“凡尔赛文学”：低调的炫耀与走红

2021-04-06河南陈志强

疯狂英语·新悦读 2021年3期

河南陈志强

Step 1 感知·阅读导航

近日，“凡尔赛文学”突然走红，虽然名字听起来像是文艺复兴时期的文学类型，实指“以低调的方式进行炫耀”的话语模式，但是点击热搜我们可以发现，这种“文学”现在其实是用来调侃貌似低调实则炫耀的人群。让“凡尔赛文学”更大范围地进入大众视野的是蒙淇淇女士。蒙淇淇女士是一名作家，虽然很少有人看过她的书，但是她因为在社交平台上分享一些日常动态而走红。她的粉丝很羡慕她的生活，但是仔细看了看她的动态却发现，有些地方似乎有待商榷。她的“凡尔赛文学”风格不断引起公众的质疑和群嘲。众说纷纭，对此，你又有何见解？

本文是一篇关于热点话题的时文热评，就当下流行的“凡尔赛文学”进行了探究。全文467词，建议用时7 分钟。

阅读目标

1. 了解“凡尔赛文学”的起源、特征、兴起的原因和影响。

2. 把握时文热评类文章的主要结构，掌握“导入→概念→起源→特征→原因→影响→评价”型的文章主线。

3. 探究当下“凡尔赛文学”形成与走红的社会原因，并就信息时代背景下，如何利用网络平台恰当分享私人信息、传递积极的价值导向和建立自信这些问题进行探讨。

阅读预热

Ⅰ. Questionnaire

1. Do you often release any information about your study and daily activities on social media platforms?

□Never. □Seldom. □Sometimes. □Often.

2. What kind of information would you like to release on social media platforms?

□School life. □Family. □Amusement. □Others.

3. What do you think of the information released by you?

□Positive. □Negative. □Influential. □Meaningless.

Ⅱ. Discussion

Do you know about the online writer Meng Qiqi and her Versailles-style words released online?Look at the following two pictures from her blog. How would you feel at her words and what would you say about them? What are the characteristics of her Versailles-style words?

Ⅲ. Prediction

Supposing you're the author of this article, what would you talk about according to the title?

A competition of imitating Versailles-style words was launched on Sina Weibo. Chinese netizens took it as an amusement and jokingly made up their very own humblebrag（自谦式自夸） words.

Similar to the term “humblebrag”, originally used to mock celebrities on Twitter who complain and brag at the same time, “Versailles Literature” is being used by Chinese netizens on social media platforms to describe literary content which pretends to casually show off one's privileged life. The term comes from The Rose of Versailles, a Japanese manga （日本漫画） about noble and wealthy life at the palace of Versailles in France in the late 18th century, social media celebrity Milk Ball told the Global Times.

Milk Ball once posted a widely discussed video titled Versailles Literature Open Class on Sina Weibo, which summarized the characteristics of Versailles-style words: through reverse （颠倒的） expressions with simple tones to express the feeling of superiority.

Some Chinese TV and film works would contain “humblebrag” reflected in plots in which the lives of ordinary people are rare, while the rich and wealthy become the mainstream. Whether in urban dramas or in youth romantic dramas, lead characters are usually from rich families or have a high-income job that can afford their comfortable life. The extravagant （奢侈的） lifestyles in these dramas and films, and easy success of lead characters, also provide targets and examples for audiences who are in the middle class.

These unrealistic characters are similar to the humblebrag words posted by the Sina Weibo user Meng Qiqi, who, like many other bloggers, has created an enviable character setting for herself: rich,high-status, having access to high-end places randomly, and also receiving her husband's extreme love, giving audiences a misunderstanding that such “perfection” can be found in real life.

In the past, people directly showed their wealth in real interactions. Now, after the new media came into the public's eyes, more people show off in a roundabout way for comparative psychological advantage, believing that it is smarter and more acceptable, Shi Gang, an expert in psychology at the China Agricultural University, told the Global Times.

Some were envious of Meng Qiqi's description, but other netizens thought it was funny and hypocritical （伪善的）.

“At present, many people have a deep inner vanity that cannot be put on the table. Especially in the prevailing Internet economy, some people imagine a wide ‘audience’ and rely on others' watching and promoting them to shape their own identity,” Shi said.

Netizens have set up a Versailles Literature study group on major Chinese media review platform Douban, which currently has more than 34,000 members.

“Every time I read these words, I have mixed feelings, as if I were a poor student. But I have to face a good student who said ‘my grades were terrible as I didn't make much effort’,” said Zhang Yuan, a member of the Versailles Literature study group.