蔣風(fēng)：兒童文學(xué)領(lǐng)域立豐碑

2007年新年剛剛到來，年屆八旬的浙江師范大學(xué)老教授蔣風(fēng)，欣喜地收到第11屆國際格林獎初評組發(fā)來的“伊妹兒”，告知他榮幸地被列為第11屆國際格林獎候選人。

國際格林獎是國際兒童文學(xué)界的一項權(quán)威獎項，每兩年評選一次，每次從全世界范圍內(nèi)評選出一位對兒童文學(xué)作出突出貢獻(xiàn)的人。格林獎至今已評選過10屆，已有10人獲此殊榮。蔣風(fēng)先生自離休以來，十多年內(nèi)在兒童文學(xué)戰(zhàn)線上已先后獲得全國藝術(shù)科學(xué)重點研究一等獎、宋慶齡兒童文學(xué)獎首屆特殊貢獻(xiàn)獎、亞洲兒童文學(xué)學(xué)會共同會長推薦獎以及第二次世界兒童文學(xué)大會授予的兒童文學(xué)理論貢獻(xiàn)獎等10多個大獎。

蔣風(fēng)先生是中國兒童文學(xué)理論界的大家，他對中國當(dāng)代兒童文學(xué)理論的貢獻(xiàn)，無論在中國當(dāng)代高等師范院校多層次的兒童文學(xué)教材建設(shè)方面，還是中國當(dāng)代兒童文學(xué)龐大的理論體系構(gòu)建方面，都稱得上是開拓者和奠基人之一，他在兒童文學(xué)研究領(lǐng)域樹起了一座豐碑。

蔣風(fēng)先生于1925年出生在浙江金華一個家境貧寒的小學(xué)教員家庭里，在那個兵荒馬亂年代，父親的收入極其微薄，命運沒有讓他享受多少童年歡樂，只是在他讀小學(xué)三年級時，一位姓斯的女教師在每周一節(jié)的故事課中，給他們講過意大利亞米契斯《愛的教育》中的不少動人故事，這讓他第一次在美妙的童話世界里找到了許多童年樂趣。這位女教師發(fā)現(xiàn)小蔣風(fēng)特別喜愛童話，后來就把《愛的教育》這本書贈給了他，并在扉頁上寫下了這樣一句話：“要永遠(yuǎn)記?。鹤屪约耗穷w平凡的心，時時刻刻閃現(xiàn)出不平凡的光采來?！睆拇?，這本書成了他最心愛的讀物。蔣風(fēng)每當(dāng)說起他與兒童文學(xué)如何結(jié)緣時，總是動情地說：“我常常這樣想，如果我身上有值得肯定的一些性格和品德，這或多或少都得益于這本書！”

蔣先生與兒童文學(xué)結(jié)緣，還有一件具有人生轉(zhuǎn)折意義的事。1947年他從英士大學(xué)畢業(yè)不久，在《申報》上看到一則消息，說三個孩子因為看了一本關(guān)于宣揚“得道成仙”的荒誕連環(huán)畫，便結(jié)伴到四川峨眉山學(xué)道尋仙，后來三人共同跳崖以求“飛升”，結(jié)果一個個粉身碎骨，走上了不歸路。這一慘劇給蔣風(fēng)以極大的震撼，使他真切地看到了反動、迷信、荒誕的書刊對兒童心靈所造成的毒害，從而使他萌發(fā)了獻(xiàn)身于兒童文學(xué)事業(yè)的心愿。

當(dāng)他踏上社會，擔(dān)任《申報》記者和國際新聞社駐浙記者后，一方面做好本職工作，一方面抽出時間嘗試進(jìn)行兒童文學(xué)的創(chuàng)作。新中國成立后，蔣風(fēng)走上了教育崗位，先是在中學(xué)和師范學(xué)校任教，并由此踏上了系統(tǒng)研究兒童文學(xué)的歷程。特別是從1956年開始，他先后被調(diào)到浙江師范學(xué)院、杭州大學(xué)、浙江師范大學(xué)任教后，給蔣風(fēng)從更高的層面上從事兒童文學(xué)的研究提供了新的機緣和廣闊平臺。

上世紀(jì)50年代末和60年代初，隨著教育事業(yè)的發(fā)展，高等學(xué)校開設(shè)了兒童文學(xué)課程，但在許多人的觀念中，總認(rèn)為在學(xué)術(shù)研究中搞“古”和“洋”的才算有“大學(xué)問”，而搞兒童文學(xué)不過是“小兒科”，因而對開設(shè)這門課程問津者寥寥。蔣先生頂住這種壓力，從青草萋萋的處女地上搭起兒童文學(xué)課架子，開了個好頭，但在十年浩劫中，搞兒童文學(xué)研究也成了罪名，他橫遭批斗，然而這并沒有撼動他的執(zhí)著追求，他滿懷信心地等待著兒童文學(xué)春天的到來。

改革開放后，蔣風(fēng)在兒童文學(xué)研究上獲得非凡的成就，近30年來，他編寫了《兒童文學(xué)概論》《中國現(xiàn)代兒童文學(xué)史》《中國當(dāng)代兒童文學(xué)史》《蔣風(fēng)兒童文學(xué)論文選》以及由他領(lǐng)銜主編的《中國兒童文學(xué)大系·理論卷》卷一、卷二，《中國兒童文學(xué)大系·詩歌卷》卷一、卷二等等。這些著作在國內(nèi)外兒童文學(xué)界都產(chǎn)生了廣泛的影響。在第二屆世界兒童文學(xué)頒獎大會上，頒獎辭上贊揚他“把中國兒童文學(xué)理論提升到世界水平”，他所編著的兒童文學(xué)教材，以《兒童學(xué)概論》為題集結(jié)出版，成為新中國第一本系統(tǒng)的兒童文學(xué)理論專著，被各大學(xué)廣泛地采用作為教材，并在國內(nèi)多次獲獎。

在蔣風(fēng)50多年的教育生涯中，最令他自豪的是1978年在浙江師范學(xué)院任教時，創(chuàng)辦了我國第一個兒童文學(xué)研究所，并成為第一個在國內(nèi)開始招收兒童文學(xué)碩士研究生的高等學(xué)府，先后招了11屆，培養(yǎng)了一批出類拔萃的青年學(xué)者。

離休后，不顧自身年事已高，仍奮力創(chuàng)辦中國兒童文學(xué)研究中心，免費招收非學(xué)歷兒童研究生，又用自己離休所得生活津貼單槍匹馬創(chuàng)辦《兒童文學(xué)信息報》，每期發(fā)行3500份，免費贈送國內(nèi)外兒童文學(xué)界的朋友和需要者及相關(guān)機構(gòu)。上個世紀(jì)80年代以來，更熱衷于兒童文學(xué)國際交流，先后到過美、日、韓、新、馬、港、澳、臺等地講學(xué)，播撒兒童文學(xué)種子。

“孩子是人類的未來。兒童文學(xué)事業(yè)是人類最有希望的事業(yè)，我愿為它貢獻(xiàn)全部心血?！边@是蔣風(fēng)一生的理念。正是這一理念，使他成為中國兒童文學(xué)研究的奠基者之一，成為中國兒童文學(xué)界的泰斗，成為中國兒童文學(xué)界乃至世界兒童文學(xué)界的名人。

A Giant in Children’s Tales

By Pan Guojun， our staff reporter

Just after the New Year’s Day of 2007， Professor Jiang Feng was informed by the preliminary jury of the 11th International Brothers Grimm Award that he was on a shortlist for the final winner.

A biennial international award in the field of children’s literature， the honor is awarded to one winner who has made outstanding contribution to children’s literature. Jiang Feng is on the radar of the organizers of the Brothers Grimm Award because he has devoted his life to the theoretical study of children’s literature and has won numerous honors since he retired more than 10 years ago. A giant in China’s children’s literature study， Jiang is a pioneer and founder of theoretical studies of fairy tales in the country.

Born into a poor family in 1925， Jiang Feng did not have much fun as a child. It was not until during the third year in the primary school that something happened to him. A teacher surnamed Si began to tell stories from the Italian writer Edmondo de Amicis’s novel Heart to the class. The stories touched his heart and rendered him joy he had never known before. Finding Jiang fascinated with the stories， the teacher later gave the book to Jiang as a gift. She wrote on the fly page:’Kemember forever: let your ordinary heart shine extraordinary lights every moment.?This book became Jiang’s favorite. Whenever talking about his seemingly predestined passion for children’s literature， the scholar will say emotionally， “If there are things positive in my character， they come from that book.?Another thing that happened shortly after his graduation from college in 1947 directed his life toward children’s literature. One day he read a piece of news of the deaths of three children， who jumped off a cliff in the hope of becoming immortal and flying off into the heaven after reading a picture-story book. The tragedy shocked Jiang Feng.

Working as a full-time journalist in Zhejiang for the Shanghai-based Shen Pao， probably the most influential newspaper in China in the first half of the 20th century， Jiang studied children’s literature in his spare time. After 1949， he became a teacher， which enabled him to study the subject more systematically. From 1956 on， he taught at a college， which gave him a platform for his research and study in the field.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s， some colleges in the country began to offer courses in children’s literature. However， few were interested in such a study. Most students were fascinated by ancient China’s literature or foreign literatures. Jiang established himself in this rarely visited field. But， he was condemned during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) for his devotion to children’s literature. However， this absurd setback did not deter him.

Since he resumed his study shortly after the reform and opening up to the outside world more than 30 years ago， Jiang has accomplished a great deal in his dedicated field. He has authored quite a few landmark theoretical books on the subject. Under his leadership， important anthologies of theories and poems of children’s literature have been published. His theoretical contributions are influential both at home and abroad. Introduction to Children’s Literature， compiled by him， is New China’s first ever book that systematically handles theories of children’s literature on an academic level. The prize-winning book has been adopted by many colleges as textbooks for children’s literature courses.

The proudest thing that Jiang believed he has achieved occurred in 1978 when he was teaching at the Zhejiang Teachers College. He founded the country’s first research institute for children’s literature and turned the college into the country’s first higher education institution that offered a graduate course for children’s literature study. For 11 years， the college recruited graduate students and a host of young and promising scholars in the field have come out from the course.

Still preserving a solid state of young mind， the 82-year-old professor is continuing to work at children’s literature. He states his belief in children’s fairy tales this way: “Ihildren are the future of mankind and children’s literature is the most promising undertaking of mankind. I am willing to devote all my life to the cause.?

(Translated by David)