史华罗：某些中国文学经典的辨析和翻译以及它们作为中国文明源泉的重要性
Analysis and translation of some Classics of literature, and their importance as sources of Chinese civilization
Paolo Santangelo
University of Rome
The long term project on emotions and imagery in late imperial China aims at analyzing and re-examining various sources, rediscover and reconstruct the so-called “mental structure” in Ming and Qing China and its rich capital of lexicon, concepts and symbols to represent internal and external reality. Here, some results of the analysis of two literary sources are presented:
Shan’ge山歌is a text which can be considered of ‘marginal’ importance compared with other writing of the times. This marginality itself however is significant in that it helps us understand the nature of society, which was very mobile and articulated, as well as the vitality of the intellectual world of Jiangnan. A series of symbols pervade the entire collection: euphemisms, metaphors and parallelisms, particularly those implying sexual love and desire. Most of the feelings expressed in the songs are subversive if we take into consideration that the official stance was a refusal to recognise moral legitimacy to desires, as they did not fit into the cardinal five relationships and hierarchical interrelations. But in this collection of folk songs, sublime and selfish passions, desires and lustful thoughts, sincerity and treachery, all are voiced and accepted with great tolerance. Thus, if Shan’ge is a ‘marginal’ work in the complex framework of Chinese literature, it cannot be considered marginal in its effort to express the codes of emotions in a new way, and to transmit them to the readers with great immediacy. The songs move from social satire to critical self-reflection, sometimes poking fun at certain steadfast personal beliefs, and the image of love expressed in these songs differently from images that come from other literary works. Against the ideal of ‘the talented student and the beautiful girl’(佳人才子), social needs are almost ignored in favour of an erotic and aesthetic dimension: the minimalist interpretation of love could be summed up in the statement “love is like food”, but also “love is like fire”, and its ephemeral and light nature emerges through “the beloved is like a flower”.
Zibuyu 子不语is a collection of fantastic tales of the zhiguai genre. Although Yuan Mei says in his preface that tales should not be taken seriously. They simply aim to dispel boredom and are works with different reading levels. This allows one to uncover several deep trends, taboos and fantasies of late imperial intellectual circles. It can be considered a collection of fragments of the representation of our paradoxical existence, where the subconscious life emerges in the apparent normality of everyday actuality: no pilgrimage with a definite process in an allegorical reality of punishment-repentance-forgiveness chain, but rather a chaotic interference of what we try to ignore and forget, death, sickness, desires and passions, that destroy the Apollinian vision of the social-centered Confucian perception Disgust, surprise and laughter are constantly evoked, by keeping the reader in a continuous mood of attraction and repulsion that reminds the perturbing bewilderment of the unconscious desire. The ambiguous atmosphere introduces us in a world of a lost innocence where contamination between ‘magic’ and ‘real’, dream and consciousness, charm and horror, fantasy and rationality seem natural, but at the same time the darkness of existence is dominating.
Key words: literary works, Chinese civilization, mentality, states of mind.
某些中国文学经典的辨析和翻译以及它们作为中国文明源泉的重要性
史华罗
罗马大学
长期以来，对中华帝制晚期的情感与形象的探讨一直聚焦于分析和重审各种文献材料，重新发掘和建立所谓中国明清社会的心理结构以及再现描述它的内部和外部现实的丰富词汇、概念和象征符。本文将以两部文学作品为例展开论述：
《山歌》是一种“边缘化”写作，其重要性无法与同时代其它作品相比。然而，它的“边 缘性”对于我们理解社会特性非常重要，这种社会性和充满活力的江南士林一样，十分易变而又盘根错节。《山歌》集中充满了一系列的象征符：委婉语、隐喻和类 比，尤其是那些暗示性爱和欲望的内容。如果我们考虑到官方拒绝承认欲望的道德合法性的立场，那么这些歌谣中大多情感的表达是具有颠覆性的，因为它们并不符 合最基本的五种伦常关系和等级秩序。但是在这本民歌集中，纯洁而又自私的激情、欲望和性、忠诚和背叛……它们的表达和接受得到了社会极大的宽容。因此，如 果《山歌》在中国文学的复杂框架内算是一种“边缘化”写作的话，它努力以新的方式并即时地传达给读者的情感代码则不应被“边缘化”。这些歌谣从讽刺社会转 向自我嘲弄，不时地取笑某些坚定的个人信仰，这些歌谣中呈现的爱的形象与其它文学作品中的同类形象差别很大。不同于“才子佳人”的理想，这些民歌中关于爱 的述说几乎完全忽略了社会需求，而迎合某种情色和审美的维度：它们关于爱的“极简抽象派艺术”的阐释可以概括为“爱就象食物”，而且“爱象烈火”，它短暂 却明耀的特性通过“所爱的人就象一朵花”而呈现出来。
《子不语》是一本“志怪”体的神话传说集。