清季啟蒙人士改造民眾閱讀習慣的論述

Enlightening the Masses:Elite Discourse on Popular Reading Habits in the Late Qing Period

閱讀的歷史同禁書的歷史不可分割，在前現代中國，一直都存在禁止民眾閱讀「淫辭小說」類書籍的論述和行為。時至清末，啟蒙菁英憑藉西來的思想資源，進一步認識到小說、戲曲的巨大社會作用，並反思通俗小說、戲劇與義和團事件的關聯，將閱讀和啟蒙同民族國家聯繫起來，決心努力創造出「淫辭小說」的替代品－新小說、新戲曲，改造民眾的閱讀，以開民智、打造新國民。但新小說和改良戲曲也一樣是眾聲喧嘩、多音複義的論述空間，對於各種各樣的人來講，其意義不同，並非僅具有啟蒙取向。況且民眾閱讀文化本身也有其內在邏輯，不可能完全受制於外來的規訓，清季啟蒙人士改造民眾閱讀習慣的成效終歸有限。

The history of prohibited books cannot be excluded from the history of reading. Condemnations of and policies actions against the circulation of yinci xiaoshuo (pornographic novels) and the like among the people never died out in premodern China. Reflecting Western intellectual influences, progressive intellectuals in the late Qing began to be aware of the important social functions of novels and drama. They reflected on the linkage between the popular novels and drama performances and the Boxer Uprising. They brought together reading, enlightenment, and the nation-state to purify the reading habits of the lower strata, enlighten the masses, and create modern citizens by replacing yinci xiaoshuo with xin xiaoshuo (new fiction) and xin xiqu (new drama). Nevertheless, new fiction and reformed drama were themselves open to varying interpretations, and created a discoursive space for multiple voices carrying different meanings for different audiences, not necessarily enlightenment-oriented. As well, the inner logic of the popular culture of reading can never wholly be subjected to outside discipline. This limited the efforts of intellectual elites to purify popular reading habits.