Shen Congwen thinks that society is ugly everywhere. "But people should still have an ideal standard, and they can reach that standard, at least allowing them to create that standard in literature and art" (Shen Yunshui's Complete Works of Shen Congwen, Volume 10, Huacheng Publishing House, 1984, P276-279)-ideal.
Regarding the theme of Border Town, Shen Congwen himself said: "What I want to show is a' life form', a' beautiful, healthy and natural' life form that does not contradict human nature". The concept of "humanity" mentioned by Shen Congwen belongs to the same category as the Miao cultural tradition (essence) in Shen Congwen's mind. With the method of "regulating heterogeneous distribution", Shen Congwen first constructed the identity essence of Miao culture in western Hunan-this completely homogeneous field is basically a pure language state-and then excluded the heterogeneity found in life to the west, making the west become its own "other" and seeing its own essence from the perspective of "other". Shen Congwen tried to develop universality from the essence (particularity) of Miao culture in western Hunan, so as to establish his "small temple of human nature" to counter the cultural universalism of the Han nationality and the West. This is the position of Shen Congwen's cultural relativism (Miao culture standard) and the philosophical basis of all his works.
In Shen Congwen's own words: "You are afraid of tomorrow's facts, or you hate all the facts, so you try your best to get close to the past, and sometimes you can't help getting close to the abstract past, making it the cornerstone of your stable life." "That abstract past" refers to the identity essence of Miao culture, that is, Hegel's "universal homogeneity category". "Life-stabilizing stone" is the "humanity" that Shen Congwen defended all his life.
Regarding Border Town, Shen Congwen said, "Write some of my repressed dreams on paper. ..... Everything is full of beauty, but it is unlucky everywhere. Since it is unfortunate, a simple and happy ending will inevitably lead to tragedy. ..... Now, my past painful struggle and the oppressed and unpredictable peasant's desire for love have been drained and made up in this unfortunate story. " This is a true interpretation of Shen Congwen's cultural Oedipus complex through Border Town, and it also points out the tragedy of the story in Border Town.
We can borrow Shen Congwen's own words to understand Border Town: ... in fact, it is equivalent to making a general record of the historical development and tragic ending of my small place for two centuries. Everything happens by accident, but the result is inevitable. "
"... written on them, although only trivial and ordinary personnel gains and losses, joys and sorrows of a sailor in the Yuanshui River basin, but in fact, for their past and present, they all have deep worries that can't be written in words. They have a presentiment that their fate tomorrow, that is, such an ordinary and humble life, is not easy to maintain and will eventually be destroyed by huge potential energy from the outside on the other hand. Life seems different, and it ends in a helpless situation. "
Second, the analysis of works
(A) "Border Town" keynote and criticism from different angles to interpret the work.
Border Town is the representative work of Shen Congwen and the concentrated embodiment of his aesthetic thought. The author himself made an important confession about the creation of this novel. He said: What this work wants to show is "a life form", a beautiful, healthy and natural life form, which is not in contradiction with human nature, and its purpose is to give human beings a proper explanation of the word "love". Confessions of writers are very practical.
In this novel, the girl Cui Cui is the center of the author's attention. This is the writer's ideal "daughter of nature". She is as naive and lively as a "small animal" and as smart and kind as a "yellow deer". People around Cui Cui, whether they are showing off, modest and restrained nature protection, generous and kind grandfather, or open-minded and honest boatmen, all maintain the virtue of being a man and the purity of their souls. By describing the love between men and women, the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, the love between father and son, and the harmony in the neighborhood, the novel vividly shows the healthy, beautiful, simple and natural human love and beauty of the people in this border town.
The novel has no intention of pursuing a tortuous and bizarre story, but focuses on depicting the inner feelings of the characters. The whole work is so simple and natural, just like the stream written by the writer, flowing naturally along the mountain, either urgent or slow, without any artificial feeling. The language of the novel is also integrated with the content, simple and fresh, natural and implicit, full of poetry, and every word is saturated with the writer's warmth.
Border Town is an expression of Shen Congwen's pent-up feelings. It is a "love song" that he sang to himself in order to move himself.
Grandpa died, the white tower fell down, and the underage Cui Cui was waiting for that promise that I didn't know she would never come back. Her tender life lost its care and was full of sadness and anxiety, but Shen Congwen wrapped up the tragedy of life with lyrical and warm colors, making it a faint sadness, as beautiful and melancholy as the sunset at dusk. Fate is irresistible, but the work is a little warm: Yang, the mother's ex-lover, takes care of her grandfather instead; The boat will always extend a warm hand, and parents who have run away from home may come back. Cui Cui's wait is not meaningless. ...
A "life form" full of great human love has always been pursued in Shen Congwen's imagination, and it is in harmony with the irresistible sadness of life, which constitutes the keynote of Border Town. In this sense, Border Town is not a portrayal of rural reality, but the author's beautiful dream of "sending away" and "making up" his long-suppressed feelings.
Some people say that in the 1930s, when ethnic conflicts and class conflicts were fierce, Border Town described society and people's hearts so beautifully that it was intended to "cover up the contradictions in real life". We believe that this is a one-sided understanding of the social functions of works and literature. In fact, beauty exists objectively, even in the darkest times, the beauty of the motherland's mountains and rivers and the beauty of people's hearts also exist. Really excavating the truth, goodness and beauty inherent in the typical environment is also an attack and curse on the false, evil and ugly.
The following is a letter from Mr. Shen to his wife Zhang Zhaohe:
Three three, because the weather was a little too good, I stood at the back of the boat and watched the water for a long time. My heart suddenly seemed to understand something, and at the same time I seemed to get a lot of wisdom from this river. Yes, I have gained a lot of wisdom, not knowledge. I sighed many times, and the sunset at the top of the mountain touched me very much, and the pebbles at the bottom of the water also touched me very much. There seems to be no dross in my heart, and I love the river, the sunset and the boatman warmly! ..... I saw a small fishing boat, the black cormorant carrying it slowly rowed down, and I was very moved and loved the gesture of the boatmen on the stone beach. ..... Sansan, I don't know why, I am very touched! I hope to live longer and fully develop my life into my work. I will use my own strength to interpret the so-called life more solemnly and profoundly than anyone else! Three, three, I watched the water for a long time and got something from the stones in the water that I couldn't get at ordinary times. For life, for love and hate, it seems completely different from people. I feel very disappointed. I always look too far and too deep. For myself, I became a victim. I am very weak at this time. Because I love the world and human beings. Three three, if we are in the same place at the moment, look how wet my eyes are!
This is a letter from home, a "patent reading", not a declaration. Every word is sincere and credible, whether dressed or not.
From this letter, we can understand why Mr. Shen wrote Border Town and why he wrote it so beautifully. Because he loves the world and human beings. We can also learn about all Shen Congwen's works from here.
There have been several understandings of Border Town:
First, I think Border Town doesn't write about class struggle, which "hollows out the class attributes of the characters".
The first person who is considered to have hollowed out the class attribute is Shunshun. Some commentators have improved the smooth composition, saying that he is a "water leader", "leading brother" and "group manager". I hope he will not be classified as a bully landlord. In fact, Shunshun is just a steward of the water terminal. He has some property, and his property is only "four boats". What class is he in? His class attribute is the idea of climbing up. For example, he wants to climb relatives with Wang Tuan, but he doesn't want his son to marry a granddaughter who works on a boat. He is a little poor and doesn't love rich people. But after all, he is just a steward of the water terminal. He is honest, fair and respected, and often solves problems for others, so it is difficult for people to write him viciously.
As for Shunshun's two sons, Tianbao and Nuo sent them, "When sailing south, they often take their own boat as their partner, share joys and sorrows with others, choose the heaviest when rowing, and pull their heads when carrying fibers", not to mention "class enemies".
In response to this criticism, Shen Congwen gave a challenging answer: "You know that you want a work to have' thoughts',' blood' and' tears', and you want a work to show these things in the story development, characters' words, and even the cover and catalogue of a book. How easy it is to do what you want! But I can't give you this. I deliberately gave up on you ... "
Second, Border Town is a paradise, divorced from real life.
Is Border Town realistic or romantic? Does Border Town idealize real life? This is a very confusing question.
Why is this novel called Border Town? This is a question worth thinking about.
"Border Town" is not only a geographical concept, but also does not mean that it is a small town on the border. This is also a concept of time and culture. Border Town is the antonym of big city. This is "another thing in another part of China" (inscription on the border town). Mr. Shen ran from the countryside to the big city, hating the decadent life of the upper class and the "vulgar, stingy and selfish philistinism" of the city people, which triggered his homesickness and made him miss the simple folk customs of his hometown that had not been completely destroyed by modern material civilization.
Even in Xiangxi, this quaint folk custom is disappearing. Mr. Shen said in the inscription on the long river: "1In the winter of 934, I went back to Xiangxi on business from Beiping, and went north to my hometown Fenghuang County by boat. I have been to my hometown for eighteen years. Once I entered the Chen Valley, everything was different. On the surface, everything has naturally made great progress. If you try to pay close attention, you will see a downward trend in the process of change. The most obvious thing, that is, the integrity, simplicity and beauty of human nature maintained by rural society, is almost disappearing, replaced by a realistic and profitable outlook on life that has been successfully cultivated in the real society in the past 20 years. " The life written in Border Town does exist, but by the time Border Town was written (1933- 1934), it almost did not exist. Border Town is a nostalgic work, a kind of nostalgia with regret. Border Town is a tender work, but there is a deep sense of tragedy behind it.
It can be said that Border Town is both realistic and romantic. Life in Border Town is real, and at the same time it is idealized, which is idealized reality.
Why romanticism and idealism? Because I want to keep something beautiful and eternal, let it last forever and benefit future generations.
The preface to Shen Congwen's Selected Novels says:
There may be people in the world who want to build a pavilion on the beach or on the water, but that's not me. I just want to build a small Greek temple. Choose mountains as the foundation and pile them with hard stones. Exquisite, strong, symmetrical, small but not slender, it is my ideal building. This temple is dedicated to "humanity".
What I want to show is a "life form", a "beautiful, healthy and natural life form that does not contradict human nature".
Mr. Shen has his own views on the social function of literature. He believes that good works not only make people feel "real beauty", but also have the power to attract people to be good ... From works, they can get in touch with another life and get some inspiration from this life scene, so as to have a deeper understanding of life or life. Mr. Shen's view is "too deep and too far". In my opinion, this is the most correct view of the function of literature. This is of course unacceptable to some theorists who are eager for quick success and instant benefit.