朝向現代性的幽暗心靈——王文興《家變》的雙重象徵與意義

Conflicts and Predicaments in Modern Cultural Transition–Dual Symbol of A Family Catastrophe Wen-Hsing Wang

本文以為在《家變》的整體敘事結構中，「父親」所代表的雙重象徵，是小說的關鍵寓意所在。所謂的雙重象徵，一是指「一個家庭裡的父親」，二是指「一個文化上的傳統」，透過對雙重象徵的關係性解讀，我們將把王文興所致力描繪的一場「家變」，置於整個中國近代文化語境中，找出隱含在「父子衝突」與「家變」情節下的重要寓意。本文以為，《家變》中的「叛父」，不僅是一個普遍人性下的，帶著永恆意義的「父子衝突」課題，更有其文化脈絡：揭露華人社會在邁向現代化轉型的過程中，以「家」所體現的價值系統之衝突。因此須注意故事情節中，從單一家庭事件所過度的對華人社會特殊結構之思考。因之，《家變》作為現代文學經典的意義，即透過家屋底下的「父子衝突」，凸顯出華人社會在邁向現代化轉型過程中，所遭逢的巨大心靈困境。

In the overall narrative structure of A Family Catastrophe, this paper believes that the dual symbol represented by“father”is the key message of the novel. Dual symbol indicates“father in the family”and“a cultural tradition.”Through a relationship interpretation of dual symbol, we arrange“a family catastrophe”depicted by Wen-Hsing Wang in the entire modern Chinese context of culture to find the significant import implied in the plots of“conflicts between father and son”and“a family catastrophe.”This paper believes that not only does“rebellious father”in A Family Catastrophe reflect the eternal issue of“conflicts between father and son”in the context of a universal human nature and nor does its story plot present one family event irrelevant to Chinese society structure. Serving as a modern literature classic significance, A Family Catastrophe brings to light conflicts issues of value system embodied by“family”in Chinese society in the periods of cultural transition moving towards a modern society.