社会思潮与史学研究:近代以来西方学界对希腊罗马世界中的埃塞俄比亚人研究

The Western Scholars' Studies since the Modern Times on the Ethiopian in the Greco-Roman World

18世纪末至今的希腊罗马世界中的埃塞俄比亚人(黑人)研究,为解读18世纪以来西方种族主义与史学研究的互动关系提供了独特的视角。18世纪末至20世纪初,种族主义在西方社会大行其道,学术界关于希腊罗马世界中的黑人研究基本上是在种族主义思潮的阴霾下进行的,深深地打上了种族主义主观想象的烙印。20世纪中后期以后,随着反对针对黑人的种族主义运动的发展,此前关于该主题的主流观点几乎被彻底否定,并走向了反向极端。20世纪末至今,学术界对该问题的研究又呈现出多元化的局面,这既体现在研究方法与视角的多样化,又表现在观点和考察范围的扩大上。学术界对该问题的争论焦点主要集中在两方面,一是古代希腊罗马社会是否存在对黑人的种族歧视或偏见,二是基督教文化中的黑人地位到底如何。纵观希腊罗马世界中的黑人研究发展史,它与西方社会的现实关注紧密相连,充分体现出社会思潮与史学研究之间存在互动的关系。

The studies on the Ethiopian(the black people)in the Greco-Roman world provide a special perspective to interpret the interaction between the Western racism and the historical research since the 18^th century.The research on the black people in the Greco-Roman world started at the end of the 18^th century,but its initial phase with a deep imprint of racist imagination was overshadowed by racist thoughts.From the second half of the 20^th century,with the rise of antiracism,the research on the black people in the Greco-Roman world almost completely discarded the previous prevailing views and went to reverse extremes.From the end of the 20^th century until nowadays,this research field appeared the diversification,not only in the varieties of research methods and perspectives,but also in the expansion of viewpoints and observation scope.Two topics are the focuses of arguments concerning such research in the academia.The first one is whether the racism or colour prejudice against the black people existed in the Greco-Roman world,while the second is what is the status of the black people in the Christian culture.Taking a comprehensive view of the history of research on the black people in the Greco-Roman world,it can be found that this research is closely linked with the practical concern in the Western society and fully shows the interaction between racism and historical studies.