中德文学交流史研究的思路与方法探索

Exploration of Ideas and Methods in the Study of the History of Sino⁃German Literary Exchange

学术界对中德文学交流、特别是德语作家对中国文化接受的系统研究开始于上世纪20年代。最初起主导作用的是一批德国汉学家,他们主要盘点了近代德语文学作品中的中国元素。自七十年代起,大批东亚学者前往德国攻读博士学位,通过借鉴比较文学等学科的方法和理论,使德语文学中的中国形象研究取得了很大发展。而中国学者尤其对重要德语作家与中国文化的关系进行了深入挖掘。近二十年来,中国学者聚焦于“文化走出去”和“讲好中国故事,传播中国声音”的国家战略,在中德文学关系和文化外译研究领域进行了多视角、多层面的尝试,研究覆盖了从中国典籍外译到中国文化对德影响,从中国故事西传到中国形象在德语世界中变迁的广阔领域,成果十分丰硕。此外,从“中外文明交流互鉴”的视角出发,研究者们也对德语文学在中国的传播进行了深入研究。本文在总结近年的中德文学交流史研究的基础上,也对新时期的中德文学交流史研究产生了一些新的思考。文中指出,在研究方法方面,中德文学交流研究必须重视从史料发掘、多语种译本比对到“知识场”还原的各个环节;在理论上,必须重视文学交流史背后的“精神资源”;在工作态度上,必须持之以恒,坚持对文学交流史研究新领域的开拓。只有这样,研究者才能在前人基础上取得更多新的突破,将中德文学关系研究推向深入。

The systematic academic study of Sino-German literary exchanges,especially the acceptance of Chinese culture by German-speaking writers,began in the 1920s.Initially,the leading role was played by a group of German Sinologists,who mainly took stock of the Chinese elements in German-language literary works.Since the 1970s,a large number of East Asian scholars have traveled to Germany to pursue their doctoral degrees,which has led to a great development in the study of the image of China in German-language literature by drawing on the methods and theories of comparative literature and other disciplines.And Chinese scholars in particular have made in-depth excavations of the relationship between important German-language writers and Chinese culture.In the past two decades,Chinese scholars have focused on the national strategy of“cultural outreach”and“telling the Chinese story and spreading the Chinese voice,”and have made multi-perspective and multi-level attempts in the field of Sino-German literary relations and cultural translation studies.The research has covered a wide range of fields,from the translation of Chinese texts to the influence of Chinese culture on Germany,from the Western transmission of Chinese stories to the change of Chinese image in the German-speaking world,and the results have been very fruitful.In addition,from the perspective of“exchange and mutual appreciation between Chinese and foreign civilizations,”researchers have also conducted in-depth studies on the spread of German literature in China.This article summarizes the recent research on the history of Sino-German literary exchange and offers some new reflections on the research on the history of Sino-German literary exchange in the new era.The paper points out that in terms of research methods,the study of Sino-German literary exchange must pay attention to all aspects from the discovery of historical materials,the comparison of multilingual translations to the restoration of the“knowledge field.”In terms of theory,it must pay attention to the“spiritual resources”behind the history of literary exchange.In terms of working attitude,it must insist on developing new fields of research on the history of literary exchange.Only in this way can researchers make more new breakthroughs on the basis of their predecessors and push the study of Sino-German literary relations forward.