知识、阶级与权力:18、19世纪的贵族博物学

Knowledge,social class and power:Noble natural history during the 18^(th) and 19^(th) Centuries

博物学具有广泛的参与性,被当成最没有阶级性的科学活动。然而,不同阶级参与的方式和程度大不相同,与高雅文化联系在一起的贵族博物学,以财富、地位和权力为支撑,将自然知识物质化和权力化,在国家战略、学术圈和大众文化中都产生了巨大影响力。皇室的博物学兴趣带动了博物学在全社会的流行,班克斯领导下的皇家学会把博物学当成学会的重心,并借助国家权力把帝国博物学纳入殖民扩张战略,猎奇的自然收藏品和昂贵的彩色绘本成为自然知识高度物质化的表现,在跨阶级的博物学网络里不同阶级的处境也完全不对等,甚至动植物的命名也无不彰显着知识的权力。因此,看似跨越阶级的博物学却难以抹去其阶级差异和贵族特色。

Natural history was considered as a classless scientific practice,because everyone from every class seemed have the access to it. However,people from different classes practiced natural history in quite different ways and what they can achieve was also quite different,too. Along with politeness,noble natural history was supported by wealth,social position and power. It greatly influenced national strategies,academia and popular culture. Royal passion on natural history helped with its popularity in public. Royal society led by Joseph Banks took natural history as the most important part of the society and integrated it into imperialism. Curious natural collections and luxury hand-colored books witnessed the high materialization of natural knowledge. There was no equality among different classes in their interaction of natural history practices,either. Moreover,the naming of species even marked the power of knowledge.Therefore,classless natural history was just an illusion. It was impossible to ignore the class character and noble feature of natural history.