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王学海:从“疯癫式创作”开始

2017-09-14阿英

文化交流 2017年8期
关键词:学海作家小说

很早以前我就知道王学海的大名,他写诗歌、小说,是“疯癫式创作”的作家。所谓“疯癫式创作”,只是概念罢了,指作品中的意象具有文化批判力量,于“過去”而言具有颠覆性,突破各种束缚,触及生活本真,揭示历史本质,从而开掘作品的深度。

那时的我,是一个喜爱阅读的半大不小的青年,对王学海颇有些崇仰,认为邻县的他代表了我们地区的成就和荣光。

听说,王学海的写作“始源于读书,小时候就读到过两个故事,一个是无太阳而去寻找,另一个是因为太阳太多而去射灭。寻和射,其实质都在追求一种正确之光。”由此,王学海诗意地回忆:“书就是我的光。”

王学海的成长期在“文革”中,他偷偷弄来许多文学作品读,打下一定的基础。像大多数文学青年一样,王学海的习作从诗歌起步,但似乎一直羞涩于投稿,迟迟地在2005年发表处女作,叫《水上的火焰》,具体文字我回忆不起来,只记得很快《诗刊》和《文学报》推出了他的诗歌专栏,有名的有《鱼》《改变》《胡杨》《九月的最后一天》等,后来有评论说,他的诗“带着思辨能力”,“与社会、生活连在一起”,他“是真正具有诗人品质的诗人”。

诗歌而外,王学海也写小说,生活范围使然,题材便从身边着眼。他的家乡在江南水乡的海宁斜桥,相对富庶,也相对平和;相对传统,也相对粗俗。王学海从小在那里受熏陶,总觉得该有故事可讲。他说,是司汤达的《红与黑》让他直接有了小说创作的冲动。西方现代小说之父司汤达的成就高下姑且不论,莫非王学海也有独开一面的意识?

多年以后,王学海积累下的小说也多,其中颇有反响的是《怨恨》(2003)等,但真正让他满意的是构思了十几二十年的《争吵的汗水》。这篇小说大约可以算作他的代表作。

《争吵的汗水》描写王学海初讨生活的一家民办搬运站里的故事,那里是一方江湖之地,人员集清退、闲散和工厂家属等于一体,劳作艰辛,充满争吵、打架、说粗话,却居然也有会唱评弹、搞杂耍的人,甚至有能讲哈代的德伯家的苔丝的故事的人。特殊的年代,特殊的身份,特殊的单位,特色的经历,让大家为一角钱而斤斤计较,遇事又团结一致对付。那时力气在谁身上谁就是英雄,想不到起初举不起60斤重的王学海,一年后的手臂力已经排行老三……就是那么一群人,却扛起了小镇生活、经济以及“文化传说”的一部分。

《争吵的汗水》于2011年发表,昔日的真实生活,今日艺术地重演,立即轰动了王学海的家乡。那些曾经的同事纷纷来电或捎口信,有的甚至找上门来,要与他再诉往事衷肠。不过,王学海已经无意于纯粹的回忆,那只是简单的状态,他需要清楚的意识,了解自己是否属于“疯癫式创作”。我曾多次阅读那篇小说,确实“触及生活本真,揭示历史本质”。

王学海的小说“接地气”,“有社会正义感”,发表于2016年的《走着》,是他特别喜欢、并引发评论界关注的。小说叙说一个重组家庭的故事,作者在抗衡中逆袭习惯性思维,大声呵责人们为什么不去想想作为尴尬角色的家长的难处?难道不该体谅重组家庭中后爸后妈的苦衷和压力吗?我以为,《走着》的创作理念是清晰的,因为提出了一个遮蔽的社会问题,而这正是王学海所提倡的作家需要“疯癫式创作”的一种表现,所以发表后,刊物主编又向多家内刊和选刊推荐登载。

若干年前,我俩相识于作协会议上;在乌镇、西塘,在南北湖、乍浦港,多次研讨会、采风笔会的交结,渐渐相熟,互以“学海兄”“阿英妹”相称——在我则有点攀上高枝的沾沾喜悦。那时,学海兄的身份是有影响力的理论研究者兼作家,对此,他淡淡地说,自己并非科班出身,如今有幸成为中国社科院文研所访问学者。

上世纪80年代,哲学与美学风行一时。那时夏夜户外纳凉,王学海喜欢给一帮子人讲外国文学作品里的故事。一天,别人对他的议论传到他耳中:“他就会讲几个故事,算什么,哲学他懂吗?”关于哲学,王学海真的不懂。他于是“憋着一股气”,从18世纪末19世纪初的德国古典哲学开始阅读,通览了所能找到的西方的哲学、思想和文艺批评著作,写下了百万余字的读书札记,并由此进入学术领域。

一次开会,饭后我和学海兄在盐官海堤漫步,夜色四合,有小潮水摇漾。谈起当年经历,他心潮似乎也澹荡,说,“大潮宜观,小潮宜听”,正是朱光潜的《西方美学史》引他进入理论研究。

学海兄在自家只有3平方米的灶间开始,执著于哲学、美学与文艺理论的学习。他的第一篇文学评论《〈高老头〉中的米旭诺》,发表在1984年,竟然远远早于文学创作。到如今,他已发表论文70多篇,“对美学、文学理论、学术史以及涉及电影、戏剧、小说、诗歌、网络文学等现象和作品进行研究……使人对当前文学艺术现象有清醒冷静的认识”。其中,像《关于年谱编撰的新思考——兼述陈鸿祥的〈王国维年谱〉》《文学的审美与人学的关系》《在娱乐中我们还有思想》等多篇论文,被《新华文摘》《人大复印报刊资料》及《全国高校文科学术文摘资料》等转载。我曾问学海兄,这可是厚积薄发的涌潮?他温文作答,钱塘江连向大海,学海无涯,自己尚需努力。

学海兄还撰写过诸如《从王国维释〈说文〉,看秦始皇“梵书坑儒”动因及其它》等文章,在甲骨文领域,与几个权威专家相左,观点十分新颖。他涉猎之广、之深,更让我惊讶。

学海兄有《闪光的截面》《圈外野论》《湿鞋》《文学前言:精神与问题》以及《王学海文选》等多种专著和论文集,被国内知名的学术性出版社出版。他的这些著述大都签名相送给我,惭愧的是我至今尚未全部学习完。

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“王学海……以理论家、批评家的学养从事创作,又以作家、诗人的经历开展理论研究和文学艺术批评,可以说在两个領域具有超过一般人的优势和有利条件。”

细究之下,学海兄的关注点更多的还是集中在文学方面,评论“关切内心、关注文本、关怀人生”,每一篇都针对一个或一些问题,如《文学的审美与人学的关系》等。他曾发表《对当代文学的发展与期待》一文,指出:“为什么中国当代文学至今未能产生巨著,关键的一点在于作家想象力的贫乏。中国作家在整体上已充分表露出了自由想象力的蜕化……一个作家要出杰作,首先在于超越自我,才会成为可能。变化与超越,创新与毁灭,这就是作家与文学的关系的真正所在。”学海兄的自省式观点,引起文坛一时震动。

2005年,学海兄的专著《文学前言:精神与问题》一书被列入“浙江省现实主义文学精品工程”。之后,他成为浙江省2011—2013年三位实力派签约作家中的一位。他创作与研究的势头一发不可收,进入了一个井喷期。

我认为作为个案,2011年由中国文联理论研究室、浙江省作家协会和海宁市人民政府,在北京联合举办的“王学海理论研究与文学创作研讨会”,是中国文联首次为基层的文艺工作者召开高规格研讨会。与会的学者、专家和文学刊物的主编有50多人,对他的成就与贡献给予充分肯定和高度评价。《人民日报》《光明日报》《中国艺术报》和新浪网、腾讯网等媒体纷纷报道。

学海兄思维活跃,视野开阔,“主动追踪前沿、关心学界的话题”。在我看来,他的研究没有固定的模式、方向。1998年,王学海调入海宁张宗祥书画院(纪念馆)工作,而后担任院长(馆长)。也许因为工作关系,他颇为致力于地方文化名人的研究,撰写了对王国维、张宗祥以及吴世昌和徐志摩、陈学昭、金庸等海宁籍学人、作家的评论。从来,作家研究难于作品研究;在这之中,我最佩服他能从人文地理的角度,去考察、提炼、锻铸人物的思想学说的根与魂,这种曾在明清时期闪亮的学术作为,现在极少有人当作优秀传统。而他说:“这只是为充实与提高自己的研究水平所做。”

学海兄的办公室堆满书刊资料,但有条不紊,他便坐在那里理性地深思、探索。未详与“疯癫式创作”有否关系,学海兄以敏锐的目光、独到的见解,发人之未见,引起不少学者、专家的高度关注。中国艺术报社长向云驹评介:“他与狭隘的地域研究不同,他把穆旦、王国维、金庸等一些文化巨人放在历史的长河中和文化空间中为他们定位,揭示他们对文化的贡献……这样的研究难度很大,是很值得钦佩的。”

我想,正是生活本身造就了王学海这位作家、学者。对于未来,学海兄说“就想写出一部令自己满意的长篇小说”和一部观点独特的《王国维研究》,对此,我充满对他“疯癫式创作”的再度期待。

(本文图片由作者提供)

I heard of Wang Xuehai a long time ago. He wrote poems and short stories. He calls himself a writer of crazy creativity and social criticism. Back then, I had some ambition about writing and thought him, a promising young man of letters in the neighboring county, as a rising star of our prefecture.

He grew up during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). During these tumultuous years that destroyed books, he read secretly and extensively and began writing. His very first literary dream was to be a poet. He wrote poems. For reasons unknown to me, he did not even send out his poems to literary magazines. He did not publish any poem until 2005. His poems caught the attention of prominent literary periodicals. Pretty soon, he published a series of poems, which received good reviews.

Wang writes short stories based on his experiences in Xieqiao, a town in Haining, his hometown near Hangzhou in northern Zhejiang. His experiences come out vividly and the characters in the stories are astonishingly real and interesting.

I met him a few years ago at a meeting hosted by the provinces writers association. Though he writes poems and short stories, he is better known as a literary critic and philosopher. In fact he is a visiting scholar with the Institute for Literary Studies of China Social Sciences Academy.endprint

Wang turned to philosophy, aesthetics and literary criticism in the 1980s. Back then, households didnt have air-conditioners. Neighbors sat outdoors to cool themselves in the evening. Some neighbors told stories. He was a reputed storyteller. Different from other storytellers, he was able to retell stories from the books authored by foreign literary masters. Someone got jealous and badmouthed him: “Retelling a few stories is really nothing. Does he know anything about philosophy?” The derogatory words got to him. He began to read and study seriously.

Wang studied in the 3-m2 kitchen at home, reading books on philosophy, aesthetics and literary theories. In 1984, he published an essay on by French novelist Balzac. This published essay preceded all of his literary works. So far, he has published over seventy papers that touch upon a wide range of subjects. And his essays have been widely reprinted in various renowned publications. He has even ventured into history. In a paper about the First Emperors slaughtering scholars and burning books, he tentatively explores what motivated the emperor to commit such an atrocity. His ideas go against those of some authorities on the subject.

Wang examines literary issues from literary perspectives and he writes poems and short stories. The dual capacities enable him to be sharply aware of some critical issues in either endeavor. Knowledge acquired through the two fields gives an edge to his essays. He deplores poor imagination of modern Chinese writers, saying that the lack of masterpieces can be ascribed to poor imagination.

His career culminated in 2011 when a seminar on his theoretical studies and literary writing was held in Beijing, sponsored by the theory study office of China Federation of Literature and Art Circles, Zhejiang Writers Association and Haining Municipal Government. It was the first time that the federation held such a seminar for a scholar at the grassroots level. Over 50 scholars, chief editors of literary magazines, and experts attended the seminar and expressed their appreciation of Wangs contribution. The seminar was covered in Peoples Daily, Guangming Daily, and China Fine Arts News. It was also covered in key internet websites in China.

Wang takes interest in a lot of things. He takes initiatives to watch and observe. In my eye, he does not confine himself to a limited range of subjects. Since he began working at Zhang Zongxiang Memorial Museum in 1998, he has also turned his attention to local celebrities of national renown such as Wang Guowei, Zhang Zongxiang, Wu Shichang, Xu Zhimo, Chen Xuezhao, and Jin Yong, all being natives of Haining. He has written a series of papers on them. “Wangs studies of these regional celebrities are never narrow-minded. He tries to redefine them in history and culture and examine them in a much broader perspective. Such studies are both challenging and admirable,” remarks Xiang Yunju, president of China Arts News.

He has confessed to me that he is going to write a novel that satisfies himself. I am looking forward to another outburst of his crazy creativity and crazy writing.endprint

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