Abstract: The works of Russian writer Artsybashev were first introduced into China in 1920 in the name of “the true spirit of Russian literature,” and interpretations of its nihilism reflected the aesthetic demands and ethical standpoint of Chinese new literature construction in the 1920s. By identifying the images of Sanin and Sheviriof as modern men, translators explored the negative power, anti-tradition and the dilemma of revolutionaries in these novels, towards which the translators provided various and even conflicting evaluations at different times. In fact, nihilism must be understood as a consequence of Western enlightenment modernity, which involves the “I” occupying the position of God. What's more, in Russian social and cultural context, nihilism also represents a moral passion for resisting historical injustice. If nihilism can be regarded as one of the many representations of Western aesthetic modernity, the constructors of Chinese new literature used realism as a response to Western aesthetic modernity. In this dual realism of both writing technique and ethical standpoint, the heterogeneous Russian nihilism is replaced by a sense of social responsibility from the individual to the collective. Meanwhile, the moral passion contained therein has been truly grounded and transformed into literary and social practices in a localized Chinese manner, which is related to the ideological enlightenment and social evolutionary tasks of Chinese new literature. Furthermore, it suggests a Chinese possibility of aesthetic modernity that differs from Western one in the field of literature.

Key words: Artsybashev, nihilism, Chinese new literature, realism, aesthetic modernity

摘要： 俄国作家阿尔志跋绥夫的作品,最早在1920年以“俄国文学真精神”的面目被译介进入中国,对其中的虚无主义精神的阐释,反映出1920年代中国新文学建设自身时的美学诉求和伦理立场。通过分析作品中的沙宁和绥惠略夫这两个现代人形象,译介者发掘了作品中体现的否定力量、反传统性和革命者的两难处境,并在不同时期给出了各有侧重甚至前后矛盾的评价。究其原因,虚无主义必须作为西方启蒙现代性的后果而被理解,其中涉及了作为人类的“我”对神的占位,而在俄国社会文化语境下又多了反抗历史非正义性的道德激情。如果将虚无主义视为西方审美现代性的诸多表征之一,那么中国新文学建设者则以写实主义作为对西方审美现代性的回应方式。在这一写作手法和伦理立场的双重“写实”中,异质性的俄国虚无主义精神被从个人走向集体的社会责任感取代,其中蕴含的道德激情以中国本土化的方式真正落地并转化为文学和社会实践,这既与中国新文学的思想启蒙、社会改良任务相关,也提示了一种在文学领域不同于西方审美现代性的中式可能。

关键词: 阿尔志跋绥夫, 虚无主义, 中国新文学, 写实主义, 审美现代性