《玄怪錄》幻設的跡證及其作意探究

The Fictional Characteristics and the Author’s Intention of Xuanguai lu

本篇論文針對唐代重要小說集牛僧孺《玄怪錄》，為小說史家指陳與唐代小說常見「徵實起信」相反的「顯示幻設」之敘事特色作一探究，辨析今日可見及的文本內容所呈現的人物命名之虛構化、故事時空背景與現實的脫離、擬人化與諧隱的修辭、以志怪題材為撰作憑藉等，作為該書「顯示幻設」的跡證，同時抉發出牛僧孺「顯示幻設」實出於好奇語誕、以示文才、寄寓思理、關切時事等作意，回應歷來對《玄怪錄》所作「多造隱語」和「寓言」的評價，進而突顯《玄怪錄》兼具興趣和興寄的撰作意旨。

The research object of this paper is Xuanguai lu, an important work of Tang stories written by Niu Sengru. Scholars of the history of Chinese fiction claim that Xuanguai lu shows different purpose from other Tang fiction on the pursuit of “fictional” instead of “real”, so this paper will extensively explore the fictional characteristics and imaginary narrative features of this work. From the extant texts, the paper finds out its characteristics as the following: the fabrication about the names of the fiction figures, the unreality of the time-and-space background, the personification and parody of the rhetoric, and the use of Zhiguai as its subject matters. In the meantime, this paper digs out the multiple motivations of Niu Sengru: the curiosity about the fantasy, the display of his literary talents, the exposition of his thoughts, and the concern about current affairs. To sum up, this paper aims to respond to the general evaluation of Xuanguai lu, and to highlight its compiling intention both of interest and of allegory.