中世纪基督教文学批评的兴起

The Rise of Medieval Literary Criticism

杨慧林(Yang Huilin)

《基督教文化學刊》 4期 (2000/12) Pp. 139-163

並列摘要

The propagation of the Christian faith in Medieval Europe is at once the Christianization of Europe as well as the Europeanization of Christianity. In the process, Christian literary criticism as a discipline evolved in Medieval Europe as a unique form of critique. Particularly worthy of mention is the religious fervor expressed in Medieval European art and the theology of aesthetics that developed along with it. From the vantage point of Chinese culture, the uniqueness of Medieval European Christian literary criticism can fairly readily be appreciated through a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study of the subject matter. It is distinct from classical criticism, not so much in the timing of its development, but in its basic cultural premise. Literary criticism of the Middle Ages does not deal with a nationally based body of writings; rather, it is international in application. As a result, related research led to an overall understanding of the roots of European culture and its subsequent cultural concepts, instead of a narrowly defined literary theory. This paper places the beginnings of Christian literary criticism in the period between the 4th century and the Age of the Carolingians. The three antecedent traditions, which influenced its conception, included the ancient Roman tradition of grammar, rhetoric and logic, the patristic tradition of allegorical criticism defined by Clement and Origen, and the Neo-Platonic tradition of Protinus. In the literary criticism of this formative period, we observe extensive efforts in form research, comparative research, and allegorical analysis, etc. Commentary, versification, interpretation, typology, analogy, and poetry allied to theology are commonly featured in this discipline. St. Augustine provided the most comprehensive theological aesthetics treatise for this period, as represented in his theological interpretation of the concept of mimesis where aesthetics provided the theological lenses through which to view the Absolute and the Mysterious, where theology is redirected from the objective to the subjective reality of the heart. Through Augustine, Christian literary criticism developed its characteristic form, setting it distinctly apart from the ancient Greek tradition. Thus, foundations were laid for the ensuing period from the Age of the Carolingians to the Age of Monasticism.