論殘雪小說思辨虛構美學的途徑與關懷

Can Xue’s Fictional Aesthetic: Its Route and Concerns

從八○年代後期迄廿一世紀的殘雪小說，不斷後設地探究如何虛構小說時，不僅不偏廢歷史省思，更綰合創作論與存有論，一層層指出邁入自由又神聖的精神家園的路徑，從而跳脫先鋒文學的侷限。此乃殘雪小說在大陸當代小說史中的重要價值之一，也是本文不同於前人研究之處。即，殘雪小說以神聖救贖與恐怖荒誕的辯證切入，鬆動文革神話的神聖位階，不僅展示人民隱蔽而難以言說的心理世界與時間想像，更企圖以荒誕恐怖的現象激勵出改革開放後的精神家園應以「自由的創造力」為特質，才是真正的神聖救贖。自由的創造力是殘雪小說的終極關懷，也是人的存有價值之一，更是後革命時代的人們省思與轉化革命中國──由包裝著權力話語的各式各樣的敘事建構而成──之道。

Unlike previous studies of Can Xue 殘雪, this article focuses on the novelist’s works of metafiction from the late 1980s to the 21st century. These works explore the issue of how to “fabricate” novels; they integrate creation theory and the philosophy of existence without neglecting historical reflection, pointing the way to a free and sacred spiritual homeland. By virtue of this exploration, Can Xue’s novels rid pioneer literature of its limitations, thereby establishing the value of Can Xue’s novels in the history of Chinese contemporary literature. Can Xue wrote her novels using alien and absurdist language to confront the sacred position of national mythology during the Cultural Revolution. They were aimed at bringing to light the hidden and intangible mental world, as well as the temporal imagination, of the people bound by such mythology. The novelist’s absurdist narratives show that the authentic sacred must derive from the “freedom of creativity” in the spiritual homeland following Chinese economic reform. The essence of the spirit of the sacred, namely the freedom of creativity, is the value of human existence and the ultimate concern of Can Xue’s novels. By virtue of this essence, Can Xue’s novels move from revolutionary China to post-revolutionary China, the former being a narrative construct consisting of various power discourses.