1905, 1955, 2005 Three Moments of Modern Chinese Literature

本文聚焦1905，1955，2005三個歷史時刻，討論中國文學現代化進程的巨變與不變。1905年見證文學與政治石破天驚的的互動；1955年標誌海峽兩岸文化政策和文學政策空前的對壘－以及不可思議的對話。2005年的文學文化雖然表面無足可觀，但1905、1955年代的幽靈隱然驅之不去。本文雖然並列這三個年代，但無意暗示歷史因果律的必然。相反的本文企圖重探世紀以來中國文學複雜的軌跡。我認為中國文學現代性不能以特定時期，公式，創作或閱讀群體來斷定；現代性的意義不在於內爍真理的呈現，而在於對歷史坐標的不斷定位。只有當我們折衝現代的多元時間面向間，我們才能持續啟動，也化解，現代迷樣的魅力。

關鍵字

現代性

並列摘要

This essay examines the dynamics of modern Chinese literature by looking into three moments: 1905, 1955 and 2005. 1905 appeared to be one of the inchoate moments that set the tone of the politics of literature in subsequent decades. 1955 marked the heyday of antagonism (as well as unlikely dialogue) between the two Chinese regimes in literary and cultural production. While 2005 may appear to have been ”a year of no significance,” a question can be asked: To what extent can one say the specters of 1905 and 1955 have dissipated, or have never left?By setting the literary phenomena of 1905, 1955, 2005 side by side, I have no intention to reinstate the laws of historical causality. In sharp contrast to such a mechanical notion, I look for clues and traces that would enable us to recognize anew the complex voices in the formation of modern Chinese literature. I propose that Chinese literary modernity does not take place with a single formula, for an elite group of writers and readers, or at a sanctioned historical moment. Modernity indicates not a mythical telos but a historical re-positioning. Only when one is aware of the multiple temporal zones played out against each other in the dialectics of modernity can one continuously enact as well as undo the spell of the modern.