The Conception of “Chinese Lyrical Tradition” (中國抒情傳統論)

The Conception of “Chinese Lyrical Tradition” (中國抒情傳統論)

Leonard Chan - Chair Professor of Chinese Literature, Dean of Faculty of Humanities, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Monday, March 31, 2014 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Room 203, Henry R. Luce Hall See map
34 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511

“Chinese literary tradition as a whole is a lyrical tradition” became an influential conception, after UC Berkeley’s Professor Chen Shixiang and Princeton’s Professor Gao Yougong unfolded their expositions of Chinese lyricism in the 1970s and 1980s. In the decades that follow, many Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas Chinese literary scholars advocate the view of a “Chinese lyrical tradition”, and predicate their studies on it. Indeed, “lyrical tradition” as an interpretative concept, has exhibited its strong explanatory power, and made numerous contributions to the study of Chinese literary history and comparative literature. In recent years, the conception of “Chinese lyrical tradition” has been extended from the study of classical to that of modern and contemporary literature. Aside from Chen and Gao, some recent discussions trace back to the literary historiographical framework of “the lyrical and the epic” as conceived by Czech sinologist Jaroslav Průšek in the 1950s. This lecture focuses on Chen Shixiang, Gao Yougong and Průšek. By situating the three scholars’ discussions on “lyrical tradition” in their historical contexts, it aims to explain the birth and growth of the concept, and how it has developed into the most prominent interpretative discourse of Chinese literary study in areas outside mainland China.

「中國文學傳統就是一個抒情傳統」之說,因為加州柏克萊大學陳世驤教授以及普林斯頓大學高友工教授於二十世紀七、八十年代的相關論述廣為流播而影響深遠。數十年來,大陸地區以外不少中國文學著述都認同「抒情傳統」的觀點,甚至以之為不辯自明的研究前提。事實上,這個論述系統也顯示出強大的詮釋能力,於中國文學史或比較文學研究,貢獻良多。及至晚近,此說之潛力續有發揮,應用範圍更由古典文學延伸至現當代文學的研究;其間論述除承襲陳、高二人以外,更可溯源至捷克斯洛伐克漢學家普實克在五十年代架設的「抒情的與史詩的」文學史框架。是次演講以陳世驤、高友工與普實克三位學者為中心,將他們的「抒情傳統論」重置於歷史脈絡,揭示其說如何因時應世而萌生與發展,成為大陸地區以外最重要的中國文學研究論述傳統。

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