农业史和妇女史视域中的技术与社会——白馥兰中国技术史研究探析

Technology and Society in Agricultural History and Women's History:Analysis of Francesca Bray's Study on History of Technology in China

白馥兰是当代英国著名技术史学家和人类学家。她的技术史研究从参与编写《中国科学技术史》系列起步,继承和突破李约瑟的科技史研究,以农业史和妇女史作为双重核心。其技术史思想中一以贯之的线索是技术与社会,遵循着自技术而来、向社会而去的理论进路,旨趣在于以技术观社会。就研究视角而言,包括广义技术视角、人类学视角和汉学视角。就研究局限而言,包括文献方面、观念方面和比较方法的不足。总之,白馥兰展示了一位从李约瑟时代走来中国技术史研究者的代表形象。

Francesca Bray is a famous British historian of technology and anthropologist. Her study of history of technology begins with Science and Civilisation in China,inheriting and breaking through the research of Joseph Needham’s history of science and technology,and taking agricultural history and women’s history as the dual core. The clue to her study is technology and society,and it follows the theory path that comes from technology and goes to society. The purpose is to view the society by technology. From the perspective of research,it includes the perspective of broad technology,anthropological perspective and sinological perspective. In terms of research limitations,it includes deficiencies in literature,concepts and comparative methods. In short,Bray shows a representative figure of historian of technology in China who came from the Needham era.