EVA理论与小说极限 · 绝望 · 歌唱Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

EVA理论与小说极限 · 绝望 · 歌唱Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit


Scrolls from the Dead Sea Exhibition

From the discovery of the earliest known recorded biblical scrolls and related artifacts in the caves above the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea Scrolls have held an aura of mystery and swirled with controversies. Project Judaica Foundation, in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Israel government agency in charge of all the archeological digs and artifacts throughout Israel, brought the Dead Sea Scrolls to the public's view with five world-class exhibitions held around the globe including the Vatican.

The Director of the IAA, the indefatigable General Amir Drori (Ret.) and the Assistant Director, Jacob Fisch, approached this Foundation to determine whether it would be possible to create and display an exhibition of selected fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Having just completed another amazing exhibition at the Library, "From the Ends of the Earth," the stage was set for this astounding show.

The Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, was immediately interested in the exhibition of this scope and agreed to exhibit the Dead Sea Scroll fragments. Twelve of the most interesting scroll fragments became the core of the exhibition and were surrounded with related artifacts including jars in which the scrolls were found after being preserved by the low humidity of the region. Tefillim boxes and straps, sandals believed to belong to the scribes, coins from the period, various pottery of the period from the area Written on leather over 2,000 years ago in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, these scrolls are the earliest known biblical manuscripts. They include portions of all of the five Books of Moses as well as the writings by the Essenes sect.

The IAA's rich materials were complimented by special pieces from the Library of Congress' vast holding from the Hebraic, Map, and other collections. The Library's world-class in-house staff of conservators, curators and scholars became deeply engaged in applying their skills to choose the items from their divisions. The Library's additions included one of the few extant Gutenberg bibles and some of the earliest known maps which oriented the public to the sites and the region. The maps also gave insight into the views of the early pioneering cartographers of the Fifteenth Century and how they perceived the lands and events of the Biblical era.

Early incunabula (the earliest known printed books) and their later mechanically printed books along with the various commentaries through the centuries all keyed to the passages from the scroll fragments on display. These included early writings of Pliny, Philo and Josephus among others allowing comparisons of texts as well as historical contexts.

Each venue faced the very difficult issue of lighting the exhibit without endangering the highly sensitive scroll fragments which could be damaged irrevocably by exposure to bright light. The skilled staff at the Library of Congress created a low intensity lighting system which was activated only when a visitor stood before the scroll fragment case automatically switching off as the visitor moved away.

The design staff, augmented by a talented consultant, recreated the feelings of the period with wall coverings emulating the stone of the caves above the Dead Sea and the pink stones of Jerusalem making the setting truly unforgettable. Visitors were dazzled by being able to actually see and read the 2,000 year old texts which so many knew from present-day study of their own bibles by all faiths. Large color photographs within the exhibition made visitors feel as if they were actually entering the very area of the caves at Qumran.

To help visitors who wanted to learn the complexities of the story of the scrolls meanings, an audio guide was presented for use thus making the entire exhibition totally visitor friendly regardless of level of knowledge.

This exhibition had the largest attendance of any exhibition in over the 215 year history of the Library of Congress. The crowds had to be controlled by time-stamped tickets which still resulted in long lines sometime two to three long blocks long.

This opening coincided with the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in April, 1993. As a consequence, many heads of state including the President and Foreign Minister of Israel along with twenty other heads of state toured the exhibition along with the staffs and members of both the House of Representatives and Senate, Supreme Court and Executive Branch lead by the White House.

Since this exhibit elicited such support from donors and great public interest, arrangements were then made to travel the fragments to the New York Public Library where equal interest resulted. The San Francisco de Young Fine Arts Museum was the third venue where extensive collateral public programming was developed for school children, bible study groups and the general public. Time tickets were implemented as well to manage the huge response from the public.

In the meanwhile, Jacob Fisch, of the IAA, quietly began discussions with Father Leonard Boyle, the Director of the Vatican Library to determine interest in displaying the fragments at the Sistine Gallery (Salone Sistine) at the Vatican. On the June 30, 1994, with great and dignified ceremony, Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Sodano, presiding, the exhibition of Scrolls from the Dead Sea was opened for the public. There were 18 cardinals and 28 ranking archbishops present. Jacob Fisch, Mark Talisman, President of Project Judaica and Mrs. Barbro Osher of San Francisco, CA spoke after the Secretary of State and Father Boyle.

Mr. Talisman presented the highly regarded and valued facsimile of the Washington Haggadah to the Secretary of State of the Vatican and Father Leonard Boyle to be placed in the Vatican Library.

The timing of this exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was carefully planned to coincide with the arrival of the very first Ambassador from Israel to the Vatican which happily allowed both sides to celebrate through this ground-breaking exhibition. Displayed adjacent to the Sistine Chapel, eighteen thousand visitors a day saw the Vatican exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Finally, upon leaving the Vatican, the Scroll fragments returned to the Israel Museum along with the various objects added to the exhibit by the Vatican Museum including early Torah scrolls over a thousand years old, and many other texts and illustrations and maps. This special exhibit augmented the Shrine of the Book Isaiah exhibit for several months at the Israel Museum for the large and enthusiastic public in Israel.

This exhibition would have not been possible without the generosity and abiding moral support of Bernard and Barbro Osher and the Osher Foundation of San Francisco. Phyllis Cook, Director of the San Francisco Jewish Federation Endowment was the person most responsible to provide encouragement when no other options appeared to be available. A special thank you for Jacob Fisch unquenchable thirst for creative and exciting opportunities to bring Israel rich archaeological collections to the public's view.
                   
                    茫 玄
                  2002年12月    

  一、EVA理论
  EVA即evangelican(福音)的缩写,也许是这种理论的名称吧。
人总是会觉得痛苦和迷茫,这是由于人的心灵迷和失所造成的。人的心灵迷失就是缺失，因此，人的心灵一定存在缺失。反面考虑，群体的存在对应着个体的存在，因而自我的存在需要以社会为前提。而因为统一是暂时的，矛盾是永久的，所以社会和个体一定存在着矛盾。因为人的心灵不得不始终存在于矛盾中，所以，人的心灵一定存在着缺失。
既然承认存在缺失，人就会去填补它。填补的方法是以残补残，以缺补缺，需要成立一个社会来担任这样的机构。但事物本身的随机性又促使它不可能完全填补迷失，所以，社会本身也存在矛盾，同样无法填补。                                
        于是，人的心灵便不承认缺失，将它置于心中最渺茫消沉的地方，并加以修筑层层堡垒，以免自我觉察到而崩溃。这就是所谓的潜意识，前意识便是那层层堡垒，自我被隔绝在它们的外面，因此于其一无所知。而潜意识（缺失的混合体）却在自我无法察觉到的情况下悄悄地控制这我们的行为。
因为有了潜意识与前意识的存在，自我永远不能认识到自我是什幺，而这也就是迷失的最基本形式：无法回答“我是谁？”这一类与自我存在有关的问题，它与迷失的存在是等价的。于是人会不由自主地问这样的问题，从而逐渐感受到缺失的存在，但却因无法认识它而逐渐发生蜕变起来。
蜕变大体可以分为这样几个过程：
1、     刚开始的时候，人并不会觉得迷失的存在，而只是认为这是自然而然的。这
正是我们社会中的绝大多数成员抱有的心态。虽然表面上人们在各司其职，但实际上人们各自的行为却在无形之中被潜意识所控制操纵，并没有按照人们的预想行动。所以，社会的大缺失同样会带来社会的大迷失，使它不自觉地被迷失所控制操纵。马克思主义号召人们从历史批判的角度看问题，殊不知历史决不是那幺简单。历史是有思想的，当人们决定开拓新的历史时，历史已在暗中推了一把，使自己向所希望的方向行进。（黑格尔语）这句话其实也有漏洞，但它至少指出了一点本质：在历史中寻求现实，只会徒然地被历史拉进圈子而不能自拔。
何小竹的《圈》，叶蔚林的《陌上桑》，安部公房的《墙壁》……及许多存在主义作品都着眼于“世界是荒谬的，人生是痛苦的”这一观点。其实世界的荒谬完全可以用EVA理论来论证。形形色色的迷失组成了迷失环，人就不停地在迷失环里徘徊而彷徨，却总也无法摆脱。
2、     人如西西弗般行走在迷失环里，不由自主地问道：“我是谁？”
没有人回答。
我不知道。
“人”因此而觉察到了迷失的存在。于是，“人”奋力反抗，突破，战斗，在无休止的战斗过程中才发现缺失是不可战胜的，战斗和反抗被认为是毫无意义的行为。因为我存在，迷失也存在；如果迷失不存在，那幺我也不存在。为什幺这样说？请考虑一下“人”的个体在社会中的情况吧。个体在社会中受到浊化，而浊化的成员并不仅仅是区区一份子，而是由全部的个体本身所构成的整个社会。当范围缩小到个体时，由于个体的存在对应着群体的存在，当由于缺失消失而导致“人”与社会分离的时候，实际意义上的“人”已不复存在。因为每一个作者都是活着的“人”，所以不可能写出“非人”的作品。而即使作者已超越了这一极限，对于他本人而言，绝对意义上交流的文学已经无用了。因此，人的意义就在这无意义的反抗中得到体现。也就是说，因为你活着，所以你必须活下去。这就是活着。鲁迅的《狂人日记》，梁小斌的《我与这个世界并无仇恨》，傅天琳的《升起未来佛》等即属于这一蜕变层次的代表作品。这一层次的作品同样只能从各个角度去挖掘“人”的意义。这很像是小说的极限，但实际并不是这样。因为，蜕变还有第三个进程。
3、
雨依然在下着。远处的山山水水笼罩在一片烟雾之中，渐渐模糊了。
歌唱。
…………………
抗争是无意义的，但它却也在无形中被迷失所控制和操纵，更加使人无法察觉。于是我们的斗士们才发现，自己从一开始就又陷入了生活的圈子。生活的圈子与历史的圈子又有类同之处，这里略去。所以说，“人”实际上是被自己困住了，永远不得自拔。
………………
拉弦。
………………
如果说在这之前人的意义还在于不可能达成的反抗和突围，那幺现在连反抗和突围的存在也同时失去了意义。人似乎也在同时失去了意义，但实际上并不是这样。原因是人的蜕变有可能是无数次的，而EVA理论目前还未完善，对于以后蜕变的方式并不能做出任何有益的回答。这是因为EVA理论相对现实来说还是太模糊了，如果我们不能看清远方的每一个细节，理所当然地无法回答未来究竟是什幺，人生是什幺这样的问题，同样也无法论证人是否真的绝望。
反观海子的诗歌，在某种角度上是这一个过程的作品。他知道自己在远方看见了什幺，同时也懂得自己在现实中失去了什幺。因为在他面前，现实已经化为黑暗而在心中沉没，未来的风帆又飘荡摇曳得无影无踪。在现实和理想中都无法寻找到失落的自我，余下的只是在茫然中彷徨并死去。
………………
歌唱，向着那一缕阳光歌唱。
………………
正如我在前面所说的，这是人唯一存在的理由——人活着。加缪说，人的唯一权利就是自杀。也许这是基于存在主义理论出发的吧。其实人活着就标志着你必须活下去。活着，无比沉重地活着，这是无数作家所探索的主题，因为或许只有活着才是人唯一的权利吧。在这个基础之上，余华的《许三观卖血记》叙述了一个极其平凡人物的极其沉重的故事。诚如有关的评论中所说的，因为我们是凡人，所以用以持续自我 生命的代价便是自我的生命。如何打破这种悖论不仅仅是EVA理论将要做的，同时
也是时代的使命。
  这儿的一切论证都是以第三次蜕变作为核心而言的。如果涉及第四次的蜕变，则问题会远远复杂得多，而这已不是本文所考虑的范畴了。记得白先勇曾提出过所谓的“小说三原则”，下面将就这个问题进行阐述。
二、小说极限
  “小说三原则”认为任何一个作品（小说）都必须遵守以下三原则：语言，视角，人性美。构思决定语言，所以在某种角度上说语言就是构思，而视角即看问题的角度。对于这二点，人们很少有所争议。而惟有“人性美”，历来为人们争论不休。考虑到语言和视角必须依赖于“人性美”，故这里只考虑它的有关情况。
由于创作本身的原因，除了超越时代的作品之外，其它的作品都必须沿着人蜕变的路径行进。而人在第四次蜕变时则往往连“人性美”也可能消失殆尽。就人的第三次蜕变而言，人已经完全绝望，只是徒然地为了活着而活着。而如果在这个时候，重新审视一番人所走过的历程，从历史的角度来考虑问题，从“人”的围墙内走出去并进一步思考人类，社会，文化等一系列问题，不能不说是一种有益的尝试。那些相应而产生的先锋派作品，文化大散文，关于后现代的探索等……或许也就是这一时代的产物。然而，历史竟会如此地欺骗我们，文化——我们自己创造的东西——只会使我们陷入于迷失环中，生活的圈子在无形中困住了我们每一个人，“大社会”、“新异化社会”污染着人们的心灵。……这只能被认为是最后的挣扎，是心灵在被黑暗淹没前的最后的呐喊和告白。它们是那幺的苍白无力，以至于根本不可能撼动这个早已经异化了的时代。随着时间的流逝，这样的作品只会在一片杂乱的叹息声中逐渐湮没直至了无声息。难道说，这——就是小说的极限？
…………
雨在地上溅出涟漪，仿佛听见了笛声。
…………
拉弦。
…………
古龙先生昔日言及19世纪文豪福尔纳称“20世纪无小说”只不过是一句空话而已，因为即使所有的故事都被人写尽了，人性依然创在。有人性，就有变化，就不会死。然而，今非昔比，小说的极限似乎已经到来，我们会说“21世纪无小说”吗？
人已经绝望，真正的语言正在消失。
语言一旦消失，真正的小说构思也就消失。
——小说，也将消失？
我——不知道。
…………
拉弦。
…………