“原罪”抑或“合法性偏见”——当代西方自传批评辨析

“Original Sin” or “Legal Prejudice”: On Current Western Criticism of Autobiography

自传依然是处于争议之中的文类,20世纪后期以来,西方文学批评中对自传的质疑乃至解构,涉及"美学的、认知的、伦理的和政治的"等层面,主要表现为:从"诗性"角度对其修辞过度或不足的批判;后现代主义语言批判下"自传之死"的判决。与此相对,本文提出以下观点为自传辩护:自传的真实是"结构性真实";自传的人本主义本质不容抹杀;"谁在说话"至关重要;自传主体是多面自我。在此前提下探讨自传中的"意图"、"身份"和"叙述"及其复杂关系,有助于理解我们的"自传式生存"状态。

Autobiography is still a genre at issue.In the twentieth century the questioning of autobiography and even the deconstruction criticism all refer to its'aesthetic,cognitive,ethical and political'aspects,which are mainly about the sentence of'the death of autobiography'by the postmodernists.By contrast,the following views are put forward as a defense of autobiography:the truth of autobiography is one kind of'structural truth';the humanistic essence of autobiography cannot be denied;'who’s speaking'is crucial;the subject of autobiography is a multidimensional self.Thus,to explore the'intention','identity','narrative'and their complex relationship in autobiography may be useful to understand human beings as living'autobiographically'.