基于我国古籍引经据典现象的引文分析研究

Exploring the Function of Citation Using Ancient Chinese Literature

关于引文本质和引用动机国际学术界一直存在争议,规范主义理论(normativetheory)认为引用是对前人研究的认可,而建构主义理论(constructivetheory)则认为引用只是为了说服读者自己论点的权威性,本研究通过分析中国古典文学中的引经据典现象,试图从历史角度提供一个关于引用动机的新解释,增加科学计量学理论研究中的中国话语权。本研究对《古文观止》和《古文辞类纂》中近600处引文根据引用的目的和作用进行分类,分析引文在文章中的主要作用,发现我国古籍中引文的普遍作用是为了说服读者自己论点的权威性,从而证实了建构主义理论对于引文作用的解释。同时,本研究发现,不同历史年代的作者引用动机以及对不同被引文献的引用原因存在差异。

The function of citation is a fundamental question in bibliometrics and scholarly communication. Although several studies have attempted to better understand the function of citations, a unified theory of citations is still lacking. While the normative theory claims that researchers acknowledge the intellectual influence of their peers through citations, constructive theory suggests that authors cite to persuade their readers as to their credibility/authenticity. This study explores this topic by analyzing citations found in ancient Chinese literature and finds that most ancient Chinese authors cite to convince their readers as to their credibility/authenticity. Different citation patterns of scholars from different dynasties have been considered in this study. The findings partly confirm that authors like to cite valid and important sources to convince their readers. The study also reveals that the percentage of these citations, with supporting functions, has been increasing in China’s history.