“文献”芻议

Elaboration on Literature

“文献”是一个至少在春秋末期就已经出现的概念。然而在历史上,该词随着使用语境的不同,其含义也时广时窄。大致而言,“文”的含义没有什么变化,而“献”的范围则呈日益狭窄的趋势,这与参与文献研究的人自身视野的变化有关。其次,本文以现代视野重新审视了现当代学者的观点,认为在目前的“文献”定义乃现当代图书馆、情报学的定义,在相当程度上混淆了“文献”和“文物”的界限,并不惬合于实际;另外,在科技和社会快速发展的今天,应该重新界定“文献”,将新产生的电子文献等收纳于内。最后,“文献”一词,目前尚未有适合的对应外语翻译。

Literature （Wen Xian） is a concept that appears at least at the end of the Spring ＆ Autumn period. In history, however, the meaning of the word varies with the context. Roughly, the meaning of Wen does not change while that of Xian narrows down. It has connection with the range of knowledge of literature researchers. The writing reevaluates the viewpoint of current scholars from a modem perspective, and it believes that the definition of literature makes an ambiguity of the differences between literature and legacy. Today when science, technology and society progress rapidly, another definition of literature should be made to include newly emerging electronic literature. So far, there is no foreign equivalent of literature available yet.