伊格尔顿批评理论的文化主题

The Cultural Theme in Terry Eagleton's Critical Theory

本文在当代文化热背景、英国文化思想史以及西方马克思主义传统等维度中,考察伊格尔顿文化思想的内涵、特征和对当前文化思考的启发,认为伊格尔顿关于"文化的危机"的疾呼不仅有力地唤醒人们注意"文化热"隐含的内在矛盾,而且有助于认识整个现代文化理论的发展逻辑。文化危机贯穿于现代时期,在当代更加严重,甚至演化成文化战争。文化危机表现为现当代主流文化话语对文化的历史性、实践性、生产性以及政治性的漠视和掩盖,而根源在于资本主义制度的固有矛盾。对于伊格尔顿来说,走出文化危机的根本出路在于恢复文化的本位功能,推动实现社会主义制度,让每个人都能过上充分实现自我价值的"有文化的"生活。伊格尔顿的文化论述对于理解其批评理论的整体性质和特色具有重要意义。

This essay explores the content and exceptionality of Terry Eagleton＇ s idea of culture and its significance for contempo rary thinking on culture, and it posits the exploration in the context of current academic heat on culture, the intellectual history of English cultural theory and the tradition of Western Marxism. The paper maintains that Eagleton＇ s proposition of cultural crisis not only reveals the intrinsic contradiction of the cultural heat but also helps for the understanding of the fundamental logic of modern cultural theory. Cultural crisis has been in existence along the modern era and it has intensified into contemporary culture wars. It shows in the neglect of the historicity, materiality, productivity and politics of culture in the mainstream cultural discour ses, which is resulted from the innate contradiction in capitalism. For Eagleton, the fundamental way out of the cultural crisis lies in the recovering of the original function of culture so as to promote socialism and enable everyone to live a cultured life of self - realization. The paper concludes that Eagleton＇ s idea of culture is crucial for understanding the nature and features of his critical theory.