“奇书”与“才子书”——对明末清初小说史上一种文化现象的解读

Remarkable Novels" and "Talented Scholars' Novels" -An Explanation of the Cultural Phenomenon in the Ming-Qing History of fiction

“奇书”与“才子书”是明末清初小说史上非常重要的批评术语,用以指称通俗小说中的优秀作品,是当时的文人士大夫为提升通俗小说的“文化品味”和强化通俗小说的“文人性”而作出的理论阐释与评判,可看成为相对超越于通俗小说之上的文人士大夫对通俗小说的一次价值认可和理论评判,对通俗小说的发展带有一定的“导向”意义。

Both the 'remarkable book' and 'talented scholar's book' were very important critical terms in the history of Chinese fiction from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing. They were used to refer to some excellent works in popular novels. These two terms represented then scholars' theoretical explanations and judgments of popular fiction so as to elevate its cultural taste and strengthen its scholarly character. Those scholars who had comparatively despised popular fiction might regard the terms as their affirmation of its values. Therefore, these two terms had a guiding significance to a certain degree in the development of popular fiction.