“味”与“Taste”的中西互释研究--以《文心雕龙》为中心

The Mutual Interpretation Research of China's“Wei”and Western“Taste”

“味”是中国古代美学和文艺理论中重要的元范畴。刘在《文心雕龙》中将“味”引入文学批评,极大地推动了“味”范畴在古代文学理论批评中的成熟及普遍运用。考量《文心雕龙》元范畴“味”在英语世界言述场域中的各类译释,发现与flavor和savor相比,taste与元范畴“味”的涵括性和持续性两方面含义相对接近;且两词的总体词义演变过程相类似,虽有细微差别,但都经历了由生理感官概念向审美范畴的转换,具有一定的互通、互释性。此外,中西文艺审美传统具有对味觉和视觉的不同趋重及不同的思维方式,英语世界的“味”更多地以名词这一视觉思维特性符号呈现。

"Wei"is an important metacategory in ancient Chinese aesthetics and literature theory.In his The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons,Liu Xie introduced wei into literary criticism,greatly promoting the maturity and general application of this category in the theoretical criticism of ancient literature.We find that,compared with"flavor"and""savor,"in terms of inclusiveness and continuity,the meaning of"taste"is relatively close to"wei,"as well as in the similar evolution process of overall semantics.Although slight differences lie between,they both have undergone the transformation from physiological sensory concept to aesthetic category.Therefore,they are interconnected and mutual interpretation in certain degree.