“传记何以英国”:基于民族性的考察

"What Justifies the Britishness of Biography":A Study Based on Ethnicity

法国学者特南称自传是“一种法式热情”,英国传记界人士尼克尔森、霍姆斯、阿克罗伊德、里德等则不断声称传记是一种“英式发明”或“英式艺术”,似乎将传记视为英国人的专利或一种民族性文类,尤其异于法国。以比较传记学角度观之,这也并非大英帝国式的自大傲慢,17世纪以来的现代传记委实以英国为重镇和典范。若加以追索,对名人的纪念、崇敬、好奇等共有因素之外,此现象大致与近代以来英国强调民族形塑的国族意志、偏重直觉与事实的经验主义哲学,尤其是与崇尚自由、独立、智识的绅士文化有相当关系。传记界的一再申述强化了传记文类的英国性,但也启发研究者进一步辨析、探究其内含的普遍性。

French scholar Tenet once called autobiography"a French passion",while British biographers such as Nicholson,Holmes,Akroyd,Reader,and others claimed that biography is a"British invention"or"British art",and it seems that they regard biography as British patents or a national genre,especially different from French kind.From a comparative biographical perspective,this is not the arrogance of the British Empire,because since the 17th century modern biographies have indeed regarded Britain as an important country and model.If we explore it,in addition to common factors such as commemoration,reverence,and curiosity towards celebrities,we find that it is roughly related to the modern British emphasis on the shaping of national will,the empiricist philosophy that emphasizes intuition and facts,and especially the gentleman culture that advocates freedom,independence,and intelligence.The repeated statements made by biographical academia have strengthened the British nature of biographical genres,but it has also inspired us to further analyze and explore their universality.