克莱斯特的语言理论及其现代性

Kleist's Linguistic Theory and Its Modernness

克莱斯特关于语言表达功能的批评理论具有超前的现代性, 是文学现代主义的特征之一。克莱斯特对语言的表达能力持有深刻的怀疑态度, 认为语言无法全面表达人的思想。尼采、卡夫卡和后来的其他作家也曾研究过语言表达功能的理论, 但都未能达到他的认识深度。他把语言怀疑观融入其创作中, 使用一种对语言本身进行否定的语言, 与主题保持一定距离, 避免直接的主观涉入。他作品中的语言因此常有令人费解之处, 这也正是他的创作用意之一。在认识克莱斯特关于语言表达功能的批评理论时, 我们还应该看到他潜藏在其中的哲学观。

Kleist's criticism theory about language's function of expression was ahead of his time, which is one of the characteristics of literature modernism. Kleist was deeply doubtful of language's expressive capability. He believed that language could not express the whole thought of human beings. Nietzsche, Kafka and some other subsequent writers also studied the theory of language's function of expression, but no one reached Kleist's depth. He integrated his doubt of language into his writings, which used a language that negates language per se, kept some distance away from the subject, and avoided direct subjective involvement. That's why the language in his writings was often hard to understand, which was also one of his objectives. When we study his criticism theory, we should also notice its underlying philosophy.