The Universality of the Concept of Modern Literature: Wang Guowei, Zhou Zuoren, and Other May Fourth Writers` Conception of Wenxue

Abstract

在現代中文語境裡，文學常被視為“literature”的對譯語，然而，文學實出自儒家經典的古語，在上世紀初以前並無現代語意下的文藝內涵，雖然許多學者透過語源學、詞源學的研究，企圖描繪文學成為“literature”相對應概念的軌跡，不過，對於文學如何成為具有普世人文價值概念的形成過程，則較少觸及。本文藉由分析王國維（1877-1927）二十世紀初關於美學的一系列文章，五四作家胡適（1891-1962）、陳獨秀（1879-1942）、劉半農（1891-1934）、羅家倫（1897-1969）在新文學論戰中區分文學與文字的論述策略，以及周作人（1885-1967）〈人的文學〉一文中關於人生與時代的修辭學，來揭示文學轉變為現代概念所預設的普世與跨文化價值系統的論述基礎。本文認為，雖然文學在現代中文語境裡已成為想像世界文學體系的標準詞彙，然而這種想像的過程與方法卻有其自身的進路，本文期望透過梳理文學一詞在晚清民初的語意轉變，打開讀者對於現代文學概念的想像與理解。

Wenxue is the modern Chinese term for literature. However, it is an ancient term that originated from the Confucian classics where it did not bear the same meaning as it does now. While some scholars have pointed out that wenxue was reintroduced as the modern Chinese term for ＂literature＂ during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, what qualifies this term to serve as the modern referent for ＂literature＂ is a question that remains underexplored. In this paper, I analyze the works of Wang Guowei (王國維, 1877-1927), Hu Shi (胡適, 1891-1962), Chen Duxiu (陳獨秀, 1879-1942), Liu Bannong (劉半農, 1891-1934), Luo Jia Lun (羅家倫, 1897-1969), and Zhou Zuoren (周作人, 1885-1967), among others, to show how wenxue articulates of set of cosmopolitan values such as the idea of individual life and the call for a reflection on the humanity as a whole.