I·A·瑞恰慈与中西文化交流

I.A. Richards and Sino-West Cultural Exchanges

英国现代文论家、诗人、教育家瑞恰慈倾心于东方文化,尤其是对中国古代哲学文化思想情有独钟。他试图建立一种以儒家中庸思想为基础的文学观念,提出了"包容诗"的观念。瑞恰慈在华讲学期间撰著《孟子论心:多义性实验》,中国文化成为其思想结构的重要因素,他认为西方的清晰逻辑,正需要"语法范畴不明"的中国思想方式加以平衡。其所积极推进的基本英语运动在中国的最终失败,源自于这一运动理念与中国文化现代性身份追求的根本矛盾。作为一个典范的实践批评家,其批评理念及操作方法,有助于中国现代文学批评实践体系的建构。

I. A. Richards, modern British literary theorist, poet and educator, greatly admired the Oriental culture, with special interest in ancient Chinese philosophical and cultural thoughts. He tried to develop a literary notion based on The Doctrine of the Chung Yung （中庸） of Confucian , advocating the notion of ＂poetry of the inclusion＂. During his lecture tour in China, Riehards wrote Mencius on the Mind： Experiments in Multiple Definition, with Chinese culture as an important factor of its conceptual structure, arguing that the clear Western logical thought could be balanced by the Chinese thought pattern with an unclear grammatical categorization. The Basic English Movement, which he promoted in China, turned out to be a failure, because of its conceptual incompatibility with the pursuit of modem identity of the Chinese culture. As a model practical critic, both his critical theory and its methods were helpful for the construction of the system of modern Chinese literary critical practice.