Chapter One　Introductio

　　第一节　什么是文学Section One　What Is Literature1．

　　什么是文学？

　　这是个难于回答的问题。人们通常认为，属于文学的特性其实在非文学的话语和实践中也是必不可少的。例如，修辞手法常常被认为对文学才是至关重要的，而在其他类型的话语中则纯属装饰。而今，在非文学的文本中——不论在弗洛伊德的心理分析案例的解释中，还是在一些哲学论证的着作中，都常运用修辞手法，而且修辞手法还起着重要的作用。通过说明修辞手法在其他类型的话语中同样可以塑造思想，理论家们论证了在非文学性文本中文学性的重要作用，这就使文学和非文学的区别变得越发错综复杂了。

　　1．What is literature?

　　This is a difficult question. Qualities often thought to be literary turn out to be crucial to non-literarydiscourses and practices as well. For instance, rhetorical devices have often been thought crucial to literaturebut have been considered purely ornamental in other sorts of discourses. Now, in non-literary texts—whetherFreud’s accounts of his psychoanalytic cases or works of philosophical arguments rhetorical devices are oftenemployed and playing important roles. In showing how rhetorical figures shape thought in other discourses,theorists demonstrate a powerful literariness at work in supposedly non-literary texts, thus complicating thedistinction between the literary and the non-literary.

　　文学起源于人们对讲述人类的某些经验的兴趣。文学与哲学在古希腊和古罗马的口语文化中同出一母。尽管亚里士多德之后文学与哲学被划分隔离，纵观中世纪、现代以及后现代文化变迁过程，依然可见文学与哲学牵连互动的“兄弟关系”和最富有成效的纵横交叉。文学作品具有的公众影响力，为作家提供了表达政治观点和意见的平台。公众影响力也正是政治不得不关心文学的原因——作家威胁着政治的稳定。文学和政治密不可分。关于文学与政治的讨论永远不会停止，因为文学就是政治。科学技术作为动态的智力力量常常影响着在其作品中含有科技思想的男女作家们的文学想象；无数事例说明科学可能印上文学的形式，如艾略特及其小说、达尔文的进化论，都表明了某些科技主题在文学作品中得到了反映，而科技则成了小说的部分元素。从浪漫主义时期到现代的科幻小说，文学与科技的互动关系是不难理解的。随着网络时代的到来，许多学者掌握了一些将传统文学研究方法同现代科技相结合的方法，创建了计算机可以识别的文本、文学作品数据库、《数字化人文学科伴侣》等。

　　既然学者们把文学、哲学、历史学、语言学、政治理论、心理分析等各方面的思想融合在一起，那么他们为什么还要劳神地去看他们正在解读的文本究竟是不是文学呢？

　　The original source of literature arises from people’s interest in telling a story about some aspects ofhuman experiences. Literature and philosophy share a common parentage in the oral tradition of ancientGreece and Rome. The dynamic“sibling relationship”between literature and philosophy and the mostfruitful intersections of philosophy and literature can still be seen by an overview of the medieval, modern,and postmodern traditions though a post-Aristotelian division between literature and philosophy was made.

　　The public voice of literary works gives writers a platform for expressing political ideas or dissatisfaction. Thepublic voice is also the very reason politics has to be concerned with literature—writers threaten politicalstability. Literature and politics are closely interrelated and can never be separated. There is no end to thepossibilities of the topic“politics and literature”, because literature is politics. Science and technology asthe dynamic intellectual force has often influenced literary imagination of men and women of writers whohave embodied scientific ideas in their works; numerous examples can be taken to illustrate how sciencemay possibly bear on literary forms, for instance, George Eliot and her fiction, Darwin’s evolutionary theory,both of which demonstrate some scientific and technical themes have been reflected in literary works whilescience and technology have been turned into some elements of fictions. It’s not difficult to understand thedynamics between science and literature from the Romantic period to science fiction in the modern age. Now,with the arrival of the Internet, many scholars, having mastered the skills needed to blend traditional scholarlymethods with the newer technology, have created machine-readable texts, literary databases, A companionto Digital Humanities, etc. Since scholars intermingle ideas from literature, philosophy, history, linguistics,political theory, psychoanalysis and so on, why should they worry about whether the texts they’re reading areliterary or not?

　　文学表述再现着文化，而文化又是文学的起源或起因。文学与文化紧密相连。文化包括并涵盖了文学，文学只是文化的精彩部分和一种独特的文化实践。不同的文化影响着文学的界定。不同的思想、信念、国家和历史阶段不仅影响文学标准的构建而且影响对文学的界定。

　　Literature expresses or represents its culture which is its source or cause. Literature and culture areclosely interrelated. Culture includes and encompasses literature while literature is only the highlight of itsculture and a particular cultural practice. Different cultures affect defining literature. Differing ideas, beliefs,countries and historical periods not only affect the construction of literary standards but also affect definingliterature.

　　非文学现象的“文学性”就表明文学的概念仍然起着一定的作用，因而需要进一步讨论。到底什么是文学？当代着名文学理论家乔纳森·卡勒说：“文学就是一个特定的社会认为是文学的任何作品，也就是由文化权威们认定可以算作文学作品的任何文本。”但他又接着说，当然，这样的结论是绝对不会令人满意的。它只是调换了问题，而没有解决问题：不去问“什么是文学”，而用是什么让我们或“一个特定的社会”把一些东西界定为文学的问题去代替。他又进一步解释说，“当语言脱离了其他语境，超越了其他目的时，它就可以被解读成文学。”“文学是一种可以引起某种关注的言语行为或文本。”解读这样的文本，读者不需要假定是某段言语让他们做某些事，他们会主动注意到潜在的复杂性，并寻求隐含的意义。

　　The“literariness”of non-literary phenomena indicates that the notion of literature continues to playa role and needs to be further discussed. What is literature after all? The contemporary famous Americanliterary theorist Jonathan Culler concludes:“Literature is whatever a given society treats as literature—aset of texts that cultural arbiters recognize as belonging to literature.”But he continues: Such a conclusionis completely unsatisfying, of course. It simply displaces instead of resolving the question: rather thanask“what is literature?”we need to ask“what makes us (or some other society) treat something asliterature?”He also explains:“When language is removed from other contexts, detached from otherpurposes, it can be interpreted as literature.”“Literature is a speech act or textual event that elicits certainkinds of attention.”Reading such a text, readers attend to potential complexities and look for implicitmeanings, without assuming that the utterance is telling them to do something.

　　我们可以把文学作品理解成具有某种属性或某种特点的语言，我们也可以把文学看做程式（语言形式）的产物，或者某种关注的结果。从语言学的视角来看，文学是一种把语言本身置于“突出地位”的语言。文学是把文本中各种要素和成分都组合在一种错综复杂的关系中的语言。文学是虚构——文学作品是对“真实世界”言语的具有虚构性的模仿。文学是审美对象，即语言的美学作用。文学是互文性的或者自反性的建构。文学的互文性和它的自反性并不是一个界定特点，而是语言的某些方面的突出运用和有关语言再现的问题，在其他地方可能也会观察到同样的现象。看来，不论从哪种视角都不能包容另一种而成为一种综合全面的观点。

　　We can think of literary works as language with particular properties or features, and we can also thinkof literature as the product of conventions (language forms) and a certain kind of attention. From the linguisticperspective: Literature is language that“foregrounds”language itself. Literature is language in which thevarious elements and components of the text are brought into a complex relation. Literature is considered asfiction—literary works are fictional imitations of“real world”utterances. Literature is regarded as aestheticobject, i.e. the aesthetic function of language. Literature is considered as intertextual or self-reflexiveconstruct. The intertextuality and self-reflexivity of literature is not a defining feature but a foregroundingof aspects of language use and questions about representation that may also be observed elsewhere. Neitherperspective, it seems, can englobe the other to become the comprehensive perspective.

　　文学的界定是个见仁见智的问题。我国出版的《现代汉语词典》把文学定义为“以语言文字为工具形象化地反映客观现实的艺术，包括戏剧、诗歌、小说、散文等”。英国出版的《文学词汇词典》给文学下的定义是：文学是个含糊的术语，通常指属于史诗、戏剧、抒情诗、小说、短篇小说、颂歌等主要文体的着作。如果我们把某种东西叫做“文学”，相对其他任何东西而言，那个术语“文学”就带有质量的含义，暗指所谈的作品质量优秀，远在普通的作品之上。然而，很多着作并不能归入某种主要的文学类型，但由于它们的写作极有价值，具有独创性和普遍的审美及艺术成就，还是可以认为是文学的，如科学家达尔文的《物种起源》，历史学家J. B. 伯里的《罗马帝国衰亡史》等。《美国大学词典》对文学的定义是：文学是以表达永久而普遍兴趣的思想与有关的说法和形式为特征或基本特点的诗歌、虚构小说、历史、传记、散文等着作。文学是特定语言、时期、人民、主题等的所有作品的统称，如英语文学。《新牛津英语词典》定义文学为“是书写的，特别是那些被认为有优秀持久艺术价值的作品”。

　　Defining literature is a question that different people look at it in different ways and have differentviews. The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary published in our country defines literature as art of reflectingthe objective reality through images by the use of written languages, including drama, poem, novel, prose,etc. A Dictionary of Literary Terms published in Great Britain gives literature the definition: A vague termwhich usually denotes works which belong to the major genres: epic, drama, lyric, novel, short story, ode, etc.

　　If we describe something as“literature”, as opposed to anything else, the term carries with it qualitativeconnotations which imply that the work in discussed has superior qualities; that it is well above the ordinaryrun of written works. However, there are many works which cannot be classified in the main literary genreswhich nevertheless may be regarded as literature by virtue of the excellence of their writing, their originalityand their general aesthetic and artistic merits. For instance, scientist Darwin’s On the Origin of Species,historian J.B. Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, etc. The definition of literature given byThe American College Dictionary is that“writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideasof permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, romance, history,biography, essays, etc.”It is the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, subject, etc.:

　　the literature of England. The New Oxford Dictionary of English defines literature as“written works,especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit”.

　　2．文学的特点通过阅读文学作品和分析上述文学定义，我们明白了世界各国的文学都有下列共同的特点。

　　2．The features of literatureBy reading literary works and analyzing the definitions of literature mentioned above, we’ve come to seethe common features of different national literatures as follows.

　　2.1　文学是语言的艺术使用文学作品的作者艺术地使用语言。最重要的是，文学语言强调词的内涵意义而不是字面意义。不像科学语言主要强调语言的字面价值，文学家以一种更微妙的方式使用语言——充分发挥词可能含有的激起感情联系的内涵意义。“母亲”这个词就是个切题的好例子。它的字面意义只是“母亲”，但内涵意义却包含有“保护、温暖、关心、热爱、献身、家庭、童年的幸福记忆”等。因此，文学是言语的艺术，即语言的艺术使用。

　　2.1　Literature is the artistic use of languageAuthors of literary works make use of language artistically. Most importantly, literary languageemphasizes connotative rather than denotative meanings of words. Unlike scientific language which mainlyemphasizes the denotative value of language, writers of literature use language in a more subtle manner—to bring into full play all the emotional associations that words may carry. A good case in point is the wordmother, whose denotation is simply the female parent, but the connotation may include such meanings asprotection, warmth, care, love, devotion, home, and a happy memory of one’s childhood. Thus, literature is theart of words, i.e. the artistic use of language.

　　2.2　文学是一种艺术文学是“以语言文字为工具形象化地反映客观现实的艺术”。文学作品是一个语言活动过程，这个过程设计出一个虚构的世界，其中包括陈述人、角色、事件和隐含的读者。作者收集或想象一些或全部写作材料。这也许就是为什么文学常常被认为是想象的着作的原因。

　　甚至主要依靠实实在在事件的历史小说也是虚构的，因为历史小说中包含有历史上绝不存在的人物、对话、事件和背景。文学的虚构性也在于作家对其作品施行的艺术掌控。这种艺术掌控使写作作品的材料产生出风格化的效果，这样，就把文学作品与客观现实分开了。这种分开情况的发生只是因为在文学现象与真实生活之间总是存在着明显的差异。文学来源于现实生活，但文学作品中反映出来的生活却可以而且应该比普通的实际生活更高，更强烈，更有集中性，更典型，更理想，因此就更带普遍性。

　　2.2　Literature is an artLiterature is an“art of reflecting the objective reality through images by the use of written languages”.

　　The literary work is a linguistic event which projects a fictional world that includes speaker, actors, events,and an implied audience. Authors make up or imagine some or all the materials. This is perhaps whyliterature is often thought of as imaginative literature. Even historical fiction, which chiefly relies on factualevents, is also fictional, as it includes characters, dialogues, events, and settings that never existed in history.

　　The fictional quality of literature also lies in the artistic control that writers exercise over the work. Thisartistic control produces the effect of stylizing the materials of the work, thus setting it apart from the real.

　　This occurs simply because there always exists an obvious disparity between literary phenomena and real life.

　　The source of literature is real life. But life as reflected in works of literature can and ought to be on a higherplane, more intense, more concentrated, more typical, nearer the ideal, and therefore more universal thanactual everyday life.

　　2.3　文学是真实的尽管文学大多是“虚构的”，但它生来就有真实的本质。这样，文学就存在着一种——其想象的特性与其真实的人类情况的再现间的似非而是的论点。换句话说， 我们会发现文学在虚构性与真实性间有一种悖论。文学的真实性主要存在于下列三方面。

　　2.3　Literature is trueDespite that literature is mostly“fictional”, it has the innate nature of being true. Thus, there existsa paradox in literature—its imaginative properties against its representation of actual human conditions. Inother words, we can find in literature a paradox between fictionality and truth. There are mainly three ways forliterature to be true.

　　首先，文学对真实生活的事实而言是真实的。文学直接说明对真人、真事、真地点的描写。更重要的是，从传达人生真实思想的动力这个角度来说，文学是真实的。

　　其次，文学由于间接地说明了作者在作品中表达的思想而存在着真实性，因为作者尽管在其作品中用所有的细节编造了一个想象的世界，但这个想象的世界是建立在作者对真实世界的思想基础之上的。

　　最后，读者在文学作品中读到的通常是典型人物和接连巧合的活动，那是作者把真实生活的混乱状况整理得有条不紊，把真实的人们典型化成各种人物，并详述他们在真实生活中可能进行的各种活动。这样，我们常能发现文学作品中的各种人物代表着我们真实生活的各种熟人。

　　First of all, literature is true to the facts of real life. It directly states the depictions of real people, actualplaces, and existing events. More importantly, literature is true in the sense of its power of communicatingtruthful ideas of human life.

　　Then, literature is true because of the indirectly stated ideas that the authors present in literary works.

　　Though all the details of a literary work make up an imaginary world, such a world is based on the author’sideas about the real world.

　　Finally, what we readers usually encounter in literary works are the typical characters and probableactions. By imposing order on the chaos of real life, authors present characters who typify real people, andthey recount actions that would probably happen in real life. Because of this, we are often be able to findcharacters who represent recognizable types of people in real life.

　　2.4　文学是审美对象文学的美学特点在于其语言的美学作用。现代西方美学的重要理论家伊曼努尔·康德认为，美学就是在物质世界和精神世界之间架起一座桥梁的尝试，是沟通一个由力量和庞然大物组成的世界与一个由理念组成的世界的尝试。审美对象，例如文学作品、音乐和美术作品通过作用于感官的形式（语言、声音、色彩）和精神的内涵（思想理念）融为一体来实现把物质与精神结合在一起的可能性。一部文学作品就是一个审美对象，这是因为在暂时排除或搁置了其他交流功能之后，文学促使读者去思考形式与内容间的关系。审美对象具有“无目的的合目的性”。它们的建构具有一种目的性：使它们的各个部分都协调一致地去实现某个目的，但这个目的就是艺术作品本身，是蕴含在作品当中的愉悦，或者是由作品引起的愉悦。我们从文学中得到的愉悦能够在作者使用比如隐喻、情节、人物、象征、讽刺、悬念、主题、有韵律的语言等文学技巧的方式中发现。所有这些文学元素结合在一起就组成了一种艺术美的有机连贯性。并且，我们在感觉文学艺术美的过程中，还能探索文学的深刻意义。

　　大作家们无疑很能把文学的美学品质与作品要传达的思想紧密地联系起来，使用令人愉悦的社会习俗来提高和传达他们的主题。

　　2.4　Literature is aesthetic objectThe aesthetic property of literature lies in its aesthetic function of language. For Immanuel Kant,the primary theorist of modern Western aesthetics, the aesthetic is the name of the attempt to bridge thegap between the material and the spiritual world, between a world of forces and magnitudes and a worldof concepts. Aesthetic objects, such as works of literature, music and paintings, with their combinationof sensuous form (languages, sounds, colours) and spiritual content (ideas), illustrate the possibility ofbringing together the material and the spiritual. A literary work is an aesthetic object because, with othercommunicative functions initially bracketed or suspended, it engages readers to consider the interrelationbetween form and content. Aesthetic objects have a“purposiveness without purpose”. There is apurposiveness to their construction: they are made so that their parts will work together towards some end.

　　But the end is the work of art itself, pleasure in the work or pleasure occasioned by the work. The pleasure weget from literature can be found in the way authors use literary techniques, such as metaphor, plot, character,symbolism, irony, suspense, theme, and rhythmic language. All such literary elements combine together toform an organic coherence of artistic beauty. Moreover, while experiencing beauty of literature, we can tracethe profound meanings in literature. Great authors are undoubtedly very competent to make the aestheticqualities of literature inextricably bound up with the ideas conveyed by their works. They use pleasurableconventions to enhance and communicate their themes.

　　2.5　文学的类型文学的类型不能认为是固定的标签，但可看成是具体历史、文化和意识形态的产物或构建，是不断变化的过程或繁复交错的流动。一般说来，文学分为四大类型：诗歌、戏剧、小说和散文。

　　如果说散文是语言使用的扩展，诗歌则力求简洁。诗歌用高浓缩的句法，向读者呈现出思想、感情、反思、感觉的制高点。诗歌常常表达人类最强烈、最深刻的感觉。很多优美的诗歌成了我们终生的朋友，我们反复读诵，以求对人生的平和反思、理解和顿悟。诗歌又分成抒情诗（包括颂歌、民谣、十四行诗等）、史诗（即叙事诗）和戏剧诗。

　　戏剧是通过演员为观众好和为观众高兴而在舞台上或影视中表演的文学类型。戏剧的本质是通过言语和行为来塑造人物和发展剧情。尽管现代剧使用的是散文对话，原则上戏剧语言应像日常用语一样，但很多过去的戏剧用的是诗歌形式。戏剧又分为悲剧、喜剧、悲喜剧、家庭剧和传奇剧。

　　小说，或叫散文小说，从广义来说，是用散文或韵文形式写的任何文学记事；从狭义来说，小说只指用散文写的记事，并且有时简直用作“（长篇）小说”的同义词。它通常有情节、人物、活动和对话。有时故事是“真的”，但更多时候不是。有的小说，如历史小说或自传小说，可能集中在真人上， 并且情节可能依托的是真实事件，但人物间的互动方式和情节如何展开就是作者自己的创造了。散文小说的本质就是叙事，叙述相连的一连串事件和活动。小说通常集中叙述一个或几个人物，如何处理与其他人物间的关系，如何试图解决他们间的问题，其结果也叙述了他们是如何变化和成长的。小说又可分成历史小说、心理小说、社会风俗小说、自然主义小说、现实主义小说、超现实主义小说、魔幻现实小说、后现代小说等。

　　散文指任何非虚构性文章，并且近来它又叫做创作性非虚构作品。它是所有文学形式中最灵活、最适应的一种。散文包括随笔、传记、自传、游记、回忆录、自然景观、人物特写、新闻报道、特写文章、历史着作之类的东西。散文的主要目的是陈述事实并对历史、科学、时事的真实世界给出符合逻辑的结论。

　　2.5　Literary ClassificationsLiterary genres can not be considered as fixed labels but can be considered as histotical, cultural andideological specifics or construct, ever changing processes or interlacing fluid. Generally speaking, literaturemay be classified into four categories or genres: poetry, drama, prose fiction and nonfiction prose.

　　Poetry strives towards brevity if prose is expansive in the use of language. It offers the reader highpoints of emotion, reflection, thought and feeling with highly compacted syntax. Very often, poetry expressesthe most powerful and deeply felt experiences of human beings. Many exquisite poems become our lifelongfriends, and we visit them over and over again for insight, understanding, and peaceful reflection about ourlife. Poetry may be subclassified into lyric (including ode, ballad & sonnet), epic poetry (i.e. narrative poetry)and dramatic poetry.

　　Drama is literature designed for stage or film presentation by actors for the benefit and delight of theaudience. The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.

　　Although most modern plays use prose dialogue, on the principle that the language of drama should resemblethe language of everyday speech, many plays from the past are in poetic form. Drama may be subclassifiedinto tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, domestic drama and melodrama.

　　Fiction, or prose fiction, in an inclusive sense, is any literary narrative, whether in prose or verse. Ina narrower sense, fiction denotes only narratives that are written in prose and sometimes it is used simplyas a synonym for“novel.”It normally has a plot, characters, action and dialogue. Sometimes the storiesare“true”, but more often they are not. Some fiction, for instance, historical or autobiographical fiction,may focus on real people and the plot may be grounded in actual events, but the way characters interact andhow the plot unfolds are the author’s own invention. The essence of prose fiction is narration, the relating of asequence of events or actions. Fictional works usually focus on one or a few major characters who change andgrow as a result of how they deal with other characters and how they attempt to solve their problems. Prosefiction may be subclassified into historical novel, psychological novel, novel of manners, naturalistic novel,realist novel, surrealist novel, magical realist novels, postmodern fiction, etc.

　　Nonfiction prose refers to any piece of non-fiction writing. And recently, it is also called CreativeNonfiction. It is one of the most flexible and adaptable of all literary forms. It consists of essays, biography,autobiography, travels, memoir, natural landscape, figure profile, news reports, feature articles, historicalworks, etc. The main purpose of nonfiction prose is to present truths and make logical conclusions about thefactual world of history, science, and current events.

　　3．结论综上所述，我们得出多数人的结论。在学术界，大学教授们尽管喜好不同，但大都同意下述说法：大学文学课堂里讨论什么， 什么就是文学。从各种文本的文学性来看，文学可以下列方式定义：从广义来说，文学指在一个国家或在世界范围内，在一段时期或在整个历史时期内，用一种语言或多种语言写作的一切文章；从狭义来讲，文学指“世界上表达出来的最佳思想和言论”（马修·安诺德）。从人文主义观点来看，文学就是人生的呈现，文学就是人生的精髓。

　　3．ConclusionTo sum up what is discussed above, we’ve come to the conclusion of the majority. In academic circles,university professors, though having different favorites, most of them agree to the following statement:

　　Literature is what is discussed in university literary classes. From the literariness of texts of all sorts, literaturemay be defined in the following ways: In a broad sense, literature refers to all the literary compositions writtenin one or many languages, of one country or of the world, in one period or of the whole history. In the narrowsense, literature refers to“the best that has been thought and said in the world”(Matthew Arnold). From ahumanistic point of view, literature is the representation of human life. Literature is the essence of life.

　　第二节　文学的功能Section Two　the Functions of Literature文学，作为一种极其重要的理念而出现，是一种被赋予了多种功能的人类精神财富，在促进真正的人类文明中起着非常重要的作用。它至少起着下列作用：

　　Literature, emerged as an extremely important idea, is a special kind of human spirit wealth chargedwith many sorts of functions and plays a very important role in promoting the real civilization of human being.

　　It, at least, performs the following functions:

　　1．我们应该把文学所有的错综性和多样性看成一种由来已久的社会实践和机制，这种机制的基础是你能说出你想象得到的任何事情。不论什么正统思想、什么信仰、什么价值观，文学都可以想象出各种不同的、怪异荒诞的虚构故事来嘲笑它，戏仿它。文学一直具有通过虚构而超越前人所想所写的东西的可能性，如《西游记》因为在讥讽和戏仿的语境中使用了神圣的名字和主题而引起了轩然大波。任何看似合乎情理的东西，文学都可以使其变得荒谬不堪，都可以超越它， 都可以用一种向其合理性和充分性提出质疑的方式改变它。通过与那些人类智慧启迪者的思想和言语进行交流，我们的心与整个人类的感情合奏一个节拍。在人类忧虑、经营和争吵的低级生活的烟雾和动荡之上，在一片喧嚣和混乱之上有一个清澈而又明亮的地方，那就是真、善、美存在的地方，所有人都在那里相会，并以同样的方式交谈。

　　因此可以说，一切优秀的文学都在宣扬与体现人的规律，都在歌颂和传播着真、善、美，从而不断促进真正的人类文明。

　　1. We should note all the complexity and diversity of literature as a long social practice and institutionbased on the possibility of saying anything you can imagine. For any orthodoxy, any belief, any value, aliterary work imagine some different and monstrous fictions to mock it and parody it. Literature has possessedthe possibility of fictionally exceeding what has previously been thought and written, for example, Journeyto the West which has caused so much outrage for its use of sacred names and motifs in a context of satireand parody. For anything that seemed to make sense, literature could make it nonsense, go beyond it, andtransform it in a way that raised the question of its legitimacy and adequacy. By converse with the thoughtsand utterances of those who are intellectual leaders of the race, our heart comes to beat in accord with thefeeling of universal humanity. Above the smoke and stir, the din and turmoil of man’s lower life of care,business and debate, there is a serene and luminous region of truth, goodness and beauty where all may meetand expatiate in common. Therefore, it may be said that all good literature preaches and embodies humanlaw, praises and spreads truth, goodness and beauty, and consequently keeps promoting the real civilizationof human being.

　　2．一部文学作品，比如《哈姆雷特》，就其特点而言，是一个虚构人物的故事，而这个故事本身又在某些方面具有代表性（不然，你为什么想读它呢），但同时它拒绝界定那个有代表性的领域或范围——正因为如此，读者和批评家们才能如此轻松自如地谈论文学的“普遍性”。正是文学作品的这种结构才使我们比较容易把它们看做是在普遍意义上向我们讲述“人类境况”，而不是局限在它们所描述或者说明的具体范畴之内。《哈姆雷特》仅仅是关于王子的故事吗？仅仅是描述文艺复兴时期人物的故事吗？或者仅仅是有关喜欢内省的年轻人的故事？仅仅是关于那些父亲死因不明的人们的故事？既然所有这些都不是令人满意的答案，所以对读者来说，还是不回答更容易些，因此便默认了它的普遍性。我们中国读者，正如世界各国的读者一样，可以用不同的方式，在不同的层次上把《哈姆雷特》与真实的世界联系起来。我们发现《哈姆雷特》的故事与我国《西游记》中乌鸡国太子的故事非常相似，为什么呢？通过比较《哈姆雷特》和《西游记》生成的时代背景、作家的生平和作品的主题，不难看出英国人莎士比亚和中国人吴承恩对人性、人的生死和人生意义的认识相同。由此可见，文学可以促进国际交流，避免因语言文化差异而引起的误会或矛盾冲突，从而起到维护或保持世界和平的作用。

　　2．A literary work, for instance, Hamlet, is characteristically the story of a fictional character: itpresents itself as in some way exemplary (why else would you read it?) but it simultaneously declines todefine the range or scope of that exemplarity—hence the ease with which readers and critics come to speakabout the“universality”of literature. The structure of literary works is such that it is easier to take them astelling us about“the human condition”in general than to specify what narrower categories they describe orilluminate. Is Hamlet just about princes, or men of the Renaissance, or introspective young men, or peoplewhose fathers have died in obscure circumstances? Since all such answers seem unsatisfactory, it is easierfor readers not to answer, thus implicitly accepting a possibility of universality. We Chinese readers, just likeall readers throughout the world, can relate Hamlet to the real world in different ways at several differentlevels. We have found that the story of Hamlet and the story of the Crown Prince of Wuji State in our Journeyto the West very much alike. Why? By comparing the times and background of writing Hamlet with thatof writing Journey to the West, Shakespeare’s life with Wu Cheng’en’s life, the theme of Hamlet with thetheme of Journey to the West, it’s not difficult to find out the reason: the Englishman Shakespeare and theChinese Wu Cheng’en are identical in the views on human nature, the question“to be or not to be”and thesignificance of life. From here we can see that literature may promote international communication and avoidmisunderstandings or conflicts because of different languages and cultures, hence performs the function ofmaintaining or keeping the world peace.

　　3．提供普遍性和面对能够读懂这种语言的人，二者合一便产生了一种强大的民族性的作用。文学作品，尤其是小说，通过设定并吸引一个广大的读者群，有助于创造民族群体。这个民族群体是有界限的。不过，从原则上说，它又是向一切能够读懂它的语言的人敞开的。

　　虚构小说无声地、不断地渗入到现实当中，默默地创造着一种非凡的群体信念，这正是现代国家的特征。把文学中的人物、陈述人、情节和主题表现得具有普遍意义，目的就在于促成一个既开放又有界限的、假设的群体。事实上，越是强调文学的普遍性，它的民族作用就越大。例如肯定英国女作家简·奥斯汀眼里的世界具有普遍性，反倒使英国成为一个非常特殊的地方，成为一个品位高雅、行为规范的地方。而且，更重要的是，它有利于英国社会道德和社会环境的形成。在这样的环境之中，伦理道德问题得以解决，人格品质也得以塑造。

　　3．The combination of offering universality and addressing all those who can read the language hashad a powerful national function. Works of literature, particularly novels, help to create national communitiesby their postulation of and appeal to a broad community of readers, being bounded yet in principle opento all who can read the language. Fiction seeps quietly and continuously into reality, creating remarkableconfidence of community in anonymity which is the hallmark of modern nations. To present the characters,speakers, plots, and themes of some literature as polentially universal is to promote an open yet boundedimagined community. In fact, the more the universality of literature is stressed, the more it may have anational function. For instance, asserting the universality of the world vision offered by the Englishwomanwriter Jane Austen makes England a very special place indeed, a site of standards of taste and behaviour and,more important, of the moral scenarios and social circumstances in which ethical problems are worked outand personalities are formed.

　　4．文学是意识形态的手段，同时文学又是使其崩溃的工具。它具备社会的和政治的功能。文学作品通过在不同的阶级、性别、种族、国家和年龄的人们中提倡认同而促进了一种劝阻斗争的“同伴情感”，维护着社会稳定。但同时作品也可能会产生一种强烈的不公平意识，这种意识又使开展进步斗争成为可能。从历史的角度看，文学作品享有促进变革的声誉，例如美国女作家哈丽特·比彻·斯托的《汤姆叔叔的小屋》在那个时代就是一本畅销书，它促成了一场反对奴隶制的革命，这场革命又引发了美国的内战。

　　4．Literature is the vehicle of ideology and literature is also an instrument for its undoing. It performsthe social and political functions. By promoting identification across divisions of class, gender, race, nation,and age, literary works may promote a“fellow-feeling”that discourages struggle and maintain the socialstability; but they may also produce a keen sense of injustice that makes progressive struggles possible.

　　Historically, works of literature are credited with producing change: The American woman writer HarrietBeecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a best-seller in its day, helped create a revolution against slavery thatmade the American Civil War possible.

　　5．文学既是文化的杂音，又是文化的信息。它既是一种制造混乱的力量，又是一种文化资本。学习文学等于是一笔文化投资，它可能会以各种方式给你以回报，帮助你进入社会上层，特别是在现代社会里，在这样一个对个人和群体来说充满形形色色的又相互结合的社团、国家权力、传播行业和跨国公司的时代里。但是不能认为文学仅仅具有这种保守的社会功能。它不是“家庭价值观”的传播者。相反从弥尔顿《失乐园》中撒旦反叛上帝，到陀思妥耶夫斯基《罪与罚》中拉斯科尔尼科夫谋杀老妇人，可以说文学使各种罪恶具有了诱惑力。它鼓励抵制资本主义的价值观，反对由资本主义经济滋生出来的自私和物欲主义，为人们提供替代的价值观和文化资本。

　　5．Literature is the noise of culture as well as its information. It is an entropic force as well as culturalcapital. Learning about literature gives you a stake in culture that may pay off in various ways, helping you fitin with people of higher social status, particularly in the modern world, for individuals and groups, in a worldof diverse and intermingled communities, state power, media industries, and multinational corporations.

　　But literature cannot be reduced to this conservative social function: it is scarcely the purveyor of“familyvalues”but makes seductive all manner of crimes, from Satan’s revolt against God in Milton’s Paradise Lostto Raskolnikor’s murder of an old woman in Dostoevski’s Crime and Punishment. It encourages resistanceto capitalist values and counters the selfishness and materialism fostered by the capitalist economy, offeringpeople alternative values and giving them a stake in culture.

　　6．文学起到一种替代宗教的作用。宗教似乎不能再把整个社会团结在一起了。文学在传授中立的审美体验的同时培养一种民族自豪感。

　　6．Literature functions as a replacement for religion, which seems no longer to be able to hold societytogether. While teaching disinterested appreciation, literature provides a sense of national greatness.

　　7．每个国家的文学，实质上都表现其国民性。每个国家的文学都会歌颂其祖国，歌颂其人民，特别是民族英雄，从而培养爱国心。

　　7．Every nation’s literature is essentially the manifestation of its national spirit. Every nation’s literaturewill always sing the praises of its nation and its people, especially its national heroes, thus cultivating thepatriotism.

　　8．作为审美对象，文学可以使我们成为“更完美的人”。这种观点是和一种关于主体的思想相关的，理论界称这种主体为“自由主体”，即不受社会环境和利益界定，由个人主体性（理性和道德）界定的自由主体，根本不受社会决定因素的制约。这种与实用目的脱离，并且诱导独特的反思和认同的审美对象，帮助我们通过自由公正地运用想象功能而成为自由主体，而这种想象功能把理解力和判断力合理地结合起来。文学具有的这种能力是通过鼓励读者思考复杂的事物而不要急于作出判断，通过鼓励读者思考那些伦理是非问题，通过引导读者作为局外人或者像小说读者一样去检验行为（也包括检验他们自己的行为）而实现的。

　　它促进了客观公正，培养了鉴赏力和细微的辨别能力，产生了与处境不同的男女人物的认同，从而促成了集体感。

　　8．Literature, as an aesthetic object, may make us“better people”. This viewpoint is linked to acertain idea of the subject, to what theorists have come to call“the liberal subject”, the individual definednot by a social situation and interests but by an individual subjectivity (rationality and morality) conceivedas essentially free of social determinants. The aesthetic object, cut off from practical purposes and inducingparticular kinds of reflection and identifications, helps us to become liberal subjects through the free anddisinterested exercise of an imaginative faculty that combines knowing and judging in the right relation.

　　Literature does this by encouraging consideration of complexities without a rush to judgement, engagingthe mind in ethical issues, inducing readers to examine conduct (including their own) as an outsider or areader of novels would. It promotes disinterestedness, teaches sensitivity and fine discriminations, producesidentifications with men and women of other conditions, thus promoting fellow-feeling.

　　9．文学提供信息（知识）——古今中外政治及社会情况。每个人都需要一般知识和常识。“秀才不出门，便知天下事”，一点儿不假。难怪义务教育、素质教育或是通识教育，各级各类学校都要学习语文（语言和文学）课。语言和文学密不可分。文学总是显示着其语言恰当用来表达的最好思想感情而语言又是其文化的重要组成部分，所以，学习文学，我们不仅能学到“世界上表达出来的最佳思想和言论”，而且能提高我们的道德、人格和精神文明。

　　9．Literature gives information (knowledge) —of the political and social conditions of all times andplaces. Everyone is in need of general knowledge and common sense. It is quite right that a scholar, withoutgoing out, knows the world’s affairs well. No wonder all those who receive a compulsory education or a qualityeducation or a general education have to study the subject of Yu Wen (Language &Literature) at all kinds ofschools at all levels. Language and literature are closely interrelated and can never be separated. Literatureof a nation always shows the best what its language can do when it is well used and its language is the key partof its culture. That’s why we say by learning literature we can not only learn“the best that has been thoughtand said in the world”but also improve our morality, personality and spiritual civilization.

　　10．文学能通过让作者宣泄他们的过分感情，让读者表达他们的同情，以恢复心态平衡，保持身心健康。

　　10．By giving an outlet to the writers relieving their excessive feelings and to the readers expressingtheir sympathy, literature can restore the balance of mind and help the writers and readers keep fit.

　　11．威廉·莎士比亚写到：“真、善、美，构成我全部的题材，我将真、善、美以不同的词句表现；我的创造力因这变化而充分施展，三个论题完美统一，题材空间自然无限。”“只要你在不朽的字里行间与时间并存，只要人类在繁衍，只要眼睛能看见，你就能与我的着作同在，亘古永恒。”这些话向我们表明是文学使莎士比亚的人生更有意义，是文学使莎士比亚、吴承恩、曹雪芹、雨果和很多其他人永远活在他们的读者心里。

　　11．What William Shakespeare has written—“Fair, kind, and true, is all my argument,Fair, kind, and true, varying to other words;And in this change is my invention spent,Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.”

　　“When in eternal lines to time thou growest;So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long lives this and this gives life to thee”—shows us that it is literature that makes Shakespeare’slife more significant and it is also literature that makes Shakespeare, Wu Cheng’en, Cao Xueqin, Hugo andmany others living forever in the hearts of their readers.

　　第三节　什么是人和人生Section Three　What Is Man and What Is Life1．什么是人？人是万物之灵，是肉体和灵魂的结合体。肉体部分是兽，即有高度智力的兽；灵魂部分是神，即宇宙的形式。人的物质生活接近兽，精神生活接近神。人有物质（肉体）生命和精神（灵魂）生命，前者终有一死，后者永世长存。人是群居的，有其社会属性；人有七情六欲，有其自然属性。但是人的最大特点是具有自由意志，能采取行动改变自己的处境和命运，在这个意义上，人是自己命运的主人，人接近神。

　　1．What is man? Man is the wisest of all creatures, the integration of living body and soul. The partof living body is an animal, i.e. a highly intelligent animal. The part of soul is God, i.e. the The Form of theUniverse. Man’s material life is close to animal while spiritual life is close to God. Man has physical (body)life and moral (soul) life. The former is mortal while the latter is immortal. Man is living in groups and hashis social attributes. Man has the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures, consequently has his naturalattributes. But Man’s most outstanding characteristic is that Man has free will and can take action in changeof one’s condition and fate. In this sense, Man is the master of his own fate and Man is close to God.

　　2．什么是受过教育的人？受过教育的人应知道物的世界，应理解人的世界，应参与思想的世界，应享受感情的世界。

　　2．What is the educated man? The educated man is one who knows of the world of things, understandsthe world of people, participates in the world of thought and enjoys the world of feeling.

　　3．什么是人生？人生是指从出生到逝世的整个过程，包括了肉体和灵魂、生活并生存、生计与环境、成败得失等。

　　3．What is life? Life refers to the whole process of one’s life from birth to death, including body andsoul, living and survival, livelihood and surroundings, successes and failures, gains and losses, etc.

　　4．人生有何内涵？一般说来有如下内涵：

　　What connotative meanings does life have? Generally speaking, human life has the following connotativemeanings:

　　（1）为了生存，人生必须有私人的、身体的、性爱的、维持生活的、工作或劳动的各种物质生活。

　　（1）In order to survive, human life must be made up of private, physical, sexual, living, working orlabouring, all kinds of material life.

　　（2）为了健全生活，人生必须有智力的、道德的、社会的、政治的、经济的、文化的各种精神生活。

　　（2）In order to live healthily, human life must be made up of intellectual, moral, social, political,economical, cultural, all kinds of spiritual life.

　　（3）为了幸福生活，人生必须有外在的与内心的和谐生活。

　　（3）In order to live happily, human life must be harmonious in outer and inner life.

　　第四节　文学与人生的关系Section Four　The Relation Between Literature and Life文学是人生的反映，人生是文学的根底。是人生造就了文学，而文学又回过来服务于人生。文学与人生的关系正如人与自己影子的关系。文学是人生的精髓，或更确切地说，文学是人生的表现，表现包含着材料的选择和艺术的加工。

　　Literature is the reflection of human life while human life is the root of literature. It is human life thatmakes up literature, whereas literature serves human life in return. Literature stands related to human life asman stands to man’s own shadow. Literature is the essence of Life, or to be more exact, literature is the re-presentation of life. Re-presentation includes selection of material and artistic improvement.

　　一切种类的文学艺术的源泉究竟是从何而来的呢？作为观念形态的文艺作品，都是一定的社会生活在人类头脑中的反映的产物。人民生活中本来存在着文学艺术原料的矿藏，这是自然形态的东西，是粗糙的东西，但也是最生动、最丰富、最基本的东西；从这点上说，它们使一切文学艺术相形见绌，它们是一切文学艺术取之不尽、用之不竭的唯一源泉。

　　In the last analysis, what is the source of all literature and art? Works of literature and art, as ideologicalforms, are products of the reflection in the human brain of the life of a given society. The life of the peopleis always a mine of the raw materials for literature and art, materials in their natural form, materials that arecrude, but most vital, rich and fundamental; they make all literature and art seem pallid by comparison; theyprovide literature and art with an inexhaustible source, their only source.

　　人类的社会生活虽是文学艺术的唯一源泉，虽是较之后者有不可比拟的生动丰富的内容，但是人们还是不满足于前者而要求后者。这是为什么呢？因为虽然两者都是美，但是文艺作品中反映出来的生活却可以而且应该比普通的实际生活更高，更强烈，更有集中性，更典型，更理想，因此就更带普遍性。

　　Although man’s social life is the only source of literature and art and is incomparably livelier and richerin content, people are not satisfied with life alone and demand literature and art as well. Why? Because, whileboth are beautiful, life as reflected in works of literature and art can and ought to be on a higher plane, moreintense, more concentrated, more typical, nearer the ideal, and therefore more universal than actual everydaylife.

　　一般而言，一部文学作品，就其来源与应用方面愈普遍愈广泛，则该文学作品的价值愈大，其影响愈佳。

　　Generally speaking, the more universal or general a literary work is, both in its sources and in itsapplication, the greater is the value of that literary work and the better is its influence.

　　最佳文学作品含有人生最大量的、最有意义的、最有兴趣的部分（或种类），得到最完善的艺术处理，因此能给人以一个真与美的强烈、动人的印象，使读者既受教益、启迪，又得到乐趣。

　　The best literary work, then, contains the greatest amount of the most significant and interesting part(or kind) of life, and that has been treated by the most perfect art, giving thereby a powerful and fascinatingimpression of truth and beauty, making the readers edified (instructed) and amused at the same time.

　　第五节　为什么要学《文学与人生》

　　Section Five　Why to Study Literature and Life“文学与人生”这个话题，听来非常大众化，却是个从未降温的热门话题，因为每个人都在经历和体验着各自的人生，每个受过教育（包括义务教育）的人都定会在不同的年龄段通过不同的途径受到文学的熏陶、吸引和影响，每个人对文学和人生的关系都有或多或少的体会，都想说说。很多人有兴趣学习《文学与人生》，至少有下列目的。

　　“Literature and life”, this subject of a talk, sounds very popular and is really a never-cooling hottopic of conversation, for everyone is undergoing the process of his or her life and observing and learning fromthe real life. Everyone who has ever received some education (including compulsory education) has surelybeen brought up and nurtured, attracted or tempted and influenced by literature at different ages in differentways. Everyone has learned more or less from his or her experience about the relation between literature andlife and wants to have a say. Many people are interested in learning Literature and Life. There are at least thefollowing aims.

　　1．为了获得世界知识和人类智慧文学是文化遗产，是获得社会知识和人类智慧的秘诀。通过学习文学，我们能学到新鲜思想和新的观念。文学让读者看透现实的本质。通过文学，我们知道更多的传统、习俗、信念、看法、民间传说和所写时代的社会准则。文学总是给我们读者提供一些新信息，拓展我们的世界知识。文学能以一种高贵、典雅的质地服务于人和社会。无数仁人志士在文学的熏陶和影响下，常把他们所读文学作品中的人物作为他们人生的偶像，为社会和人类文明作出了贡献。

　　1．To acquire world knowledge and human wisdomLiterature is a cultural heritage and a key to acquire social knowledge and human wisdom. By learningliterature, we learn fresh ideas and new concepts. Literature brings readers insight about the nature of reality.

　　Through literature, we know more about traditions, customs, beliefs, attitudes, folklore, and the values of theera in which it is written. Literature always furnishes us readers with some new information that broadens ourknowledge of the world. Literature can serve people and society with a noble and elegant quality. Countlesspeople with lofty ideals, having been brought up and nurtured and influenced by literature, often take thecharacters in the literary works they read as their images in their lives, consequently, they’ve made somecontributions to society and human civilization.

　　2．为了加深对人生的理解文学对我们有吸引力也由于它与人类的生活有着密切的关联。它阐明人类经验的复杂性，拓宽我们自己对人生理解的察觉范围。在观察文学作品中人物的私生活时，我们的大脑也开始思考，我们的心与人物的心一起跳动。对其他人如何感觉的觉察力是丰富一个人自己人格的一种很有用的办法。在这个意义上，文学不仅给了我们一个参与其他人的经历的机会，而且也成功地影响了我们对要发生的事情的态度和期望。

　　2．To improve understanding about lifeLiterature is appealing to us also because of its intimate relationship and relevant association withhuman existence. It sheds light on the complexity of human experiences and thus broadens the awarenessof our own understanding about life. While observing the private lives of characters, our minds also beginworking and our hearts beating along with the characters’. An awareness of how other people feel can bea very useful way to enrich one’s own personality. In this sense, literature not only gives us a chance toparticipate in the experience of others, but also succeeds in affecting our attitudes to and expectations aboutthings to happen.

　　3．为了培养文学艺术欣赏能力用美学的术语来说，由于文学的表达美、技艺好，能作为艺术欣赏去研究。一部文学作品有其独特的结构，本身就是一件艺术品，可根据文学理论来分析。当我们能这样做的时候，我们就开始向文学批评的方向移去。然而，文学批评决不是否定或拈过拿错，而是从美学的观点对文学作品努力去说明、解释和评价。实际上，我们对如何从艺术的观点来分析文学作品学习得越多，对文学作品的理解就越深，对文学作品的鉴赏力就越好，从文学作品中得到的愉快和享受就越大。

　　3．To cultivate capacity of artistic appreciationBecause of its good craftsmanship and the beauty of expression in terms of aesthetics, literature canbe studied for artistic appreciation. A literary work, with its unique texture, is a self-contained piece of art,which can be analyzed in accord with literary theories. When we are able to do this, we begin to move in thedirection of literary criticism. However, literary criticism is by no means negative or fault-finding; it is anattempt to clarify, explain and evaluate literature from an aesthetic point of view. In fact, the more we learnabout how to analyze literature from an artistic point of view, the deeper our understanding and better ourappreciation of a literary work can be obtained, and greater still the pleasure and enjoyment can be drawnfrom it.

　　4．为了愉快而阅读正如有时我们为了放松就听听音乐，为了娱乐去看看电影，有时我们只为愉快而读读文学作品。文学能给那些自愿关照它的人带去愉快。一般说来，文学给读者讲述的是一种与他们自己不同的令人激动的经历或世事。有人可能会说有其他形形色色的给人愉快或娱乐的方法，但当我们最终被带回到人类各种问题、感情和关系中的种种令人头脑冷静的现实时，是文学能使人们找到最大的愉快和满足。其原因在于文学不是我们肉眼明显地看到的一切东西的简单复制，实际上，文学给我们提供的是对人类生活和社会现实特殊看法的一种想象的用以解释的深思。

　　4．To read for pleasureSometimes we read for pleasure only, just as sometimes we listen to music for relaxation or go to a moviefor entertainment. Literature can bring pleasure by entertaining those who voluntarily attend to it. Generallyspeaking, literature offers readers narratives with an exciting world of experiences that is different from theirown. One may argue that there are a variety of other ways of giving pleasure or entertainment to people, yetwe discover that literature enables people to find the greatest pleasure and satisfaction when we are ultimatelybrought back to some sober-minded realities of human problems, feelings, and relationships. The reasonlies in the fact that literature is not simply a copy of what is obviously seen by our bare eyes; we are, in fact,furnished with an imaginative and interpretative reflection upon special views of human existence and socialreality.

　　5．为了提高素质和扩大通识“文学与人生”是个非常大众化又非常重要的话题。它与日常人生的联系极为紧密，因而很多人一直在研究它。有的文学家和理论家写出了《文学与人生》的文章或书籍，为社会公民教育提供了学习材料。一些教授作过《文学与人生》的讲座，引起了学生们的极大兴趣。有的教授也写出了《文学与人生》的论文或着作；若干大专院校将《文学与人生》列为大学生素质教育必修课或选修课；教育部已将《文学与人生》作为大学生素质教育的通识课列入课程规划之中。许多学生都以很大的热情和兴趣参加讲座或听课。为什么呢？他们说他们能从讲座和课程中学到更多的东西。他们通过学习《文学与人生》能提高素质，扩大通识。

　　5．To enhance quality and broaden general knowledge“Literature and life”is a very popular and very important topic of conversation. It’s very closelyrelated with life. Therefore, many people have been studying it. Some writers and theorists have written afew treatises or books on literature and life, which may serve social citizen education as learning materials.

　　Some professors have delivered lectures on Literature and Life, which have aroused great interest of thestudents. Some professors have also written quite a few monographs or works on Literature and Life. Anumber of colleges and universities have listed Literature and Life in their curriculums as a required courseor elective course for the students’ quality education.“Literature and life”has already been listed as ageneral knowledge course for college students’ quality education in the national curriculum programme bythe Ministry of Education. Many students attend the lectures or classes with much enthusiasm and interest.

　　Why? They say they can learn a lot from the lectures or classes. They can enhance their quality and broadentheir general knowledge by learning literature and life.

　　第六节　如何学习《文学与人生》

　　Section Six　How to Study Literature and Life我们打算要学习的这本《文学与人生》与其他人编写的《文学与人生》不同。

　　The Literature and Life we are going to learn is different from the others’ Literature and Life.

　　1．这本《文学与人生》有下列特点：

　　1．The Literature and Life is characterized as follows.

　　1.1　在选择来作阅读、分析和欣赏的文学作品时，杰出的文学性是放在第一位的。在这本《文学与人生》中选入的文学作品全都是世界文学中的古今名着。

　　1.1　The distinguished literariness is put first in choosing our literary works for reading, analysing andappreciating. The literary works chosen in the Literature and Life are really all classics of world literature.

　　1.2　强调的是实用性而不是理论。最重要的是阅读那些经典的原着，在基本又新近的文学理论指导下分析作家和其中作品中主要人物的人生，从美学观点来赏析那些经典。

　　1.2　The emphasis is put on practicability rather than theory. What’s most important is to read theclassics in the original, to analyse the writers’ lives and their main characters’ lives under the guidance of thebasic and yet recent literary theories, appreciate the classics from an aesthetic point of view.

　　1.3　重点在小说，因为小说是用散文或韵文形式写的任何文学记事，例如小说《红楼梦》里就有很多诗歌，因此它又被称为诗化小说。更重要的是，小说具备一种功能，就是教导我们认识世界，向我们展现世界是如何运转的，通过不同的聚焦方法，让我们从别的角度观察事情，并且了解他人的动机，而我们通常是很难看清这些的。小说提供充分了解他人的可能性，弥补了我们在“真实”生活中对他人的无知。小说中的角色是那些生活的隐秘清晰可见或者可能被窥见的人：我们则是完全隐匿私生活的人。这就是为什么小说会给我们带来慰藉，尽管有时它们讲述的可能是邪恶的人；小说让我们看到的是更容易理解、因此也更容易掌握的人类，小说使我们产生一种睿智和力量的幻觉。小说通过从人物的视角展现事物而鼓励与人物的认同。我们在与我们所读的那些人物的认同中成为我们自己，从而通过他人的经验和认同的方式使我们成为更优秀的人。

　　1.3　The stress is put on novels because a novel is any literary narrative, whether in prose or verse. Forexample, there are many poems in the novel A Dream of Red Mansions; thus it is also called a poeticizednovel. What’s more, novels have the function of teaching us about the world, showing us how it works,enabling us—through the devices of focalization—to see things from other vantage points, and to understandothers’ motives that in general are opaque to us. Novels offer the possibility of perfect knowledge of othersand compensate for our dimness about others in“real”life. Characters in novels are people whose livesare visible or might be visible: we are people whose secret lives are invisible. And that is why novels,even when they are about wicked people, can solace us; they suggest a more comprehensible and thus amore manageable human race, and they give us the illusion of perspicacity and power. Novels encourageidentification with characters by showing things from their point of view. We become who we are byidentifying with figures we read about. Therefore, we may be made better people through vicarious experienceand the mechanisms of identification.

　　1.4　这本《文学与人生》是用汉英双语写的，因此，它可用作《文学与人生》课程的教材。学生通过学习《文学与人生》课还可以提高英语水平。每章和每部选作学习的名着后都有复习讨论题，有利于学生对所学的内容进行复习巩固和拓展深造。

　　1.4　The Literature and Life is bilingually written, i.e. in both Chinese and English. Thus it can beused as a textbook for the course“Literature and Life”. The students can improve their English by learningthe course“Literature and Life”. After each chapter and classic chosen for learning there are somequestions for revision and discussion so that the students can review and consolidate what they have learned.

　　2．通过文学研究人生2．To study life through literature通过文学研究人生并不意味着是文学研究或文学批评，而是通过阅读东西方汉英文学名着来提高自己的素质和品味，来研究和完美自己的人生。

　　To study life through literature does not mean the study of literature or criticism but means that one canimprove one’s quality and savour, and study and perfect one’s life by reading classics, both in the East andWest, in Chinese and English.

　　3．读者应读名着全文的原文3．Readers should read the full texts of the classics in the original既然本课程《文学与人生》是通过阅读名着来研究人生，当然教材中要提供对过去各历史时期，包括不同气质、不同性格及不同社会地位的各种人物之生活叙述、成功经验和失败教训。但教材不可能提供名着的全文，只有“内容简介、作者人生、作品赏析、作品中主要人物（经验教训）分析、问题讨论”五部分以代之。每部分由教师详细讲解，但同学们（或读者们）应读名着全文的原文。

　　3．Since this Course Literature and Life is to study life by reading classics, it is natural to presentaccounts and experiences of successes and lessons of failures of life in the past—in the various periods ofhistory and in different walks of life by characters of different temperament and nature and social status.

　　However, in the textbook it is impossible to present full texts of classics but only“Introduction, The Writer’sLife, Appreciations of the Novel (Play), Major Characters’ Lives (Experiences & Lessons), Questions forRevision & Discussion”five parts are presented instead. Each part is to be fully explained by the teacher,but students (or readers) should read the full texts of the classics in the original.

　　4．学会做人4．To learn how to be a man还有，通过经常独立阅读和积极大胆地参加课堂讨论，理论联系实际，不但能学会文学研究和英汉表达方法，而且还可以学会做人。

　　Furthermore, one can learn not only a method of literary study and expression in both Chinese andEnglish but also how to be a man by reading books constantly and independently, taking an active part indiscussion-in-class and integrating theory with practice.

　　我们读的好书越多就能使我们的人生越美好。

　　The more we read fundamental good books, the better we can make our lives.

　　第七节　《文学与人生》课程的测试Section Seven　Test for Literature and Life每个学生应汇集个人文学研究和生活经验之所得，撰写一篇论文（中文或英文均可）。

　　Each student should write a thesis setting forth his or her own conclusions and findings in literary studyand life experience (either in Chinese or English).

　　或：翻译一篇老师提供的名着摘录（汉译英或英译汉均可）。

　　Or: Translate an excerpt from classics presented by the teacher(either from Chinese into English or viceversa).

　　今天的作业：

　　Today’s assignments:

　　1．精读曹雪芹的《红楼梦》。

　　1．Read Cao Xueqin’s A Dream of Red Mansions intensively.

　　2．精读乔治·萧伯纳的《匹克梅梁》。

　　2．Read George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion intensively.

　　复习讨论题：

　　1．什么是文学？为什么这是个难以回答的问题？

　　1．What is literature? Why is this a difficult question?

　　2．你能给出多少种“文学”的定义？你最喜欢哪一种？为什么？

　　2．How many definitions can you give on“literature”? Which one do you like best? Why?

　　3．文学有哪些共同的特点？文学有多少主要方面是真实的？它们是什么？

　　3．What are the common features of literature? How many main ways are there for literature to betrue? What are they?

　　4．一般说来，文学能分多少类？它们是什么？为什么说文学分类不是固定的标签而是从未停止变化的流动过程？

　　4．How many categories, generally speaking, can literature be classified into? What are they? Whyis it said that the classification of literature is not a fixed label but a ever - changing fluid process?

　　5．从人文主义观点来看，文学是什么？

　　5．What is literature from a humanistic point of view?

　　6．文学起着些什么作用？（或：论文学的功能）6．What functions may literature perform? (Or: On the Functions of Literature)7．试论文学与人生的关系。

　　7．A Tentative Study on the Relation Between Literature and Life.

　　8．为什么要学《文学与人生》？如何学习《文学与人生》？

　　8．Why should we study Literature and Life? How should we study Literature and Life?