“反对隐喻”之后——对疾病隐喻的一种文化反思

After “Against Metaphors”——A Cultural Consideration to Illness as Metaphor

自从苏珊·桑塔格在20世纪70年代末提出此概念以来,疾病隐喻便一直备受各方争议,是人文医学、文学批评乃至文化研究等领域所关注的学术热点。然而在当前的价值判断领域,桑塔格所建立的对疾病隐喻"要么支持要么反对"的二元思维已非上策,我们至少还应该从三个方面对其进行综合性的反思:疾病隐喻的来龙去脉及其文化定义,疾病隐喻何以成为一种神话修辞,以及疾病隐喻在当今社会语境下有何新的意义和影响。在疾病隐喻无处不在却又泛滥成灾的今日,人文医学与文学理论尤其是叙事学的跨学科研究,或许能够为学界正确看待并利用疾病隐喻提供一种有效的参照。

The metaphor for illness has been drastically disputed ever since 1970s when Susan Sontag first put it forward to the hot spot of medical humanism, literary criticism and cultural studies, and the related fields. However, the dualism, which refers to supportive or opponent views, confronting the metaphor for illness cannot solve the problem on value judgment nowadays. We should use comprehensive consideration to it at least in three aspects： the origin and development, the mythologies and the new cultural significance and influence. Perhaps the interdisciplinary studies between medical humanism and general narratology could give us a valid reference of today＇s metaphor for illness.