollable inflation of desires. As such, literature and art are apt to train readers into indifferent ' seers' and 'hearers', limiting their imagination rather than enriching their feeling'. Above all, the advent of the present so - called 'graph-reading' age clearly shows that people have not realized their ruthless deprivation by vision.