民俗学的悲剧——学院派民俗学的世界史纵览

The Tragedy of Folklore:A Survey of the World History of Academic Folklore

当我们纵览民俗学的世界史时,不难发现,数十年间美国民俗学与德国民俗学反复进行了激烈的变革,与之相对,日本民俗学却独自顽固地拒绝变革。美国与德国的经验对于日本民俗学今后的变革之路来说有着积极的启示意义:一方面,它让日本民俗学看到了在定义和研究方法上进行重大转变的可能性;另一方面,它为日本民俗学指明了“去学科”研究的方向。日本民俗学面向未来的变革之路,是目前避免民俗学从学术世界中消失的悲剧上演的必要条件。倘若一味地拒绝变革,那么在不远的将来,日本学院派民俗学只能接受从学术世界退场的凄惨结局。但与此同时,我们也必须设想到,在我们力图变革之际,必将遭遇种种困难和阻碍,即便跨越了重重难关,也未必能迎来民俗学崭新的天地。

Looking at the world history of folklore, we find that American and German folklore has been radically changing for decades, while Japanese folklore has been stubbornly refusing to change. The experiences of America and Germany have positive implications for the future of Japanese folklore: They have made Japanese folklorists aware of the possibility of a major shift in definition and research methodology, and at the same time suggested the way of “de-disciplinarization” for Japanese folklore. At present, these future-oriented changes are a necessary condition for Japanese folklore’s avoidance of the tragedy of disappearing from the academic world, i.e. survival. If folklorists continue to reject these changes, Japanese academic folklore will tragically withdraw from the academic world in the near future. At the same time, however, we must foresee inevitable barriers to this reform and understand that surmounting these barriers does not necessarily mean opening up a new smooth path.