媒介构造与范式生产:“远读”方法的演变及其前景

Media Formation and Paradigm Production: Evolution of the Method of “Distant Reading” and Its Prospects

弗朗科·莫莱蒂所提出的“远读”对西方学界产生了极大的影响。学者多将之归结为数字人文研究的一部分,而鲜有人指出远读单独作为研究方法的重要意义。本文提出以“阅读媒介”的概念来理解远读方法的演变过程。阅读媒介是一种信息反馈装置,具有改变读者文本认知的功能。远读方法的演变实则是不同的阅读媒介对研究者认知能力的改变:他人研究将文本转变为专家意见,量化分析将文本转变为数据,建构模型则在量化的基础上将数据转变为文学模型。一系列认知变化带来了研究方法的变化,远读方法在演变过程中融合了多学科的思维方式,具备了成为新文科研究范式的潜力。

Franco Moretti’s “distant reading” has had a significant impact on Western scholarship. While scholars mainly categorize it as part of the research in digital humanities, few have noted the importance of distant reading as a research method in itself. This article proposes the concept of “reading media” as an approach to understanding the evolution of distant reading as a method. “Reading media” is a kind of information feedback apparatus capable of changing readers’ perception of a text. The evolution of the distant reading method indicates that different reading media have transformed the researchers’ cognitive ability of texts;that is, other people’s research transforms the texts into expert opinions, quantitative analysis transforms texts into data, and modeling transforms data into literary models based on quantification. A series of cognitive changes have brought about changes in research methods. The distant reading approach in particular has evolved to integrate multidisciplinary thinking and, therefore, has the potential to become a new paradigm for liberal arts research.