兒童如何變成了歷史的主題：論民國時期發展話語的建構

此文辨析了二十世紀上半葉民國時期的文學和文化裡面關於兒童的修辭和話語建構。從1917年新文化運動開始到1937年抗日戰爭全面開始的這段時間，見證了有關兒童、童年和兒童發展的話語爆發，是現代中國文化史中有待充分研究的一個重要方面。兒童，被修辭化為譜寫國族歷史新篇章的象徵。民國時期對兒童的發現，體現為在認識論、意識形態、教育制度，甚至商業上的多重疊加。周作人對「兒童文學」的呼求，游移在認知發展、童年本位和民族主義歷史敘事之間。魯迅在《狂人日記》裡將「救救孩子」的訴求嵌套於宣告狂人已經「早愈」的古文序言中。此文指出，如此種種努力，遭遇了發展主義話語邏輯裡面的內在敘事悖論，而陷入困境。

關鍵字

兒童文學；發展主義；魯迅；周作人；進化論思想；《狂人日記》

並列摘要

This essay examines the figure of the child in modern Chinese literature in its charged and dialectical relation to the vernacularization of evolutionary thought in the Republican period. The period between the advent of the New Culture Movement in 1917 and the outbreak of full-scale war with Japan in 1937 witnessed an unprecedented interest in and explosion of discourse for and about children, childhood, and child development. Figured as an emblem of the unfolding of national history, the child was singled out as an object of intense interest and intervention on the part of intellectuals and cultural entrepreneurs. And yet, as shown in a symptomatic reading of Zhou Zuoren's advocacy of children's literature and Lu Xun's canonical calls to ＂Save the children!＂ in his ＂Diary of the Madman,＂ these efforts often foundered upon the internal narrative contradictions of developmentalist logic.