中国古典“文学”概念特征探赜  

An Exploration of the Characteristics of the Classical Chinese Concepts of“Literature”

作　　者：蔡智力 Cai Zhili(the School of History and Culture,Hubei University,Wuhan 430062,Hubei,China)

机构地区：[1]湖北大学历史文化学院,湖北省武汉市430062

出　　处：《文艺理论研究》2025年第1期71-82,共12页Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

基　　金：国家社会科学基金后期资助重点项目“中国古典‘文学’概念反思性研究”[项目编号:24FZWA003]阶段性成果。

摘　　要：中国古典“文学”概念以文字为前提,以“缀文成章”的文字驾驭能力为文章写作的基本要求。以声音为原始媒介的词曲与语录体的“文学”合法性,在古代中国备受质疑。这使中国古典“文学”迥异于以“创造先于文字”为特征的西方近代文学。其次,因为中国古代“文学”与日常实用密切相关,文体以施用场合为基本分类原则,文章写作之成败关键在于文体是否“得体”,不在于近代所标榜的绮靡、抒情或无用。此外,缘于“述而不作”的著述传统,古代中国的创造权力被限制在形式维度,作为西方近代文学核心价值的内容创造,在古典“文学”传统中并不被鼓励。这是西方文学重要体裁小说在古代中国始终处于边缘地位的关键。这些迥异于西方近代文学的概念特征,说明“文学自觉说”标榜的文学概念在古代中国从未出现过,汉魏文学自觉只是近代学者附会西方文学潮流的想象。The classical Chinese concept of literature takes written forms(Chinese characters)as a prerequisite,with the mastery of them as a fundamental requirement for composing essays.In ancient China,the legitimacy of ci-poetry,qu-poetry and analects as literary forms was strongly questioned due to their reliance on oral transmission.This distinguishes classical Chinese literature from modern Western literature,where creation precedes the written word.Furthermore,because classical Chinese literature was closely tied to practical daily use,literary styles were primarily classified based on their application scenarios.Thus,the success of an essay depended crucially on the appropriateness of the chosen literary style rather than on the ornate,lyrical,or impractical features advocated by modern scholars.Additionally,the Confucian tradition of“telling without creating”restricted creative power in ancient China to formal aspects.Unlike modern Western literature,which values original content creation,classical Chinese literature did not encourage it.This is a key reason why the novel,a major genre in Western literature,remained marginalized in ancient China.These fundamental differences from modern Western literature suggest that the literary self-awareness advocated by certain theories never truly emerged in ancient China.The so-called self-awareness in the Han and Wei dynasties is merely a modern scholarly projection influenced by Western literary frameworks.

关 键 词：古典文学 文章 文学独立 文学自觉 

分 类 号：I206[文学—中国文学]