修改的不可能性：王文興手稿中的刪除、修改和添加內容

The Impossibility of Revising: Deletion, Revision and Addition in Wang Wen-hsing's Manuscripts

研讀手稿目的不在於挖掘秘密隱私，找出沒有人發現過的東西，揭發關於作家本人或其作品本質的真相。我們不是在尋找表面之下的深刻內涵。我們必須另闢蹊徑，脫離一些對立辯證的老生常談。易言之，我們應如何逃脫窠臼？每次遇到「創造」這個詞，就像遇到暗礁一樣避之唯恐不及。為了瞭解文本生成的過程，筆者將比較王文興與其他作家修改中文手稿的方式，再探討王文興手稿中與「刪改」相關的詞彙。王文興在〈王文興談王文興〉訪談中提到修改對他而言是不可能的。假如要修改，修改的部份與未修改過的部份之間似乎沒有差別，否則就算改過，錯誤總是存在，因為「改一個字，別想改得好，除非這字以後的都劃掉，重來」。這段話令人不禁心生疑竇。為甚麼不能修改自己寫的東西？純粹是語言的問題嗎？還是牽涉到思想的傳統，抑或是作家的特性？王文興說他在謄稿的過程中一字不改，實際上他的草稿還是佈滿了刪改的痕跡；寫完《家變》的初稿之後，他曾說要全部修改，後來卻沒有這樣做，其間是否有矛盾？

The purpose of studying manuscript aims not at revealing secrets, finding something which has hitherto escape detection, discovering the truth or essence concerning the works or the writers themselves. We do not unearth the hidden truth buried beneath the surface. What we do is to turn to a detour, to turn away from dialectical cliches. How do we escape the sterotype? Everytime we encounter the issue of creativity, we instinctively shy away from it. In order to delve into the question of the genetic process, I intend to discuss the traditional Chinese concept of revision and then deal with Wang Wen-hsing's usage of the word in his manuscripts. In an interview, Wang stated that it is impossible for him to revise. If a revision is made anyway, there seems to be no difference between what has been revised and what has remained unchaged. To put it another way, the fault remains even if the revision is done. ＂To try to change a single word does not work, unless you strike all the words which comes after that word,＂ according to Wang. The statement raises a couple of questions. Why can't a writer rewrite his own writing? Does revision has something to do with language? Or does the act concern with language? Does this involve the tradition from whence the writer comes? Or is this an unique phenomenon belonging to Wang alone? Though Wang has emphasized that in the process of transferring from the final draft to the fair copy, not a single word is changed, in actuality his manuscripts are full of revisions and deletions. After the completion of Jiabien [Family Catastrophe], he mentioned that he intended to rewrite everything. Did he or did he not do that? Is there in existence some paradox?