旧话重提:从美国大学“英文系的衰退”看文学教育的人文使命

Revisiting an Old Topic:“The Decline of the English Department”and the Humanistic Mission of Literary Education

美国大学“英文系的衰退”是一个旧话题,但这一旧话题值得重提,因为导致英文系衰退的“理论热”和“政治正确”等现象不仅没有消失,而且还在蔓延。从美国大学“英文系的衰退”现象出发,追溯“英文研究”作为一门学科的兴衰历程,可以反观目前我国外国文学教学和研究存在的类似问题。当下我国外国文学教学和研究亟待回归学科本源,回归文学的教育初衷和人文使命。外国文学教学要立足经典,引导学生在经典文本的深度阅读中陶冶道德情操,提升审美情趣。应该认识到,文学是一种润物细无声的公民教育手段,是培养学生形成健全人格和自觉公民意识的有效途径。外国文学研究重在研究文学本身,要把文学当作文学来研究,揭示文学本身的道德与审美属性。外国文学教育本质上是一种博雅教育。

“The Decline of the English Department”in American universities is an old topic that deserves a revisit because the phenomena like“theory craze”and“political correctness”that triggered the decline of the English Department have not yet disappeared,but still have been spreading instead.If we take the“decline of the English Department”in American uni-versities as a starting point in tracing the rise and fall of English Studiesas a discipline,we will be able to reflect on the similar issues in the current teaching and research of foreign literature in China.At present,the teaching and research of foreign literature in China ought to return to the origin of the discipline and restore the initial intention of literary education and its humanistic mission.The teaching of foreign literature,which should be based on the literary canon,is supposed to guide students to shape up their moral sentiment and enhance their aesthetic judgment through intensive reading of literary classics.It should be noted that literature is a means of civic education that spontaneously nurtures the readers'mind in an effective way to help them cultivate a sound personality and a good sense of citizenship.Foreign literature studies should focus on the study of literary work itself,explore literature as literature,and reveal the moral and aesthetic attributes of literature per se.The education of foreign literature is,in essence,a liberal education.