論散文創作和報導寫作的區隔──比較余秋雨〈我拒絕說它美麗〉與William Dalrymple〈恆河之源──濕婆髮、聖河源〉

On the Distinction Between Creative Prose and Reportage Writing: A Comparison Between Yu Qiuyu's 'I refuse to call it beautifal' and William Dalrymple's 'The Origin of the River Ganges......'

散文，可概略而分為美文和雜文，而雜文寫作的特質：時代性和評議性，又被後來發展蓬勃的新聞寫作所積極運用，新聞寫作，勢之所趙的又發展出深度報導。而今，在歐、美、日等先進地區，甚至已枝繁葉茂，另闢新局，因此，和一般散文寫作應該有所區隔。以記遊文學在歐美的發展為例，十八世紀以來，據川口浩（日）論述，最初的旅行記、風土記是以議論性散文表現，日後漸和報章結合，發展出報告文學（reportage）的形式，有一明顯的發展脈絡可循。在中國的文學史上，固然不乏風土人物誌的客觀報導之名作如：《大唐西域記》 （唐）、《水經江水注》（六朝）、《徐霞客遊記》（明）；而台灣自七○年代末開放觀光旅遊以來，旅遊文學也呈現蓬勃發展的局面，看來雖似源遠而流長，實則其間並無緊密的傳承脈絡可尋。因此，遊記文學是抒懷言志之作？或客觀寫實的報導？此時應考慮借他山之石，作一嚴謹之劃分，以提昇從散文這一文體，發展而出的支脈：報導文學，寫作的藝術水平。本論文選了二篇針對恆河流域的信仰所寫的采風文字：（一）〈我拒絕說它美麗＞，係摘選自余秋雨於1999年隨香港鳳凰衛視，考察人類幾個古文明發祥地所寫的日記《千年一嘆》。（二）〈恆河之源──濕婆髮、聖河源〉則是一對英國探險家夫婦以一百八十年前的一部先人日記為藍圖，循文中所述路線，探訪恆河的源頭，沿路所見的記錄，譯文刊載于2001年8月號的《大地地理雜誌》，將此二文嘗試從三個角度析論：一般散文寫作和報導書寫的主要區隔。內容共分五節：前言、記遊的多元化、與報導的可驗證性、是心得感想或客觀報導、專業知識的運用、結語。主要為從敘述者，對被敘述的對象（旅途所見的風土人物）所持的觀照定位來釐清：〈我拒絕說它美麗〉的作者，係站在代言人、詮釋者的位置，扮演「全知」關照的角色，所以是一篇書寫旅遊感懷的散文之作，旨在和讀者分享：其旅遊見聞，是一般的散文抒懷敘事功能。而〈恆河之源──濕婆髮、聖河源〉的作者，對景物做冷靜、客觀，不帶個人情緒的文字敘述，而為利其客觀呈現，並且對人、物作了現場的訪問、考察，讓信徒有現身說明的機會，以助人們多方瞭解其信仰上的特異言行。他只扮演媒介的角色，不作代言人、詮釋者，具備了「報導文學」為讀者提供「知權服務」的條件。

Prose can be roughly divided into two categories: creative (belles lettres) prose and essays. The social and critical aspect of essay is taken over by the later reportage writing, as we commonly find in the journalistic writing of the Western countries. It therefore has developed its own generic characteristics that are different from those of the belle lettres prose. Take the travel writing in the West as example, according to 川口浩, the earliest travel writing was written in the form of argumentative essay. It later merged with journalistic writing, and the so-called reportage was established. In the history of Chinese literature, such important works as 大唐西域記(Tang Records of the Western Regions), 水經注(Commentary on the Scripture of Water), 徐霞客遊記(The Travels of Xu Xiake) are well-known. In 1970s, Taiwan government lifted the ban on traveling to China, there appeared a surge of travel writing. On the surface, the travel writing seems to have a long history and tradition, but if we look carefully we will find it is not the case. This paper discusses two pieces of writing devoted to the description of religion of the Ganges River, Yu Qiuyu's 'I Refuse to Call It Beautiful' and 'The Origin of the Ganges River' by William Dalrymple, an explorer who went back into the sources of the Ganges River. By discussing these two pieces of writing, the author hopes to look into the essence of prose. This paper is divided into five section: “Introduction,' 'The Objectivity and Diversity of Travel Writing,' 'Personal Feelings or Objective Reports,' 'The Use of Professional Knowledge,' 'Conclusion.' The discussion starts with the role the narrator plays: the narrator of ' I Refuse to Call It Beautiful' takes the position of the omniscient narrator, it therefore tends to be prose aiming at sharing with its reader the writer's feeling. 0n the other hand, the writer of 'The Origin of the Ganges River' objectively records what he sees and interviews people as they really are. The writer plays the role of mediator instead of spokesman. This is more close to reportage.