试论美国制宪奇迹话语之构建

On the Constructing of Miracle Discourse of the U.S.Constitution-Making

中美两国很多学者将1787年美国制宪视为一种"奇迹"。最近几年,美国制宪"奇迹"话语再次升温。不过,很多因袭此种"奇迹"话语的(中国)学者和读者,并没有留意到话语背后的浓烈宗教色彩和强烈现实需要。美国制宪"奇迹"话语的首创者正是当年参与制宪活动的几位重要人物,他们希望利用"奇迹"话语策略,促使各州尽快批准新宪法。在此基础之上,美国人采取四种常用手法--神化制宪参与者,夸大制宪会议分歧,夸赞宪法设计完美巧妙、值得崇拜,认定宪法契合美国民族性格、能够长久存续,十分巧妙地构建出美国制宪"奇迹"话语。但若详加剖析,即可发现上述四种手法均有不甚圆满之处,制宪"奇迹"话语可谓一种神话。我们应在洞悉美国制宪"奇迹"话语构建手法的基础之上,批判地理解美国制宪的历史过程和时代意义。

The making of the U.S.Constitution in 1787 was viewed by many scholars as a miracle.The publication of the Chinese version of Catherine Drinker Bowen’s Miracle At Philadelphia spurred the miracle discourse in China.The miracle discourse in the U.S.Constitution-making was initiated by the Founding Fathers who used the miracle discourse as a debate tactics to prompt the new Constitution during the ratification period.The Americans invented four kinds of approaches-deify the Framers,amplify the diversity and conflict in the 1787 Convention,prettify the text of the Constitution to cultivate constitutional faith or worship,praise the agreement between the character of the U.S.nationhood and the Constitution to justify the everlasting of the Constitution-to construct the miracle discourse of the U.S.constitution making.As a Chinese scholar,we should pay attention to such kinds of approaches at one hand,on the other hand,perhaps we can learn to use these approaches to construct our own miracle discourse.