“文备众体”：明清文人小说的文体特征

摘要

唐传奇小说“文备众体”的特征似已得到学术界的普遍认同，而在小说这种叙事性文字中，穿插使用诗、词、曲、赋等其他各体文字，不独唐文言小说为然，明清文人小说亦如此。如果说说唱艺术的文字遗存被取来作为案头“小说”进行阅读时，各体文字共享同一文本时常常显示出异质和杂糅，而诗、词、曲、赋等各类文字在文人小说中已各自承担起了相应的独特功能，从而成为一种“有意味的形式”。同时，小说家们之所以特别看重诗、词、曲、赋之类文字的写作，是因为此类文字最能表现其作为文人的“文学”才能，故各体文字本身皆有其相对独立的价值，不宜单从小说“叙事功能”的角度加以体认。因此“文备众体”最终成为明清文人小说最主要的文体特征。%It is well know that novels in the form of Chuanqi传奇(tales of strange events)in the Tang Dynasty are characterized by the coexistence of different genres:the narrative prose is interspersed with such genres as shi诗,ci词,qu曲and fu赋. However,this generic hybrid can also be found in the novels written by the literati in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although the generic heterogeneity of the texts derived from the oral story-telling performances is striking when read as novels in written forms,the different genres each play their respective roles in the novels written by the literati,thus constituting a meaningful literary form. Additionally,the reason why the literati novelists managed to embellish their narrative texts with genres like shi诗,ci词,qu曲,and fu赋 is that these types of writings can best speak of their literary accomplishments. In this sense,each genre plays an independ-ent role,whose value cannot be overshadowed by only focusing on the narrative function of the novel. Therefore ,the coexistence of different genres became the most important feature of novels by the litera-ti in the Ming and Qing dynasties.