"倒寫體"逆襲爆紅 Reverse is the way forward

If the Hollywood movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suggests that a life lived backwards can be far more enriching, then the latest online writing phenomenon shows that a story read backwards is no less interesting.

如果說好萊塢電影《返老還童》證明了逆時針的生命軌跡可以更加豐富精彩，那麼最新的一種網絡文體則說明了故事倒着讀也同樣有趣。

Some classic works of literature, Journey to the West and A Dream of Red Mansions included, have been rewritten in reverse online. The original ending is turned into the starting point of a new story and the original beginning becomes the new story’s ending.

包括《西遊記》和《紅樓夢》在內的一些古典名著紛紛被網民們改編成“倒寫體”。原著的結局成爲了故事的新開始，而原著的開端變成了新故事的結局。

Journey to the West was the first to be revamped. In the well-known story, a monkey born out of a stone protects a monk on his journey to the West as atonement for his past sins. But the new version by an Internet user sees the monkey turn into a stone after he helps the monk travel all the way to the East.

《西遊記》是第一個被改寫的故事。這個廣爲流傳的故事講述了一隻石猴保護一位僧人前往西天取經的救贖故事。但在網民改寫的新版本中，這隻猴子在幫助唐僧西天取經後變成了一塊石頭。

Journey to the West in Reverse alone was re-blogged over 20,000 times. Many people can’t wait to try their hand at this new method of rewriting stories.

《西遊記》“倒寫體”被轉發超過2萬次之多。這種改編故事的新形式令許多人迫不及待，躍躍欲試。

“I’m quite interested in rewriting a Shakespeare story this way,” said Zhao Zhongyan, 21, an English major at Southwest University.

就讀於西南大學英語專業，21歲的趙忠豔（音譯）表示，“我對莎士比亞小說的倒寫體十分感興趣。”

But why is this so-called “reverse style” such a hit?

但是這種所謂的“倒寫體”爲何如此大受歡迎呢？

“It reminds me of the 2008 American movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button directed by David Fincher. The movie’s leading character ages backwards with bizarre consequences,” said He Tiantian, an English teacher at a Suzhou college. “When a story is rewritten in reverse, it also has unexpected consequences. It gets a touch of irony and the black humor of postmodern literature.”

來自蘇州大學的英語老師何田田（英譯）表示：“這讓我想起大衛•芬奇於08年拍攝的美國電影《返老還童》。片中主角返老還童，最終留下一個不同尋常的結局。當一個故事被改編成‘倒寫體’時，通常能製造出一個不同尋常的結局。帶有一絲諷刺意味以及一種後現代主義文學的黑色幽默。”

And it has an attitude to it too, said He. “It looks like a case of young people challenging mainstream culture.”

而人們對於倒寫體也持有一種態度，何田田評價說：“這看上去是一個年輕人挑戰主流文化的實例。”

Zhang Yiwu, a professor of Chinese literature at Peking University, agrees on the point of postmodern literature. “Parodying classic works of literature is a key attribute of postmodern culture,” he said. “It is also part of Internet-based culture.”

在“倒寫體”體現出後現代主義文學這點上，北京大學中文系教授張頤武表示贊同。他說：“效仿經典名著是後現代主義文化中的重要特徵，也是網絡文化的一部分。”

But Zhang believes the practice of rewriting classic stories in reverse is not simply an attempt to challenge mainstream culture.

但是張頤武認爲，將名著改編成倒寫體，這一行爲不僅僅是試圖挑戰主流文化那麼簡單。

“It’s more about the young generation’s ambivalence toward mainstream culture,” said Professor Zhang. “Following all those years of school education, their systems of thought have been established based on mainstream culture. But the rebelliousness of young people drives them to show that they have a different way of thinking.”

張頤武教授認爲：“這更多反應出年輕一代對於主流文化所持有的矛盾心理。在多年的學校教育後，年輕人的思想體系已被構築於主流文化的基礎之上，而他們的反叛意識又驅使他們展現自己獨特的思考方式。”

“Reversing classic stories’ narrative is a humorous approach for them to resolve this ambivalence,” said Professor Zhang.

張頤武教授表示：“倒寫經典名著是他們排解矛盾心理的一種幽默方式。”