当代西方的两种民族理论——兼评安东尼·史密斯的民族(nation)理论

The Two Theories in the Study of Nations and Nationalism in Contemporary West-Also on Anthony Smith's Theory on Nations

“现代主义”与“族群—象征主义”民族理论是当代西方有关民族和民族主义研究中的两个主要学术流派。目前已经引起我国学术界注意的安东尼·史密斯是后者的代表人物。“现代主义”民族理论对民族论述的重点在于强调民族的现代性、政治性、市民 (或公民 )性以及其缘起的西欧性。“族群—象征主义”民族理论则注重研究民族的历史性 ,民族的族群基础及其文化特征 ,并且特别强调民族的重要历史地位和持久的生命力。两种民族理论的发生、发展及其理论对峙与第二次世界大战后的国际政治经济文化的发展变化息息相关。加强对它们的研究能给我们以有益的启迪。

Two of the main contemporary theories in the study of nations and nationalism in the West are “Modernism' and “ethno symbolism'. Anthony Smith, the foremost theorist of ethno symbolism, has received attention in the Chinese academic circles. According to modernism, nations originally came into being in Western Europe as wholly modern and essentially territorial political civic communities. Nations therefore are products of modernity and not deeply rooted in history. On the other hand, the advocates of ethno symbolism concern themselves with the ethnic foundations of nations. They argue that nations are historical phenomena and that national identities are constituted from the elements of myth, memory, symbol and tradition. Thus the s ethno symbolism school rejects the modernist view that nations are the political product of modernity. This critique has led to a major controversy in contemporary thought.