记忆之墟：《同情者》中的不可靠叙述

Ruins of Memory: Unreliable Narration in The Sympathizer

摘要: 阮清越的《同情者》以第一人称讲述了一个“双面人”的自白式人生，其主体以“检讨书”为基本叙述形态，呈现出高度碎片化与反复修正的记忆书写。文章以不可靠叙述理论为切入点，论述小说中记忆与叙述之间的复杂关系。文章认为，叙述者的不可靠性并非单纯源于道德缺陷或认知失误，而是由其分裂的价值立场与文化身份、受规训的书写机制以及高度封闭的叙述时空共同建构而成。在这一过程中，记忆既是叙述的基础，又不断受到叙述行为的重塑，最终形成一片无法整合的“记忆之墟”。通过区分疏远型与契约型不可靠性，文章进一步指出，《同情者》在制造深层反讽的同时，又悖论式地引发读者的同情与共感，使不可靠叙述成为重构战争记忆的重要文学机制。

Abstract: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer is narrated in the first person as a confessional account of a “man of two faces”, with the novel’s core structured as a series of written confessions produced under surveillance. This narrative framework gives rise to a fragmented and repeatedly revised mode of remembering. Drawing on theories of unreliable narration, this article examines the complex relationship between memory and narration in the novel. It argues that the narrator’s unreliability does not stem simply from moral failure or cognitive error, but is jointly produced by his divided value system and cultural identity, the disciplined form of confessional writing, and a highly enclosed narrative time and space. Within this process, memory functions not only as the foundation of narration but is also continuously reshaped and regulated by the act of narration itself, ultimately forming what may be described as “ruins of memory”. By distinguishing between estranging and bonding unreliability, the article further demonstrates that The Sympathizer generates profound irony while simultaneously eliciting readerly sympathy in a paradoxical manner, thereby positioning unreliable narration as a crucial literary mechanism for reconfiguring memories of the War.