1, flat graph?
As mentioned above, a flat character refers to a character image with a single personality characteristic, which can be summarized in one word or one sentence. The creation of such characters is to convey some ideas of the author. Specifically, it can be divided into two categories: conceptual and characteristic.
Conceptual plane graphics are tools or symbols borrowed by the author to express some ideas. ?
For example, Japanese writer hoshi shinichi wrote a novel called Confidence, which tells the story of a single young man named Masao Nishima living in a room in an apartment. One night, suddenly a man who claimed to be "Masao Nishima" swaggered in and claimed that he was the owner of this room. Masao thinks that the man is joking, mischievous and insane, so he asks questions from left to right and proves that he is "Masao Nishima" instead of "Masao Nishima" in various ways. But in the process of questioning and trying to prove his identity, the man is frank, natural, calm and confident; But my heart is getting more and more empty, and I am more and more afraid of self-confidence. Finally, I admit, "Maybe you are a real man. Even if it is not, you are confident and have the value of existence. " So, I had to leave home in despair. "The vast night fog swallowed him up."
This work, the plot is absurd and the meaning is obvious. The author wants to convey his observation of life through the character of Masao Nishima: some people in life are too lacking in self-confidence to even believe that they are themselves. Masao Nishima's personality is exaggerated and distorted, so it is typical and single. We don't know if he has other personality characteristics. This is a typical conceptual plan.
Modern writers pay attention to philosophical thinking about life, history and society, so they often use artistic techniques such as exaggeration, deformation, symbol and metaphor to create pure moral figures as artistic symbols to express some ideas. Another example is Kafka's famous Metamorphosis. gregor, a shop assistant, wakes up and finds himself an ugly beetle. In a short time, the attitude of the people around him changed completely, and even his closest people-parents and sisters-were very disgusted with him and had no sympathy or pity. He felt ashamed, ashamed, lonely and afraid, and finally people were relieved only when he died quietly. The story frame of this work is bizarre and absurd, and it is actually a typical modern fable. Kafka felt the cool thin and fragility of interpersonal relationship in western society, and imagined that once something changed-for example, someone suddenly suffered misfortune, what he could get was not sympathy and assistance, but universal rejection. Kafka used this "fable" to convey his understanding. As an artistic image, Grieg is just a carrier to convey ideas.
Conceptual plane graphics have existed since ancient times. For example: "Some characters in ancient myths and legends. For example, Pangu, Nu Wa, who created the earth, Chang 'e, who stole medicine and ran to the moon, and the workers who angered the mountains and failed to make progress, which caused' the sky is northwest' and' the land is dissatisfied with the southeast', are all symbols that express the ancient people's ideas and explain the natural image of heaven and earth. " Another example is, "people who simply express superstitions and religious beliefs. Many characters in the novels of the Six Dynasties' strange tales serve the purpose of "memorizing scriptures effectively and obviously fulfilling them", and are the visualization of religious concepts such as retribution for good and evil, causal reincarnation and so on. This kind of character has been handed down from generation to generation in the history of novels, and there are many examples in the classic Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio. Also, "a conceptual figure who has no flesh and blood and appears in a realistic form." "This is a scarecrow that explains the concept, or a megaphone that declares the concept; Some foot colors are contained in all kinds of imaginable virtues or ugliness. There seems to be many faces. In fact, it is Gorky's' container' of good and evil, or a tool to reflect thoughts. " (Ma's On the Art of Fiction, page 34, Peking University Publishing House, 199 1) If the protagonist of the novel Wild Garlic in the Qing Dynasty is exposed, it can be counted as a specimen. The author tries to describe him as a radiant and sacred figure, saying that he is "a man of steel, a child prodigy, who sings all over the country and is full of stars." Said he didn't want to be an official, but he was as reasonable as Qi Diao; Said he would not be romantic, but he was as affectionate as Song Yu. If you make a gift, you will like each other; Talking about soldiers in the palm of your hand is equivalent to Zhuge, who can carry the tripod and retreat. You can kill a dragon bravely, but if you are knocked unconscious, you will fall into the valley. Bypass the calendar and look down at a line; In a word, his literary achievements are fierce, outstanding, rare in the world and unparalleled in ancient and modern times. Not only that, the author further "beautifies" him, saying that he is still a good hand at playing with women and giving birth to children, and there are a group of concubines who have given birth to 24 men, and expensive ones have hundreds of grandchildren. And so on. That's disgusting. Lu Xun said that the glory of mortal dust is beyond the reach of scholars. This book has been published for several years, but I still dare not place my hopes on the emperor. It can be said that Wen's personality was the dream of Neo-Confucianism at that time, but it seemed to be a puppet in many aspects. In plane graphics, this kind of conceptual graphics in the form of reality is the most annoying. ?
The characteristics of flat characters are some isolated and symbolic personality characteristics, which are abstractions of some personality characteristics.
For example, Wang Meng's short story "Eloquence" describes a patient going to the hospital for treatment. The doctor said please sit down. The patient said, why sit down? Are you going to deprive me of the right not to sit? The doctor was helpless and said, please drink water. The patient said that talking about the problem like this is one-sided and therefore absurd. Not all water can be drunk. For example, if you mix potassium cyanide in water, you must not drink it. The doctor said, don't worry, I didn't put poison here. The patient said, who said you put poison? Did I falsely accuse you of putting poison? Did the indictment of the procuratorate say that you poisoned it? I didn't say you poisoned it. You said I said you poisoned it. This is more poisonous than poison! ..... Just a few hundred words, the novel created a person with outstanding personality characteristics-eloquence. This figure is an exaggeration, a generalization and a symbol, from which we can see some impressions of the times. Characters have realistic appearances, but they are obviously not realistic, but more like fables. In ancient fables, there are some characters with single personality characteristics. Such as Yu Gong, Zhi Zuo, Mr. Dong Guo, and the protagonists in such stories as Waiting for the Rabbit, Carving a Boat for a Sword, Cutting the Foot to Fit the Footwear, Worrying Worryingly, and Ye Gong is a Dragon Lover. There are also such figures in mythology, such as Jing Wei, Yi, Xingtian and Prometheus.
2. Sharp graphics?
The basic characteristics of pointed figures are: first, there are many personality characteristics, unlike flat figures with only one side; Second, in many aspects of personality characteristics, one aspect is particularly outstanding, unique and eye-catching. The sharp corner figure is not a plane figure, but a three-dimensional figure. Like all kinds of cones in geometry, they all have a striking feature of high spire.
For example, Guan Yu in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a very successful and moving artistic image. Mao Zonggang, a Qing Dynasty man, spoke highly of him when commenting on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "A famous name is like a cloud, and a peerless one is as long as a cloud. Qing history is extremely elegant for Deng Qing; If you are flushed, you are extremely brave. Raise the candle to reach Dan, and people preach its big festival; When a person goes to a meeting, the world serves its big country. Walk a thousand miles alone and report your determination to the Lord; Yi Shi Huarong, the friendship of repaying kindness ... is the first wonder among famous stars in ancient and modern times. " (Selected Materials of Chinese Aesthetic History, Volume II, page 2 19, Zhonghua Book Company, 198 1 edition. In a word, Guan Yunchang was a model of traditional morality in feudal times, and he concentrated many personality characteristics. Such as loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, wisdom, courage, faith and arrogance ... but the most prominent ones are loyalty, righteousness and courage. Therefore, after the publication of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was finally honored as "Loyalty and Righteousness". ?
Another example is Li Kui jy in Water Margin, which is usually regarded as the image with the simplest character-its basic character is recklessness. However, if we study deeply, we will find that Li Kui jy's character is not only "reckless", but also straightforward, naive, selfless, sincere, brave, filial, loyal, and even sometimes rogue and cunning, a lovely child. ?
Another example is the famous Ah Q, which is also very complicated or rich. Some scholars have made a comprehensive analysis of Ah Q's personality with the method of system theory, pointing out that he is both innocent and cunning. Both straightforward, willful and orthodox; Self-esteem and inferiority; There is both competition and humiliating submission; Narrow, conservative and blindly fashionable; Reject heresy and yearn for revolution; Hate both power and snobbery; Both overbearing and cowardly; Sensitive and taboo, numb and forgetful; Not only dissatisfied with the status quo, but also satisfied with the status quo; And so on. However, although Ah Q's personality has so many aspects, his "spiritual victory method" is the most outstanding and impressive. What I can remember at once is Ah Q's comforting words: "We used to have much more money than you" and "My son beat Lao Zi".
Figures like Guan Yu, Li Kui and Ah Q have many advantages in the history of Chinese and foreign literature. For example, Don Quixote, an extremely subjective person, Grandet, an unusually stingy old man, Aubrey Love, a model of humanitarianism, Jean Valjean, a speculator, a hypocrite, an ambitious Macbeth, a jealous otero and a "trap" Rykov are all examples of sharp figures. There are many classical novels in China, and most of the main characters in the three famous novels of the Ming Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and The Journey to the West belong to this form. ?
3. Integer?
Compared with pointed figures, round figures have no extraordinary personality characteristics, and are more like real people and ordinary people in life. Of course, this is not to say that round characters have no outstanding personality characteristics, but that even if they have outstanding personality characteristics, compared with real characters, they are not otherworldly, caricatured and untyped, just like life itself, such as Lin Daiyu's sentimentality and so on. (See Art of Fiction, page 38, Peking University Publishing House, 199 1).
Let's take a successful example in contemporary novels-Kobayashi in Liu Zhenyun's novella Unit and Chicken Feather in One Place. After graduating from Kobayashi University, he was assigned to a state organ as a clerk. When I first came to work, Kobayashi was still a student, like a child, taking care of nothing. For example, I often arrive late and leave early, wear slippers to work, and don't take the initiative to clean the office. I often invite a group of students assigned to other units to party here, but I don't clean up after the party. The leader criticized him and he talked back. The leader of the party group advised him to write an application for joining the party. He said, "I'm not interested in your party." But after two or three years, Xiaolin "suddenly regretted it" and found that the child's temper should be changed. First of all, many students who assign jobs at the same time begin to make progress, but they are still a soldier; Furthermore, if you are married and have no house, you can share a house with others. Also, after getting married and having children, I live with my mother, and my salary is low and my life is tense. However, if you want to raise your salary in the house, you must join the party, get on well with others. From then on, Kobayashi was like a different person: he went to work on time, stopped wearing slippers, stopped joking with others, took the initiative to sweep the floor and turn on the water, took the initiative to do all the chores that others didn't want to do, helped the leaders move and work hard, and wrote an application for joining the party and added a monthly ideological report. I'd rather endure the pain so that my children can't drink milk powder, and also save money to give some gifts to the party leader. The interpersonal relationship in the unit is complicated and subtle, and he dare not offend anyone. He always looks at his face and color carefully, and humbly asks for the good of others everywhere, not only trying hard but also enduring. Xiao Lin was conquered by life, and life taught him a lot. Being forced to give gifts against his will for his wife's job transfer; In order to save a few cents, he queued up at the public grocery store early in the morning to buy tofu; In order to increase his income, he wiped his face to sell ducks ... Finally, Kobayashi began to "mature". He is no longer as naive as when he first came to the company. He told the truth and understood that it was true and false in the company. Those who tell lies are promoted and made rich, and those who tell the truth are punished. So, he gradually learned to lie, learn to treat things as suspense, and learn to accept gifts from others ... ("A Chicken Feather")
Kobayashi has changed: from naive to sophisticated, from naive to sophisticated, from simple to complex. From an artistic point of view, Kobayashi's character has changed from "flat" to "round". Is life really like this? -What would it be like if it wasn't? ! Faced with such a character, who doesn't think that he really can't be true? ! Who can't feel that he is right in front of us, beside us, or even ourselves? ! ?
A character like Kobayashi comes from life with all the authenticity, richness and complexity of life itself. Through Kobayashi's life situation and mental journey, the works reveal the mysteries of people and life, let readers see through the true colors of the world, see the subtlety in the depths of human nature, and understand all kinds of hidden songs and complexities of the world, thus experiencing a kind of bitterness, disappointment and pleasure that can explore the inside story of life. As Mr. Ma said: "Fiction is the art of expressing life, and the characters are forced to be similar to people and ordinary people in real life, which will inevitably produce a unique sense of intimacy, realism and artistic beauty. This is the unique and universal aesthetic value of circular graphics, which cannot be replaced and compared by any flat and sharp graphics. " (On the Art of Fiction, page 46, Peking University Publishing House, 199 1)