丛林深处绞缠的反本质主义与本质主义群像——盖茨的非裔文学理论研究

文艺理论研究 ›› 2013, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (4): 203-210.

丛林深处绞缠的反本质主义与本质主义群像——盖茨的非裔文学理论研究

何燕李

四川大学文学与新闻学院

出版日期:2013-07-25 发布日期:2013-08-29
作者简介:何燕李，文学博士，四川大学文学与新闻学院讲师，主要从事美国黑人文学理论和影视理论研究。

The Essentialist and Anti-Essentialist Features in Gates' Literary Theory

He Yanli

the School of Literature and Journalism in Sichuan University

Online:2013-07-25 Published:2013-08-29
About author:He Yanli, Ph.D. is a lecture at the School of Literature and Journalism in Sichuan University, with a research interests in African American literary theory and film theory.

摘要/Abstract

摘要： 小亨利·路易斯·盖茨的文论充满了绞缠的反本质主义与本质主义群像，具体表现在三个方面：一、“种族”定位——无实体、无本质与旨在为拥有黑肤色、非洲基因的群体申诉身份；二、识别黑人文学的唯一标准——形式与“种族身份不详”的作品中潜伏的作者“DNA”；三、破黑人“无”理论的“欧洲中心”霸权与立黑人“有”形上理论传统及人类文明源头的“非洲中心”。这些群像之所以相互绞缠是因为盖氏文论的哲学基础是质疑“逻各斯中心主义”及西方传统权威的解构主义与反本质主义，而当时其族裔文论的现状却尚未进入后结构主义阶段，相反迫切需要黑人学者站在“文学=艺术”及文学“内部研究”的平台上去发现杂乱的“黑色文学”现象背后的本质真相、结构模式、宏大叙事，从而促使盖茨走向了结构主义和本质主义。

关键词: 盖茨, 反本质主义, 本质主义, 种族, 黑人性

Abstract: Gates' literary theory is a hybridity of anti-essentialism and essentialism, which shows in three aspects. First, he maintains a non-essentialist concept of race, to speak for the black people with an identity based on African origin. Second, his key criterion for black literature is the form of text and the author' DNA embedded in the text with unidentified author's racial identity. The form creates formal lines of continuity between the texts which constitute the shared text of blackness. As not all novels have formal connection with other Black texts, Gates has to find their authors' identity to prove their black identity. Third, Gates' theory is the product of the Eurocentric bias that theory is the province of the Western tradition, something alien to the black. In order to refute the bias, Gates proved that the black people have their own literary theory tradition, and the black civilization is the source of the whole Western civilization. Gates' theory is grounded on poststructuralism and anti-essentialism, but the theoretical context of black literary theory requires black critics to find the artistic essence and structure of their literature, so Gates goes back to structuralism and essentialism.

Key words: Henry Louis Gates, anti-essentialism, essentialism, race, blackness

何燕李. 丛林深处绞缠的反本质主义与本质主义群像——盖茨的非裔文学理论研究[J]. 文艺理论研究, 2013, 33(4): 203-210.

He Yanli. The Essentialist and Anti-Essentialist Features in Gates' Literary Theory[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2013, 33(4): 203-210.

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