约瑟夫·卡罗尔的进化论文学批评理论与实践

A Review of Joseph Carroll's Evolutionary Literary Criticism

进化论文学批评的首倡者约瑟夫·卡罗尔认为后现代批评理论有诸多局限性,决定另辟蹊径,自上世纪90年代便开启了他的进化论文学批评工程。卡罗尔以科学统一论为指导,把达尔文的进化论思想直接运用于批评理论的建构,以期从根本上改造传统的人文主义批评,使其与现代生物学及生命科学相整合。卡罗尔从进化论批评视角对经典莎剧《哈姆莱特》的重新解读可视为代表其批评理念的范例。尽管不免带有缺陷,但总体来说,它在相当大程度上体现了科学精神和人文精神的融汇。

Dismissing postmodern literary theories as flawed or inadequate in various ways, Joseph Carroll, the leading theorist and founder of evolutionary literary criticism, has sought to develop an alternative approach to literary studies since the 1990s. Advocating the ＂Unity of Science＂, Carroll applies Darwin＇s evolutionary theory directly to the construction of his critical paradigm with the intention of fundamentally transforming traditional humanistic criticism and making it integrated with modern biological sciences and human life sciences. His reinterpretation of the Shakespeare＇s classic Hamlet from the perspective of evolutionary criticism, though not exempt from defect, is on the whole a fairly good blending of scientific and humanistic spirit, thus serving as an exemplar of his critical principles.