《乌托邦》细节轶事考辨——访高放教授

Textual Research of Details and Anecdotes in "Utopia"——Interview with Prof. Gao Fang

《乌托邦》是莫尔于1516年出版的对话体游记作品,今年正好是其发表500周年,此书被视为近代社会主义思想的开端。本文就《乌托邦》一书有关的八个微观问题进行探究。第一,《乌托邦》为什么不用近代英文而用古拉丁文写成;第二,此书为什么是在比利时出版;第三,它是1516年何月出版的;第四,莫尔写成此书是必然还是偶然;第五,他是转述别人见解还是借别人之口抒发自己心思;第六,是谁把《乌托邦》定位为近代社会主义、共产主义思想的起源;第七,近代社会主义思想的起源是否还有别的说法;第八,《乌托邦》是怎样在我国传播的?共有多少本中译本?弄清这八个问题有助于加深对《乌托邦》及乌托邦思想的理解。

＂Utopia＂ was a dialogic-style travel note coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 （in Latin） ,which is regarded as the origin of neoteric socialism. This year（2016） is the five-hundredth anniversary of the publishment of ＂Utopia＂. Concerning the book ＂Utopia＂, this article will explore eight micro questions as follows：first, why it was written by ancient Latin instead of modern English;second, why it was published in Belgium;third, what the exact month is in 1516 for its publishment;forth, did More write it inevitably or by chance,fifth, was it written for paraphrasing others＇ opinions or expressing his thoughts via referring from others;sixth, who was the first one to treat ＂Utopia＂ as the origin of neoteric socialism and communist ideology;seventh, whether there are other views about the origin of modern socialism;eighth, in what way does ＂Utopia＂ spread in China , how many versions in total.Clarifying the above eight questions would be helpful for us to gain a deeper understanding of ＂Utopia＂ as well as its elaborations and thoughts.