后期文艺复兴研究述评——兼评鲍斯玛的文艺复兴消褪说

On Later Renaissance Study and Bouwsma's Theory of Renaissance Waning

后期文艺复兴是一个比较复杂的史学概念。美国已故史学家鲍斯玛的力著《文艺复兴的消褪》就后期文艺复兴问题作了全面的探讨。作者的"消褪说"打破了后期文艺复兴研究的惯例,对开阔文艺复兴史研究思路、谨慎处理相关史学内容有极大的启示意义。但如何界定后期文艺复兴,如何把握人文主义的内涵,如何看待"消褪说"可能引起的歧义,这些问题仍值得我们作进一步的学术探讨。

That Later Renaissance is a complicated historical term. W. J. Bouwsma, an American historian, made a comprehensive study on the issue of Later Renaissance in his outstanding work The Waning of the Renaissance. Bouwsma＇s theory of the waning broke the convention in study of Later Renaissance issue and brought the great inspiration of expanding the views of learning and of treating the historical issues concerned cautiously. However, we should go further to study the issues which remained by Bouwsma, e.g. how to define the term Later Renaissance, how to hold the real meaning of humanism, how to deal with the dichotomal meaning in the theory of waning and so on.