论20世纪前期中美跨国英文书写的审美中心主义倾向

Aestheticentrism in Sino-American Transnational English Writings in the First Half of 20th Century

面向英美普通读者的中国书写,始于19世纪美国新教来华传教士,但兴盛并成就卓然于20世纪前半叶,以赛珍珠、诺拉·沃恩、何巴特、项美丽、蒲爱德等女性作家为主,林语堂等为数不多的中国知识精英也以本土信息提供者身份进入这一跨国写作共同体中。书写主题集中于被诗化的田园图景、被雅化的旧贵族风尚和被哲学化的东方韵味。将前现代的田园美景、艺术技艺和美学风格等,从残破现实中"括除"出来,以"括除"后取得的怀旧物指代正在消失中的旧中国。这种对中国的"括除"式审美,实际上反映的是书写者在一战后西方的失序状态下,对西方现代性负面影响的拒绝与反抗,试图从中国文化中寻求某种解药,但对旧中国的唯美化潜在地否定了中国现代化道路的必要性和可能性。

English writings introducing China to the general readership started with American Protestant missionaries in the 19th century and flourished with outstanding achievement in the first half of the 20th century,represented by a transnational writing community of women authors like Pearl S.Buck,Nora Waln,Alice T.Hobart,Emily Haln and Elizabeth Foreman Lewis as well as a few native informants like Lin Yutang.They tended to focus their themes on arcadianized rural life,aristocratic elegance,and philosophized oriental enchantment.Premodern idyllic sceneries,craftsmanship and aestheticism were bracketed out from the difficult situation and stood for the old China in general.Bracketed aestheticentrism was a form of disaffection against negative effect from western modernity and an effort to find the imaginary antidote from the oriental mystique,while at the same time denied new China the necessity and capacity of modernization.