Any literary appreciation activity is aimed at specific literary works, so works are the objective premise and foundation of literary appreciation. Without works, there is no literary appreciation. Completely divorced from the work itself, we can only understand the work by listening to people's introduction and reading some articles or abstract style words. Although it can't be said that it has no effect at all, it is as boring as eating other people's chewed food, and it can't be called literary appreciation in the true sense. Real literary appreciation must begin with reading the works, and gradually understand and comprehend the connotation of the works through concentrated reading and chewing, so as to gain aesthetic experience. As Liu Xie, an ancient literary theorist, said, "Writers write with emotion, and readers write with emotion. Only by reading the works carefully and entering the artistic world described in the works can readers truly understand the true meaning and have a strong voice with the writers.
Literature appreciation begins with reading a work, first of all, we should grasp the content of the work and the thoughts and feelings revealed by the author through understanding the language and words. The understanding of language includes many aspects, such as the original meaning, implication and associative meaning of words; The use of special rhetorical devices such as metaphor, symbol, irony and irony; Grammatical connection or structural relationship between words and paragraphs. Although these are only superficial understandings of works in the primary stage of literary appreciation, they seem simple, but they are the basis of literary appreciation. If there are obstacles in language understanding, it is difficult to meet the minimum requirements of reading works, let alone grasp the deep meaning of works and enter the advanced stage of literary appreciation. For example, some people now take it for granted that the phrase "July is full of fire" in the Book of Songs is often quoted in articles published in newspapers and periodicals. In the original poem, "July" refers to "July in the summer calendar" and "July" refers to "the setting of Mars". The original meaning of this sentence is that the summer heat is fading away and the cool autumn is coming. This misreading phenomenon is common in the appreciation of ancient literary works, such as common words and allusions in ancient poetry, which can easily become a language barrier for modern people to read. In this case, it is necessary to cultivate the good habit of turning to dictionaries, dictionaries and other reference books or asking others for advice, so as to avoid seeking meaning without seeking answers.
The language of literary works has a strong artistic expression, and subtle changes in words often lead to significant differences in emotion, interest and interest. Therefore, it is far from enough for the viewer to be satisfied with the general understanding of the language when reading a work. He should further taste and appreciate the subtlety and uniqueness of the language used in his works, and be able to keenly perceive and grasp the rich expressive force of the language. This is what Mr. Zhu Guangqian advocated in the article "Talking about Words", and it is necessary to have the spirit of "being cautious and independent, and not relaxing every word". He believes that "in this spirit, ... whether reading or writing, you should pay attention to playing around, and you will gradually develop the good habits necessary for creation and appreciation." Mr. Zhu cited Guo Moruo's creation of Qu Yuan as an example. In the play, Shan Juan scolded Song Yu: "You are a spineless scholar! Guo Moruo thinks this sentence is not elegant enough. He wanted to add the word "shameless" under "spineless", but after being reminded by an actor, he only changed the word "yes" in the original sentence to "this". "You spineless scholar", you changed a word, and the tone of your scolding was much stronger than the original sentence. In such a place, if readers don't have the spirit of "not relaxing a word" and read or listen roughly, they will ignore the author's painstaking efforts and find it difficult to appreciate the shocking emotional power contained in the language.
Literary appreciation starts with the works, but also pays attention to the feeling and grasp of the formal characteristics of literary works. Any literary work presents a certain form, which is the concrete embodiment of the content, and at the same time, it often becomes a symbol of the writer's creative intention and style. Sometimes, the form of literary works even has independent aesthetic value. Reading a classical poem gives people a sense of beauty with harmonious rhythm only from the language form. A novel has a strong suspense and attraction only from the plot, and a drama will be admired for its ingenious conception only from the contradiction and conflict. Therefore, the feeling and grasp of the form of works has become an important part of literary appreciation. Many classic works are "meaningful forms", which show the writer's superb language accomplishment, superb artistic skills and excellent formal creativity. However, in order to appreciate the meaning, the appreciator needs to pay more attention to the characteristics of the work in language form, rhythm, expression techniques and techniques, structure and genre while understanding the content of the work, and cultivate sensitivity to formal beauty.
Literary appreciation often goes through a process from the outside to the inside, from the superficial to the deep, step by step. Appreciators first understand the content from the form of the work, and then combine their own experience, imagination and understanding to further grasp the deep meaning of the work through the surface content, and finally achieve a deep understanding of the work. Some scholars have summarized this complicated process into three aesthetic levels: ① images induced by various formal factors; (2) the historical content represented by the image; 3 symbolic meaning. Among them, the most core and highest level is the symbolic meaning of the work, which is a kind of life essence or the most secret and profound secret of human nature and human feelings hidden in the specific content of the work, and it is "a philosophy and a poetry". Symbolic meaning is the deepest hidden in the works, and it can only be understood gradually on the basis of profoundly grasping the historical content of the works. This aesthetic hierarchy theory tells us that literary appreciation should not only stay at the superficial level of reading a work, but also be satisfied with the vivid and interesting plot of the work. Instead, we should try our best to explore and understand the inner meaning of the work layer by layer through careful reading. "The deeper you go, the harder it is to get in, and the more you can see the magic" (Wang Anshi's Travel Notes of Baochan). Only in this way can we get richer and deeper aesthetic experience from literary works.
Know the author and his background.
Literary works belong to the author's spiritual creation, which always reflects the author's thoughts and feelings in real life, his attitude and views on society and life to varying degrees, and is restricted or influenced by the author's social status, life experience and times environment. Therefore, the appreciation of works cannot be completely divorced from the author and his background. As early as the pre-Qin period, Mencius put forward the appreciation method of "knowing people and discussing the world". Mr. Lu Xun once said: "I always thought that if you want a paper, it is best to take the whole article, the author and his social state into account, which is more conclusive." Otherwise, it is easy to be almost dreamy. It can be seen that being familiar with the writer and his background is helpful for us to better understand and grasp the works created by the writer, which is also a basic method of literary appreciation.
Literary works are emotional, some are the direct expression of the author's true feelings, and some are the twists and turns of the author's life experience. Only by knowing the author's situation, such as life experience, temperament and hobbies, can readers accurately understand and grasp these emotional contents in the works. Especially those works with implicit meaning and special sustenance. Otherwise, it will be quite different from the original intention of the author, and it will be difficult to understand the true meaning of the work. Take Cao Zhi's Beauty as an example. The poem describes a beautiful woman with graceful figure, gorgeous appearance, luxurious decoration and elegant temperament, and shows the sadness and frustration of a beautiful woman who can't find an ideal person despite "admiring Gao Yi". From the objective significance of the work itself, there is nothing wrong with this understanding. However, if you are familiar with Cao Zhi's life and understand the experience that he and his younger brother Cao Pi were repeatedly excluded and not appreciated and reused after failing to compete for Crown Prince Wang Wei, read this poem again. You will think that Cao Zhi compares himself with beautiful women in his poems. "Beautiful women aspire to lofty ideals and seek exclusive respect for morality" is actually the sigh of those who can't find beautiful women, which reflects the poet's sadness of serving the country and the helplessness of not being satisfied with his talents. It is the understanding of this profound meaning in the poem that Ye Xie, a critic in the early Qing Dynasty, called this poem "a masterpiece through the ages" and thought that "Beauty" means quiet, subtle and meaningful, and the syllables all have a natural posture, which makes people unable to seem to have a clue, but it is a masterpiece through the ages. Similarly, to read Li Qingzhao's Slow Sound, it is best to understand the poet's bereavement and drift from place to place after crossing the south, read Lu You's Hairpin Phoenix, and be familiar with the sad and touching love tragedy between the poet and Tang Wan, so as to better feel the work.
Works can often show the author's certain creative intention, which is the concrete embodiment of the author's creative thought and aesthetic pursuit in creative practice. Many times, understanding the author's creative intentions and ideas will also help us appreciate the works better. The Waste Land, written by Eliot, a famous English poet, is an epic that shows the decline of westerners' spirit after the First World War and is recognized as a classic of western modernist poetry. Its most prominent feature is the use of complex symbolic techniques, mostly from classics and less from reality. The poet used rich resources such as anthropology, mythology, witchcraft, history, legend, philosophy and literature. From the whole to the part, obscure or clear symbols are developed. It is said that there are as many as seven languages and characters in poetry, involving 56 works by 35 writers in ancient and modern times. Why do poets like to read widely in their own poems? In fact, this is based on Eliot's creative proposition: in the all-encompassing modern cultural state, the poet's works are bound to be difficult to understand, and the poet is bound to become more and more extensive, more and more fond of quoting, and less and less indirect. It turns out that the poet created such a difficult poetic form because it symbolizes the complexity and all-encompassing content of modern culture itself. Knowing this proposition of the poet, we will regard the wide collection and wide introduction in the poem as the poet's conscious aesthetic pursuit and give us understanding and appreciation, rather than simply "paying for it" pedantic.
When appreciating a work, we also need to have a necessary understanding of the era environment in which the author lives and the background of the work. This is because the work is not only the author's creation, but also the product of the times, and it is influenced by the environment of the times to varying degrees. Turner, a famous western literary sociologist, especially emphasized the influence of the spirit of the times on his works, and clearly pointed out: "The production of works depends on the spirit of the times and the surrounding customs. (Turner's philosophy of art) Hegel once said: "Every work of art belongs to its era and its nation, and every work of art has its own special environment and depends on special historical and other concepts and purposes. (Hegel's Aesthetics) Therefore, in order to truly understand Lu Xun's works, we must understand the history of China society from modern times to modern times; In order to truly understand Qu Yuan's works, we must be familiar with the special era and Chu cultural background that produced poets. If you really want to know Shakespeare, you can't know nothing about the humanistic trend of thought in the Renaissance in which this "greatest drama genius of mankind" lives.
In order to be familiar with the author, the appreciator should first pay attention to reading the preface or postscript of the work. These places are generally used by the author to explain the origin, process, creative intention and even personal experience and background of the times. In the preface of the collection of novels "Scream", Lu Xun introduced in detail the process of abandoning medicine and joining literature, because he realized the importance of literature and art in changing the spirit of "ignorance and weakness", and clearly pointed out that the novel written at that time was to comfort the soldier who was running in loneliness through shouting, so that he was not afraid of his predecessors. These are of great significance for us to understand the enlightenment theme and anti-feudal fighting spirit of "Scream" to transform national character. In addition to the preface and postscript, some of the author's works will also help us to understand the author's life situation, thoughts and feelings, such as Sima Qian's Letter to Ren An, Cao Zhi's Wang Biao for a White Horse, Tao Yuanming's Poem of Deng Zhizhong's Complaints, and Chu Diao Shi Pang Zhushu. Therefore, if you want to know a writer, reading more of his works is also an effective way. In addition, you can also read biographies and critical articles about the author, as well as diaries and letters published by the author himself.
In particular, it is necessary to point out that understanding the author is helpful to the appreciation of the work, but understanding itself cannot be completely equal to appreciation after all. If any work is directly related to the author, reading the work is to look for the shadow or trace of the author, and every word in the work is to look for the source from the author or his life, which will lead to complicated textual research that penetrates the marginal notes and make appreciation go astray. You know, literary works are all from the creative imagination of the author, and they are not necessarily true. Moreover, if we devote all our energy to the textual research with well-documented sources everywhere, we will lose the opportunity of perceptual experience and imaginative interest, and miss the literary appreciation in the true aesthetic sense. Mr. Zhu Guangqian has clearly pointed out the harm of this preference for textual research to literary appreciation. He said: "The mistake of the textual researcher lies in forgetting to appreciate it because of textual research." Since they have verified the historical facts of their works, they think that anything can be done and there is no need to ponder. They are like experts in food chemistry. After systematically studying the origin, ingredients and cooking methods of a dish, they stood by and refused to get their hands on it. Knowing the writer should be helpful to the appreciation of the works, not a substitute for the appreciation of the works. Knowing the works from familiar writers needs special attention.
Be good at "going into work" and "jumping out of work"
In the final analysis, literary appreciation is the appreciation of readers. Only when readers fully mobilize all factors, give full play to their own advantages and enter the ideal state of enjoying reading can they truly gain spiritual benefits and enjoyment. From the perspective of western reception theory, even the best works are meaningful only if they are read by readers and emotionally attracted or moved by readers. Otherwise, it is as worthless as waste paper. French writer Francois once said: "What is a book? The main thing is just a series of small printed marks. It is to let readers add their own formal colors and emotions, so that those marks can be activated accordingly. Whether a book is dull or full of life, whether emotions are as hot as fire or as cold as ice depends on the reader's own experience. In other words, readers' feelings and experiences are very important in literary appreciation. Only by learning to feel and experience the works from an aesthetic point of view can we truly master the appreciation methods, step into the literary palace and appreciate the magical charm of the literary world.
So, how can readers enter the ideal state of enjoying reading? In order to achieve this state, we should integrate ourselves into the work, communicate with the work emotionally, experience the joys and sorrows in the work personally and appreciate the artistic charm in the work; At the same time, we should keep a proper distance from the works to distinguish them from real life and adopt a purely ornamental aesthetic attitude towards the works. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Shan once put forward the "access method" of reading. He said: "When reading, you should know the access method. When you start, you should look for it, and then you should look for it. See xian Si Qi, this into calligraphy; Very useful. It's calligraphy. I can't get into the book, I don't know the intentions of the ancients; If you don't know how to publish a book, you die in words. Only knowing what you know is the best way to read. This is what we often say that reading should be "both internal and external". Although it is in terms of general reading methods, it is also very suitable for literary appreciation.
To appreciate a work, you need to go in first, look at it with appreciation, and feel and experience it as a role in it. Only in this way can we fully understand the beauty of the works and gain aesthetic pleasure and enjoyment. However, in the practice of appreciation, due to the influence of many subjective and objective factors, it is often difficult for some readers to enter the works well. Some of the above textual research blindly forgot to appreciate, some ignored the understanding of the work itself in order to find out the theme outside the topic, and some even ignored the work itself because they were too obsessed with the authenticity of the content and the rationality of the details, thus resulting in the estrangement from the work or instinctive rejection. In reality, people often accuse "a novel is untrue" and "a play is fabricated", but it is easy to form psychological prejudice against literary works only from the perspective of authenticity, and it is difficult to enter the real literary appreciation. In this regard, Mr. Lu Xun once had an incisive exposition: "As long as you know that most of the works are borrowed by others and told to yourself, or you speculate on other people's things yourself, you will not feel disillusioned, even if it is not true sometimes, but it is still true." ..... If there is a reader who only insists on genre and doesn't want any flaws, it is advisable to read the news chronicle. For the sake of literature and art, he deserved disillusionment. And its disillusionment is not enough, because it is not really disillusioned, just as those who are dissatisfied with A Dream of Red Mansions can't find the remains of the Grand View Garden. If the author sacrifices the freedom of expression in this way, even a small part, it is tantamount to cutting the foot and fitting the shoes. 」
Readers enter the work and feel it, but at the same time they are required to jump out of the work and keep an appropriate aesthetic distance from it. Stendhal, a French writer, once told a story about a tragic event that happened at the Valdimore Theatre in France in 1822. At that time, Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was being staged. When a soldier serving as a theater guard saw Othello choking Desdemona to kill her, he shouted, "I will never allow a damn black man to kill a white woman in front of me!" " With the shouts, he raised his gun and shot the actor who played Othello, injuring his arm. This phenomenon of mistaking fictional artistic situations for real life, which leads to "sentimentality", is often encountered in literary appreciation. For example, after reading Stendhal's Red and Black, you will learn to pursue women by hook or by crook. After reading Goethe's Young Werther, you will commit suicide like Werther when you are lovelorn. After reading Qiong Yao's romance novels, you will expect romantic adventures in life. After reading Jin Yong's martial arts novels, you will run away from home like a martial arts hero and wander the rivers and lakes ... All these practices are because readers can't jump out of the works. If you want to jump out of the work, you must first be able to distinguish the real world in life from the aesthetic world imagined in the work and maintain a detached attitude towards the work.
Jumping out of the work also reflects the reader's relative independence and initiative in literary appreciation. There are differences between readers and authors in life experience, knowledge level and aesthetic experience, which determines that readers' understanding and the author's original intention cannot be completely consistent. At the same time, the potential fuzziness and uncertainty of the work itself also provide objective conditions for readers' initiative. As long as the reader's understanding is consistent with the implied signifier meaning of the work, even if it exceeds the original intention of the author when he created it, it is certain. "The author's intention is not inevitable, but why not the reader's intention. Sometimes, due to the reader's understanding level and keen eye, the understanding and grasp of the work will even be far higher than the author's opinion.
Jumping out of the work also requires readers to have high aesthetic discrimination. Only readers with high aesthetic discrimination can distinguish the artistic level of the work and make an accurate judgment on the correctness, progress and profundity of the ideological content of the work. In this respect, Lenin's comments on the book Twelve Knives Behind the Revolution fully show his keen vision and high appreciation. He pointed out in the article "A Talented Book": "This is a book written by Arcadi Avesenko, a white guard who is almost crazy because of resentment. Lenin thought, "It is very interesting to study how gnashing hatred makes this extremely talented book written very well in some places and very poorly in some places." "His amazing talent depicts the representatives of old Russia-places with rich life and adequate food, as well as the feelings and emotions of factory owners. In the eyes of the representatives of the ruling class, the revolution is like this and should be. Fierce hatred sometimes (and mostly) makes availe Zenko's novels amazing. It can be seen from Lenin's book review that a high-level connoisseur can appreciate not only excellent works, but also works with problems and defects. In the latter case, he can also show the excellent appreciation ability and level of the traveler.