亚裔美国文学批评中的美国民族主义思想

在反叛欧洲文学价值的基础上兴起和发展起来的美国传统文学批评,把研究美国文学作为对美国理念的阐释、对美国文化的构建,与作为现实国家和一种思想概念的美国相互依存,成为美国民族主义思想的重要载体。以反叛具有深刻种族主义内涵的美国传统文学批评为起点和目标的亚裔美国文学批评,从表面上看,与前者势不两立。但是,亚裔美国文学批评坚信,亚裔美国人的族裔认同是美国民族认同的一部分,把对亚裔族裔认同的诠释,作为对美国民族认同和美国理念的再诠释和再完善,结果,相当一批亚裔作品,因与美国主题无缘,被拒之于亚裔美国文学大门之外,其批评理念的民族主义实质暴露无遗。从本质上看,无论是以文化民族主义还是以全球主义为主导的亚裔美国文学批评,都是对传统文学批评的一种承继。美国文学批评的大语境,亚裔移民后代在亚裔美国文学批评中的主导地位,学术为国家权力服务的现实,以及当今为学术而学术的风气等等,是造成这一局面的主要原因。

American Nationalist Ideology in Asian American Literary Criticism

Traditional American literary criticism, taking shape through its efforts to oppose European literary values, identifies literary studies as a process of defining American ideal and creating American tradition. Benefited from and benefiting the notion and the state of America, it is deeply rooted in American nationalism. Starting its project and taking its goal as resisting the racist traditional American literary criticism, Asian American literary criticism, on the surface, seems to share nothing with the former. However, regarding Asian American identity as subordinate to American identity, the project of defining Asian American identity as a commitment to re-defining American identity, Asian American literary criticism fails to accept a considerable number of writings by writers of Asian descent as Asian American that fail to explore the subject of America. Asian American literary criticism is ideologically nationalist and, dominated whether by cultural nationalism or by globalism, is a continuation, in nature, of traditional American literary criticism. What contributes to this includes the domination of Asian American literary criticism by American-born Asians, the extensive discourse of American literary criticism, the commitment of scholarship to state power, and the embracing of scholarship for scholarship’s sake.