論劉鶚《老殘遊記》主題思想之呈現

劉鶚《老殘遊記》雖被魯迅列為晚清四大譴責小說之一，然其作品中特殊的遊記式書寫與情節設計卻迥異於其他譴責小說，此撰寫模式主要來自於劉鶚創作的緣由與習慣，同時也成為凸顯小說主題的重要憑藉。劉鶚身為一介實業家，面對當時清廷腐敗、社會動亂，深感無奈痛心，因此在機緣湊巧下撰寫《老殘遊記》時，便下意識將自身經歷舆想望寄託於「老殘」身上，隨著老殘的視野與情節的開展，讀者可體察到在看似毫無連貫的篇章結構下，其實隱藏了劉鶚苦心孤詣的中心思想，即透過實業家的觀點和抱持知識分子的使命感來審視晚清中國的大環境，並自覺地將自己對時代變局以及中國前途的憂慮，投射到老殘的所見所聞、所思所感上；而藉由小說的寫作與傳佈來唤醒廣大讀者，引發時人愛國情感的共鳴，並共同為處境危殆的中國謀求補救之道，即是劉鶚在《老殘遊記》中亟欲呈現的主題思想。

關鍵字

劉鶚；老殘遊記；譴責小說

並列摘要

Liu Er's Ttravels of Lao Can was regarded by Lu Xun as one of the four great condemn novels in the late Qing Dynasty, but his unique ways of travel writing and plot design are different from other condemn fiction. Thus, his mode of writing was mainly derived from the special reasons and habits of Liu Er's, thereby becoming an important highlight on the theme of the novel. Liu Er's as a businessman was facing the corruption of Qing government, social unrest, deeply helpless sadness. So in writing Ttravels of Lao Can, he subconsciously will write down his own experience and desire in the hands of, ＂Lao Can＂. With the vision and development of the plot of Lao Can, readers can see the seemingly coherent structure of the text actually hides Liu Er's central idea. Through his industrialist views and the intellectual sense of mission, he examines the late Qing Dynasty Chinese environment, and consciously projects his worries about the changing times and the nation's future, onto what Lao Con saw and heard, thought and felt; and by writing the novel, he hoped to awaken readers and triggered their resonance of the patriotic feelings so as to work together to seek remedy for the imperiled China. That is the theme Liu Er's The Travels of Lao Can.