“童趣”——《西游记》的审美品格

在对小说《西游记》的解读上,人们长期沉湎于“释魔证道”,这其实是对《西游记》的误读。这种误读是因为研究者忽略了对《西游记》审美品格的把握。认为,“童趣”构成了《西游记》的审美品格。而且,《西游记》的童趣品格并非突兀而成的,它有着中国传统的审美背景,袁宏道的“趣论”便是这一背景中重要的一环。值得注意的是,袁宏道之所谓“趣”即相当于现今所说的“童趣”。那么,以袁宏道的“趣论”观照《西游记》,便能较好地把握《西游记》的审美品格。《西游记》的“童趣”表现为:去除装饰的“天真之趣”,无视规范的“叛逆之趣”,挣脱约束的“自在之趣”。

Childlike Happiness-Aesthetic Characteristics of A Journey to the West

When reading A Journey to the West,we have long been accustomed to the advocating of moral ethics.Such an erroneous reading results from our ignorance of the novel's aesthetic characteristics.This paper holds that childlike happiness contributes to the major aesthetic characteristics of the novel,which is not formed all of a sudden but is rooted deeply in the Chinese aesthetic tradition.Professor Yuan Hongdao is one of scholars that probe into such a happiness.If we read the novel in accordance with Yuan's ideas, we are in a better position to approach the novel's aesthetic characteristics. To be concrete,the childlike happiness in the novel can be shown from the following three aspects: the happiness of innocence,of rebellion and violating traditional morals,and of freedom after breaking the fetters of moral restrictions.