19世纪西人小说中的白话实验

19世纪来华的西方人出于对异质语言的敏感、华洋杂处的现实需要以及探求中国文化的兴趣,率先发起了语言变革。他们所作白话小说主要包括传教士小说和汉语读本中用北京官话改写的白话小说,其中所用白话则经历了由章回小说的旧式白话到北京官话的转变。尽管西人进行的白话实验并未带来中国文学的现代转型,但在对白话文的认识与运用上表现出相当的超前性与创造力,是我们研究白话文运动的绝佳的参照系与对比物。它促使我们重新审视与评价“五四”白话文运动。

The Vernacular Chinese Novels by Westerners in 19th Century China

In 19th century China,westerners wrote a lot of vernacular novels.They were written in collo- quial Chinese or in mandarin much more earlier than those by Chinese literati in late Qing dynasty and in May 4th period.It is herald of vernacular literature movement indeed.Re-recognizing these novels is sig- nificant and it can help us explore the relationship between the language innovation and modernization of Chinese literature and culture.