当代“本质主义”文论的本土旅行及话语建构

Local Travel and Discourse Construction of Contemporary Essentialist Literary Theory

当代文论经历了从人文主义到后人文主义,或者说从本质主义到反本质主义再到反语言论的流变过程。尤其是文化研究主导下的反本质主义,成为当代文论从“文学理论”到“理论”再到“后理论”的话语表征。可以说,以“审美”为中心的本质主义文论是基于对“从属论”和“工具论”的反驳而生成的,而“反本质主义”则生成于“文化研究”的话语语境。于是,当代文论的流变过程可具体化为革命话语(外部研究)→本质主义(审美、语言)→反本质主义(文化、媒介、意义)的流变过程。具有悖论性意味的是,当代学界诸多争议性的话题,如文学研究的空洞化、没有文学的文学理论以及用理论强制阐释文学等,使得文学研究领域有一种重新回归以“审美”为中心的“本质主义”研究的理论诉求。不仅如此,要研究当代文论的流变及未来发展的话语逻辑,进而搞清楚当代文论发展的来龙去脉与历史轨迹,就有必要回到曾经的“历史现场”——以“主体性”和“本体论”为中心的本质主义文论的本土旅行和话语建构过程之中,并将本质主义视为新时期文论研究的知识起点和参照系。这些都是研究当代“本质主义”文论的本土旅行和话语建构的触发点和价值所在。

Contemporary literary theory has experienced a change process from humanism to post-humanism, or from essentialism to anti-essentialism and then to irony. In particular, the anti-essentialism led by cultural studies has become the discourse representation of contemporary literary theory from “literary theory” to “theory” and then to“post-theory”. It can be said that the essentialist literary theory centered on “aesthetics” is generated based on the refution of “subordination theory” and “instrumentalism”, while the “anti-essentialism” is generated in the discourse context of “cultural studies”. Therefore, the evolution process of contemporary literary theory can be concretized as the evolution process from revolutionary discourse(external research) to essentialism(aesthetics and language) to anti-essentialism(culture, media and meaning). Paradoxically, many controversial topics in contemporary academia, such as the hollowing out of literary research, literary theory without literature and forced interpretation of literature by theory,make the field of literary research have a theoretical appeal to return to the “essentialism” research with “aesthetic” as the center. Moreover, in order to study the evolution of contemporary literary theory and the discourse logic of its future development, and further understand the context and historical track of the development of contemporary literary theory,it is necessary to return to the “historical scene” ── the local travel and discourse construction process of essentialist literary theory with “subjectivity” and “ontology” as the center. Essentialism is regarded as the knowledge starting point and reference frame of literary theory in the new period. These are the trigger points and values of studying the local travel and discourse construction of contemporary essentialist literary theory.