“新中國未來記”－21世紀版陳冠中的《盛世》

The Future of New China-A 21(superscript st) Century Version

王德威(Der-Wei Wang)

《中國現代文學》 16期 (2009/12) Pp. 1-11

https://doi.org/10.29980/MCL.200912.0001

摘要

2009年是社會主義中國建國六十周年。香港作家陳冠中適時推出《盛世》，虛擬新中國所將面臨的種種危機和轉機，並思考小說作為一種批判話語的能量。本文分析陳冠中的敘事策略，強調《盛世》的意義不僅在於嘲弄中國當下的政治怪現狀，尤其在於承續上個世紀初以來，梁啟超等鼓吹政治小說的理想精神。梁啟超曾發現小說有「不可思議」之力，可以改變世道民心，因而提倡「新小說」。百年之後陳冠中書寫《盛世》或許已無晚清前輩那樣的信心，但陳藉小說散播魯迅所謂「真的惡聲」，仍然值得我們深思：國家大說鋪天蓋地，但總應容許嬉笑怒罵的聲音，而小說以其虛構特性，或許還能收盛世危言之效。

關鍵字

梁啓超 ； 新小說 ； 鄭觀應 ； 盛世危言 ； 小說政治

並列摘要

Times of Prosperity is a novel written by the Hong Kong writer Chen Guanzhong in response to the occasion of the 60(superscript th) anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The novel projects the crises and their unlikely reversals China would undergo in 2013, and ponders the capacity of fiction as a form of political intervention. This article analyzes Chen's narrative strategies, pointing out that the significance of his novel lies not only in exposing the ”bizarre status quo” of contemporary China but also in recapitulating the polemical spirit inherent in ”the political novel” that Liang Qichao and fellow intellectuals promoted at the turn of the twentieth century. Liang Qichao called for the ”New Novel” with a belief that novel has a ”power of incalculable magnitude” to reform the manners and morals of Chinese people. Writing at the turn of the 21(superscript st) century, Chen Guanzhong no longer harbors the kind of confidence like his predecessors. But Chen seems to entertain no less ambition to utter a sobering, ”devilish voice” as did Lu Xun decades ago. This article argues that at a time when the China is dominated by a monolithic discourse, fiction can still incite a canivalesque noise to disturb any sublime statement, and that at a time when a society is intoxicated by the promise of bountiful prosperity, fiction can still send warning singles of hidden crises, however unwelcome.

並列關鍵字

Liang Qichao ； neo-novel ； Zheng Guanying ； Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity ； the politics of fiction