为中国古代“文说”正名

Name Rectification of “Wen Shuo” in Ancient China

中国古代留下了大量关于文学的言说和著述。二十世纪二十年代以来,许多研究者都对它进行过命名,从“中国文学批评”到“文学理论批评”和“文学理论”,再到“诗学”,再到“文论”,可至今都没有定论。相比较于这些外来或现代语汇,“文说”倒是一个历史的还原,它更准确地体现“中国”、“古代”说文的思维方式和表述形态,从而避免学术研究中“以西释中”和“以今释古”不良倾向。

In ancient China there were large numbers of articles and works, to which many names have been given since the 1920's, including “Chinese literary criticism”、“theory of literary criticism”、“literary theory”、“poetics” and “theory of Wen”. But up to now no final conclusion has been reached. Compared with these foreign or modern terms, the name of “Wen Shuo” returns to its original history. It can exactly reflect the way of thinking and the form of expressions in ancient China, and then avoid applying mechanically in academic research.