中国文论话语的还原——以《文心雕龙》之“文”为中心

The Revival of Chinese Literary Theory Utterance

《文心雕龙》之"文",在现代汉语中很难找到与之相对应的词语,与今天的"文学"或"文章"都并不一致,这正说明我们现代文艺学的"失语"——失去了我们传统的话语。实际上,《文心雕龙》之"文"的内涵原本是清楚明白的;在整个中国古代文论史上,关于"文学"、"文章"的基本含义,也是一以贯之的。只是到了20世纪初叶,尤其是五四运动以后,"literature"被翻译成"文学"并得以广泛运用,中国古代漫长的"文学"、"文章"概念的应用历史基本中断,"文学"一词也就陷入尴尬之境。按照《文心雕龙》和中国古代文论中关于"文章"、"文学"的基本话语,"literature"不能翻译为"文学",而应该翻译为"文章",这也就是《文心雕龙》之"文";而作为"文章之学"(Literarystudy)的"文学",或可翻译为"Philology"。

It is hard to find an equivalent in modern Chinese language for the 'wen' in Wenxin Diaolong (Dragon Carving and the Literary Mind). Today’s 'wenxue' (literature) or 'wenzhang' (article) is no equivalent for it, suggestive of the 'aphasia' of modern Chinese literary theory, that is, it has lost its traditional utterance. As a matter of fact, the connotation of 'wen' is unmistakably clear in Wenxin Diaolong. Moreover, the basic meanings of 'wenxue' and 'wenzhang' remain consistent throughout the history of Chinese ancient literary theory. It was not until the early twentieth century, especially after the May Fourth movement, that the word 'literature' was translated into 'wenxue' and then have been widely used, which practically put an end to the use of the concepts of 'wenxue' and 'wenzhang' in ancient China and consequently left the word 'wenxue' in a dilemma. According to the basic explanations of 'wenzhang' and 'wenxue' in Wenxin Diaolong and Chinese ancient literary theory, the English word 'literature' should not be translated into 'wenxue' but 'wenzhang' which is the meaning of the 'wen' in Wenxin Diaolong. The term 'wenxue'(the science of wenzhang, or literary study)should perhaps be rendered into 'philology' instead.