究竟什么是“西方”?——西方文明叙事话语评议

What is “the West”? Comments on Narrative Discourse of Western Civilization

在近些年国内引介出版的"西方"文明史译著中,常见到一种西方文明叙事话语,它由所谓"西方""文明"的各个历史阶段连接而成,包括"故事线"和"意义链"两个意义层。这种西方文明叙事话语是自文艺复兴,特别是理性启蒙运动以后,在资本主义现实世界的推动下,逐步发展构建而成的。这种西方文明叙事话语的发展模式,可以应用"话语"理论来分析,但归根到底,仍需要用马克思主义唯物史观"存在决定意识"的原理加以剖析。

A narrative discourse of western civilization is often identified in books on history of Western civilization introduced and published in China in recent years,connected with different historical stages marked"Western"and"civilization",including"story-line"and"meaning-chain".It is constructed gradually under the impetus of the realism of capitalism since the Renaissance,especially after the Rational Enlightenment Movement.This narrative discourse mode can be analyzed within the framework of discourse theory.This study,however,argues that Marxism historical materialism,especially the principle of"being determines consciousness"is needed for further and deeper analysis.