作为冷战产物的西方“文学理论”学科:后冷战时代的批评之声

Literary Theory as a Discipline which was Produced in the Universities of America-Europe during the Cold War Era:from the Perspective of the Post-Cold War Era

近年来西方文论不断被我国学界一些同仁所诟病。但各种指责,无妨于它继续成为我们文学批评的主要方法、基本概念,仍然是我们认识文学的最重要工具。这意味着,我们需要改进认识已经成为自足体的西方文论的思维方式:从欧洲文学批评实践即实用性批评(practice critique),经美国转化为"文学理论"——改造了英国的新批评、发现并激活了俄苏形式主义,创立了结构主义、符号学、后结构主义、解构主义、心理分析、女性主义、后殖民批评、文化研究等批评方法,无论其本身多么荒谬或富有创建性,皆因战后包括反映论在内的苏联各种理论在东方阵营的巨大召唤力、对西方左翼知识分子的诱惑力,欧美尤其是主导冷战进程的美国,积极应对,调整学术制度和大学发展方向,使得文学批评方法探索如同经济学、法学、政治学等一样,日新月异,并进入大学的文学教育,通过教材、课程、专门教学团队等方式,发挥着远超出文学史和文学批评实践的作用而成为重要学科。在冷战时代膨胀成自足体的文学理论,因强调专业化和科学性,在事实上伤及文学及文学教育,引发文学研究界的指责声不绝于耳。但政治正确在西方不直接干预理论创新,关于文学理论危机的批评更多是学术界内部的行为,并自然成为文学理论学科发展的一部分,导致问题甚多的文学理论反而充满活力,拥有苏联文学理论所难以相媲美的自愈能力,发挥着其所不及的作用。这种矛盾,并未随着冷战结束而终结,相反,因西方价值体系在全球化过程中遭遇诸多冲击,在后冷战时代,关于文学理论的危机之论,持续存在并不断加剧。但这种批评性声音,其意义非同小可。

The Western theory of literature has been blamed by the Chinese academia in recent years.However,it didnt stop it as the main methods of literary critics.The western academia transformed the European critique into literary theory from 1950,including to rediscover and activate the Russian formalism,and to establish structuralism,semiology,post-structuralism,deconstruction and so on.The critical methods have a lots of absurdities and innovations.The rapidly changed critical methods were specifically aimed at the Socialist Realism which had great attraction to the Eastern Bloc and the Western Leftwing intellectuals.The critical methods used for literary curriculum,was transformed into a series of courses in the departments of languages and literatures or comparative literature in the American-European universities,which played an important role as a discipline beyond the course of literary history.The literary theory which expanded from doctrines to self-sufficient subject,in fact,injured literature and literary education due to its strong emphasis on professional and scientific identity of literary research.This situation increasingly encouraged some writers and scholars to censure the literary theory.The discussion of crisis of literary theory accident turned into the part of literary theory.The critical opinions have great significance for reconstruction of literary theory in the age of post-cold war.