英国文化唯物主义的思想源流

The Intellectual Origins of British Cultural Materialism

英国文化唯物主义虽头顶"主义"之衔,却难膺理论之名,这是因为,它既没有生发出一套系统的批评原则,也没能提出一个普适性的理论概念,它只是一系列批评实践的统称。这些批评实践之所以被归为同类,是因为它们的操作手法、分析对象和思想渊源具有很大的相似性。文化唯物主义是对此前盛行的两种文学批评的有限继承和部分否定,它们是F.R.利维斯的"细绎派"形式主义和蒂里亚德的历史主义。更重要的是,它在很大程度上还得益于西方马克思主义的塑造,路易·阿尔都塞的意识形态理论、安东尼奥·葛兰西的文化霸权理论以及雷蒙·威廉斯的文化理论不仅为其提供了行文立论的思想框架,还赋予它左翼文化政治的鲜明色彩,使之有别于其他通行的文学理论与批评。

Essentially speaking,Cultural M aterialism is not an independent theory w ith its ow n critical principles and universally applied concepts as the suffix ＂ ism ＂ implies,but a general term for a series of concrete practice w ith similar interpretative strategies,analysis objects and intellectual sources. It draw s upon the close reading method promoted by F. R. Leavis and the Scrutiny group,and at the same time rejects their tendency to negate the vital role played by socio-historical factors in literary criticism. Inspired by E. M. W. Tillyard ＇s historicist criticism,it re-introduces historical visions into literary studies,w hile staunchly opposing to his Hegelian thinking of totality w hich tends to view any historical period as intellectually monolithic. And more important,it is largely shaped by some prominent Western M arxists including Raymond Williams,Louis Althusser and Antonio Gramsci,w ho furnish it w ith theoretical framew orks and political concerns,thus making it distinct from other prevailing literary theories and criticism.