“meta”:“后”与“元”悖论下隐含的合法性危机

“Meta”:The Crisis of Legitimacy Hidden Behind the Paradox of “Later” and “ Yuan ”

英语中作为前缀的"meta"意为"在……之后",在汉语中往往译为"元",因为"元"意为"根源"、"本源",抓住了"meta"的"本质性"、"第一性"的内涵,从"metaphysics"即可窥见一斑。后现代解构潮流中,"meta"的时间滞后性、人为建构性让"元"的"压制性"、"第一性"备受争议,"表象"与"本质"之间的等级也被颠覆。但不可否认的是,"元理论"具有揭示看似自然的现象所隐藏的"非真实性"的特质,后现代的言说方式其实与之如出一辙。而对知识本身进行深入阐释也是理论向前推进的方式。因此,"meta"所具有的时间滞后性与"元"所具有的高等地位之间的悖论,一方面让"元理论"的合法性备受质疑,另一方面又证明了自身的言说方式是无可避免的。

Nowadays,all kinds of'yuan'theory emerge endlessly. In English,its prefix is'meta',which means 'after something '. Why we translate 'meta ' as ' yuan ' in Chinese? Because 'yuan ' with the connotation of 'root'and 'source'actually caught the special meaning of 'substance', 'regularity' and'primary'in'meta'. Just like'metaphysics',the literal meaning is'after physics',but the implication was the pursuit of primacy,immutability,and essential. However,in the tide of 'against interpretation of deconstruction in Postmodern,the time-lag and constructive of ' meta ' make the legitimacy of ' yuan '-which means ' oppressive ' and ' primary '-be criticized. And the hierarchical level between 'representation ' and ' nature ' also face the fate of being reversed. However,in fact,the way of expression in Postmodern is the same as the theory of ' yuan ',which uncover deceptive appearance. And if theory want to move forward,the in-depth interpretation of knowledge is inevitable. Therefore,on the one hand,the paradox between the meaning of time-lag of 'meta'and higher status of'yuan'make the legitimacy of'metatheory'be criticized,on the other hand,it also prove its expression mode is inevitable.