批评或投射:韦勒克对两种语文学路线的反思

Criticizing or Projecting:Wellek’s Reflection on the Two Philological Approaches

韦勒克对奥尔巴赫与斯皮策的语文学工作作出了细致的评述,体现了他对欧洲语文学传统的批判性立场。韦勒克看到,奥尔巴赫以语文学为系统指导原则,试图从文学的语文学分析出发通达欧洲思想内史的展现,而斯皮策以艺术作品的美学问题为核心,使语文学的批评技术在具体过程和局部发挥效力,两种语文学的实践路线均潜藏着严峻的弊病。韦勒克对语文学的反思投射着他文学研究观念中“系统性”和“文学性”这两个基本原则,他将此种文学研究的期待寄托于比较文学的建设之中。

RenéWellek’s detailed critiques of the philological works of Auerbach and Spitzer reflect his critical attitude to the European philology tradition.In Wellek’s witness,taking philology as his systematic guiding principle,Auerbach tries to represent the inner history of the Western European mind through his philological work on literature,whereas Spitzer takes aesthetic criticism as his core task,and locates philology as an analysis technē,which comes into play in the process and parts of criticism.To Wellek,serious drawbacks lurk in both.Wellek conceives the true study of literature as both“literary”and“systematic”.He projects this idea into his reflection on philology and thus places his expectation of literary studies on the construction of Comparative Literature.