以话演学:清末中西书籍的白话转写及近代知识下渗新策略

The Vernacular Rewriting of Chinese and Western Books and New Strategies for Trickling-down of Modern Knowledge in the Late Qing Dynasty

围绕中西书籍的白话转写问题,对近代语文变革中语言与知识之间的关系进行思考。首先分疏近代语文变革“事中人”在文体层次、读写壁垒与知识下渗方面的不同取向,重新审视晚清白话文运动的语言文字观念与实践方向。继而,由几种中西书籍的白话转写文本入手,讨论来自外部共同世界的书本知识在近代的向下渗透问题。分析显示,不同阶层之间的读写壁垒,不仅限于识字和经学教育,也不纯粹是语言文字的问题,还涉及知识与观念层面及其与不同文体之间的绾结;近代语文变革,并不仅仅是语言形式的变动,还牵涉语言、文体与知识之间的复杂关系。

Focusing on the vernacular rewriting of Chinese and Western books,the article investigates the relationship between language and knowledge in the renovating of Chinese language in the modern period.The article examines how modern“insiders”of written Chinese innovation approached levels of literary forms,reading and writing barriers and trickling-down of knowledge differently and revisits views of spoken and written language and directions of practice of“vernacular written Chinese movement”in late Qing.It also discusses,basing on texts of Chinese and Western books rewritten in vernacular Chinese,how textualized knowledge from the outside world trickles down.The article shows that the reading and writing barriers are not only concerned with literacy and classical education,nor specifically with problem of language,but also with knowledge and ideas per se and their inherent connection to different linguistic genres.Moreover,what is involved in the modern renovation of Chinese language is,therefore,not only changes in linguistic form,but also complicated relationship between language,genre and knowledge.