散文書寫可以說是文化的具體表徵，不僅古典散文紀錄古典文化的精神內涵，即使仍在發展中的當代文化所隱含的不確定性與顛覆性，也是經由當代散文的藝術書寫而得以呈現。而當代作家則是在全球化語境的散文書寫中，呈現出尋求當代文化認同的歷程。本文所謂之散文書寫藝術的「認同」，不在於散文作品書寫出對既存現實的認定與重複，而是指散文作品書寫的藝術價值在於以重立差異的言語，尋求當代文化對美感經驗、道德價值、宗教感受……等的差異認同。本文首先從「文」字的雙重涵義，探討「文」字書寫與「文」化創生的相互關係。其次，指出功能散文與藝術散文的書寫二者之間的差異與相關性，以說明當代散文書寫的藝術特質，進而從差異美學的觀點，來反省散文書寫所追尋之美感認同的意義；並據以分析當代中文散文作品的藝術書寫中，所隱含之美感認同與宗教認同的向度。正是在美感、認知、道德、宗教各種不同經驗的差異體認中、當代散文書寫出當代人的各種不同的文化經驗，也因此書寫出當代文化的差異與認同。

The aim of this paper is to expose the aesthetic meaning of identity and difference in the process of contemporary Chinese prose-writing, embodied with the characteristics of uncertainty and subversion of the culture in developing. This paper argues that the aesthetic dimension of literary/cultural identity in contemporary Chinese prose-writing consists in the attitude of taking prose-writing as a way of searching the trace of existence in vanishing world, through the rehabilitation of language of difference, in pursuing the sense of beauty, ethic value and religious sentiment in the living culture, rather than in the intention of recognizing the author's social status or repeating the established reality presented in the text. This paper will firstly discuss
the intimate relationship between textual writing and cultural production
in Chinese literature, in re-examining the poietic meanings of the
character “wen”, both in wenzi (text) and wenhua (culture). It will
illustrate the aesthetic characteristics of contemporary Chinese prose-
writing by the literary relevance implied in the distinction between the
aesthetic attitude of artistic writing of prose, and the utilitarian attitude taking writing as instrument. Further, from the viewpoint of aesthetic differences, this paper will read more in detail several texts as models to expose how the contemporary writers use their pen to draw the sense of literary and cultural identity in the ruin of memory.