美国图书馆史学界的“哈里斯—戴恩论战”：缘起、过程与影响

The Harris-Dain Debate in American Library History Academia :Origin,Process,and Influence

1972年美国图书馆史学家迈克尔·哈里斯发表《历史视角下的美国公共图书馆目标:一种修正式解读》,从社会阶层论视角爬梳美国公共图书馆的起源及其领袖人物的图书馆目标,认为公共图书馆是社会精英阶层用以管理和控制社会的工具,批评传统进步主义图书馆史学家对相关问题的理想化认识。以菲莉丝·戴恩为代表的进步主义图书馆史学家认为公共图书馆是民主和人道主义的产物。戴恩批评哈里斯的修正式观点因缺乏扎实论据而失于偏颇。双方展开了1970年代美国图书馆史研究中的“哈里斯-戴恩论战”,引发学界对公共图书馆的起源和目标的深刻反思,对图书馆史研究的方法论和发展产生了深远影响。

In 1972,Michael Harris,the American library historian,published his long paper The Purpose of the American Public Library in Historical Perspective:A Revisionist Interpretation.He analyzed the origins of American public library and the purpose held by the American library leaders from the perspective of social stratification.He held that public library was an instrument of social control for the elites and criticized the idealized interpretation of library purpose by the traditional progressivist library historians.The progressivist library historians,represented by Phyllis Dain,insisted that public library was a product of democracy and humanitarianism.Dain criticized Harris’s revisionist arguments as too partial for its lack of solid evidences.This started the“Harris-Dain Debate”in American library history academia in the 1970s.The debate aroused the library academia’s reflection upon the origin and purpose of public library,and it has exerted far-reaching influence on the methodology and development of library history research in the United States.