西方古典乐:萨义德音乐批评的起点

Western Classical Music as the Starting Point of Saids Music Criticism

音乐批评作为萨义德整体批评实践的关键部分对于我们认识萨义德批评的丰富性非常重要。终其一生,萨义德对“西方古典乐”怀有持久的热爱,后者构成了萨义德音乐言说的起点。在他看来,音乐不仅是静态的对象,更是与社会交织缠结的活动。因此,一般被认作是无异议的“西方古典乐”,从能指到所指都充斥着显而易见的历史性,萨义德对它的偏爱与他流亡的历史经验及由此生发的美学趣味密切相关。历史和萨义德对“西方古典乐”的上述“两个选择”成了理解萨义德音乐批评无可规避的问题,也为我们思索“古典乐”的起源及其被遗忘的过程、“西方”与“经典”的自明性关联、萨义德的动态经典观和知识分子批评家的公共责任,构筑了一个合适的“开端”。

Music criticism,as a key component of Saids critical practice,is very important for us to understand the richness of his criticism.However,most scholars'researches focus on concepts such as"late style","counterpoint reading"and"secular criticism",while ignoring Saids music criticism and failing to ask what exactly"music"itself means in his writings.Throughout his life,Said had an abiding love for"Western classical music,"which formed the starting point of his musical discourse.In his view,music is not only a static"object",but also an"activity"that is intertwined with society.Therefore,what is generally regarded as uncontested"Western classical music"is full of obvious historicality from the signifier to the signified.Saids own preference for it is also related to his historical experience of exile and the aesthetic interest derived from it.History and Saids"two choices"for"Western classical music"have become unavoidable issues in understanding his music criticism,and also have helped us ponder the origin of"classical music"and its oblivion,the self-evident connections between"Western"and"classics",Saids dynamic classical view and the public responsibility of intellectual critics that constitute a suitable"beginning".