西方文论关键词:情感文学

Literature of Sensibility: A Keyword in Critical Theory

情感文学作品刻意突出描写主要人物的情感起伏、悲伤离合,引发读者的情感宣泄,达到作者所期望的同情或同感叙事效果。这一文学现象集中出现在17、18世纪的欧洲文坛,特别是小说和戏剧领域,并由此派生出情感主义。情感文学乃至情感主义的出现有其深层的哲学和社会基础,由此开展研究可使我们更深刻地理解其特定的文学表现形式和发展路径,更全面地了解其由兴至衰的历史沿革。情感文学及情感主义在18世纪英国文坛、特别是小说领域的思想基础及文学表现与欧洲文坛的发展息息相关。结合欧洲的历史文化背景,解读它们在英国文学史的出现和发展,可以为读者了解英国18世纪的文学与文化提供有益的帮助。

Literature of sensibility gives attention to the emotions of characters such as their distress and happiness in order to bring forth similar emotional responses from the readers, and in so doing achieve the intended effects of sympathy and empathy. This literary phenomenon made its remarkable appearance in European literature during the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in the fields of novel and drama. Sentimentalism is an important division in this general literary movement. We may trace literature of sensibility and its derivative Sentimentalism to their philosophical as well as social backgrounds. Studying the roots of these phenomena may help us gain a deeper understanding of the form of their literary expression and a comprehensive grasp of their popularity and decline. The ideological basis and literary expression of literature of sensibility and Sentimentalism in 18th-century Britain are in tune with the development of European culture and literature. Therefore, an analysis of their birth and development in the British literary history, in view of the historical and cultural backgrounds of Europe, may help the reader appreciate 18th-century British culture and literature.