政治詮釋與情欲轉移：論晚清至1940年代《牡丹亭》的接受情況

A Politicized Love Story: The Reception of The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭 in Modern Chinese Literature

情感、女性與國族三者是二十世紀中國文學的研究熱點，湯顯祖作為以寫「情」見稱，並是中國文學史上首位能夠寫出女性主體性的文學家，他的作品在中國文學邁向現代化過程中的接受情況是十分有研究價值的個案，可惜各種湯顯祖研究資料彙編所收文章多至清末為止，本文即嘗試研究《牡丹亭》在晚清起至二十世紀四○年代於文本上的接受情況，補充湯顯祖研究較少人注意的部份。杜麗娘完全可以被視為新女性的前身，但她最終並沒有參與到晚清五四的婦女運動和女性文學，本文先嘗試探討《牡丹亭》的「古典愛情」成為「被壓抑的現代性」的可能原因，並說明《牡丹亭》這樣的愛情傳奇被援引進入中國現代文學場域的語境實與國族意識型態密切相關，由此折射出情感及情欲在現代國族話語中微妙的位置。晚清最重要的翻譯家林紓曾自比「現代湯顯祖」，但從「玉茗堂」到《茶花女》，堅貞不悔的愛情故事已被賦予更曲折幽深的政治心懷，在現代文學的語境中，《牡丹亭》從愛情故事變形為國族寓言以至反封建精神的楷模，其中對原著的情欲壓抑顯得非常突出，個人的性能量完全投注到超越個人的集體和國家機器，使晚清以迄三、四○年代對《牡丹亭》的詮釋傾向泛政治化和去情欲化。

Tang Xianzu 湯顯祖 was renowned for his plays about qing (情 love), especially The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭, which was the first Chinese literary work that portrayed a female protagonist with sufficient female subjectivity. It is a pity that most studies of Tang’s works disregard the modern period in historical accounts of their reception, for the modern reception of Tang’s plays can illuminate some key features of modern Chinese literature while complementing the study of Tang. As “qing” and “women” are key words in the study of modern Chinese literature, the reception of Tang’s plays represents an important case showing how the literary tradition was transformed in the modernization of Chinese literature. This paper reviews various journals and articles published during the period from the late Qing through the 1940s, and picks up several features of the history of The Peony Pavilion’s reception during this time, which can be divided into two main aspects. First of all, the women writers of the May Fourth movement did not notice their “ancestor,” Du Liniang 杜麗娘, which is an interesting literary phenomenon that is worth examining. Second, The Peony Pavilion was not perceived as a love story, but more as national allegory and revolutionary story which propagated the fight against feudal values. One of the most fascinating examples is that of Lin Shu 林紓, the important translator of La Dame aux camélias in the late Qing. He once identified himself with Tang in his novels, but the story of love was transformed into one that implied his loyalty to the Qing dynasty. This transformation is typical in the reception of The Peony Pavilion in the 1930s and 40s; namely, the erotic part of the work was repressed, and the libido was redirected towards the state apparatus, which led to numerous desexualized and politicized interpretations of The Peony Pavilion.