筆記、微言、小文學：張愛玲《筆記簿》探賾

The Secret Script: Exploring Eileen Chang’s Literary Memento Biji Bu

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

本文以晚近被發現的張愛玲（1920-1995）寫作遺物《筆記簿》爲對象，從語句發微與文本探賾的角度，選讀並論析張的新聞雜抄、日常記事與傳統筆記體的聯繫線索。本文首先由張寫於1970年代的《談看書》談起，分析其對清代《閲微草堂筆記》的解讀反饋，突出了傳統筆記以簡是尚與含蓄紀實的敘述特性。其後，由張對當代中、外新聞報導的摘抄，分析其將文言筆記的零星著録體式，發揮爲中、英混語的片段寫作。最後，探賾張的外出筆記，探論張以夾雜淺近文言並高度節斂化的雙語寫作，展現了她對美國社會的印象式紀實。透過爬梳《筆記簿》，本文指出這本看似内容瑣屑的張氏遺物，其寫作表現既有勾連至傳統筆記體的微言大義，並足以挖掘張氏後期寫作的小文學特質。

This essay takes a recently unearthed notebook written by Eileen Chang (1920-1995) as its primary research material. Serving as a personal literary artifact left by Chang, the notebook deserves attention for Chang’s insightful remarks on literary creation. It further illuminates her “late” writing style, often regarded as a manifestation of “negative dialectics.” This essay, therefore, focuses on the comparability between Eileen Chang’s “late” writing in her notebook and the biji genre in traditional Chinese literature. It begins by tracing Chang’s response to the Yuewei caotang biji (Jottings in the Thatched-Roof Abode of Observing Subtleties by Ji Xiaolan) in her 1970s prose “On Reading, “highlighting that Chang revealed the essential qualities of the biji genre through her praise for this literary classic. The essay then delves into Chang’s bilingual notes on contemporary newspaper reports, unveiling that she excerpted news articles and transformed them into a form akin to biji. Furthermore, it uncovers how Chang applied biji style to her episodic accounts of living experiences in American society. In short, this essay scrutinizes the parallel expression between Chang’s script of notes and the biji genre, disclosing the nature of Chang’s “late” writing and its connection to traditional Chinese literature.