海外华文文学的学术史和学科史之演进

海外华文文学研究是中国大陆改革开放以后,一步一步成长起来的新兴学科。它经历了从“前科学”到具有一定学科规模的发展。其“史”的演进,总体上是从生存/认同→文化转型→观念纠结→互为主体性之“对话”→学术之“互通”的过程。学术史的推演,也证实了“双重传统”与“混血书写”对海外华文文学而言,是属于跨域与越界的新的文化经验的呈现。因此,身处多重边缘而于华文的文字世界里咀嚼人性况味、人生难题和人间悲欢,可以成为对意义空间无限性的探寻之道。另外,对华文文学研究的内在理路、学科内涵和学术命题,提出了建设性的意见,呼吁保持“固本、守正、创新”的学术姿态。

Youth Literature

IT was nightfall in a Beijing office building, one autumn day in the early 1950s. A 19-year-old clerk locked himself into the small, windowless room that was both his office and dorm. He sat at the table, and in the dim light began scribbling on a sheet of white paper. This was the night that this young office worker covertly embarked on a pursuit that would take him to the apogee of the Chinese literary altar. He was Wang Meng. A year later, he finished his first novel Long Live Youth (Qingchun Wansui). It centers on a group of bright, exuberant senior high school students, all beautiful in their way, and the happiness, frustrations and woes that accompany their growth. The young Wang Meng, like them, was full of dreams. When later asked why had he started writing, he said, 'Youth needs the glow, caress, encouragement, edification and nourishment of literature, while literature needs the energy, empressement, candor, honesty and courage of youth.'

学做问题的发现者——杨匡汉先生访谈录

访谈围绕杨匡汉先生的学术研究历程,着重讨论世界华文文学研究因其作品迥异的发生学背景、丰富而冗杂的史料谱系以及尚未完全建制的研究规范,呈现出同内地现当代文学研究并不一致的学术话语和研究面貌;研究对象跨国界、跨语言、跨族群的特性,以及在交流互释中出现的种种变异状态,要求研究者“学做问题的发现者”;关键点就是洞察被遮蔽的真问题,自觉主动地随不断变化的文学现实转换学术视角、调整研究重心,这也是世界华文文学研究走向新阶段后路径之深度思考。

海外华文文学的历史成因

以“时间—空间”至通的维度,结合作为外部因素的“外史”和作为内在理路的“内史”,足以观察和考量百年海外华文文学的发生与发展的历史轨道。海外华文文学与全球性的大历史、大氛围紧密关联,也是中西交合的文化剧烈运动演进,从全球史观出发做发生学考量,百年海外华文文学是由三股动力源即中国外交官的文学作为、流动游学(留学)的文化交流、移民华工群中华侨的木铎传薪所合力构成的总体格局和兴盛气象。简略的史陈将三大群体置于现代中国的形成过程中,融外交史、留学史、华工史于一体,既打通历史断裂的和地区切割的特异的文化存在,也显示了学术语境中民族性和世界性的关联。