翻譯中的“啟蒙”與“中國”：對中國理性的批判

將「中國」與「啟蒙」置於翻譯之中，意味著針對形塑兩者間歷史（非）關係的當代真理體制，提出深刻的質疑。本論文試圖考察中國與啟蒙的論述接合所涉及的岐論。我們認為西方全球知識生產與交換體制的霸權，導致了從中國反向地思索啟蒙的視角，一直處於晦暗不明的狀態。本論文的宗旨，即在於揭示以中國為對象的西方知識，其所以能夠持續地讓「中國啟蒙」模糊難辨的論述條件。毋須諱言地，我們希望跟著「中國」思考「啟蒙」的意志，乃是受到內在於當代「全球現代性」情境中，知識生產的去政治化傾向所驅使。儘管我們肯定後殖民研究，在相當程度上，已經致力於知識生產的再政治化，然而，在本論文中，我們也將指出，後殖民研究並未針對前述論述歷史的重新評估，提供有用的典範。倘若我們想要對「中國理性」進行去殖民化的工作，我們就必須解構西方與中國這組根本的對立，以及與這組對立相關的各種論述安排。本論文一共分成三章，梳理讓本土（中國）與外國（西方）的中國知識產生差異的歷史制度，則是貫串不同章節的主軸。第一章處理西方與中國在十七、十八世紀的「遭逢」，旨在挑戰漢學的一種主流的自述模式。在該自述中，耶穌會因其立場不同於啟蒙對於中國的種種想像與重新發明，而深受讚揚。第二章提供「中國研究」的系譜分析，聚焦於批判將中國研究納入東方主義視野的可疑作法，以及西方知識生產的殖民否認機制。第三章考察「中國啟蒙」作為一種「反－實現」的潛能。此一「反－實現」，同時涉及了對於西方現代性經驗的仿效與抽離。本論文並不冀望為中國啟蒙發聲、代言，而是試圖釐清中國啟蒙，如何在與西方自我指涉的現代性界定所形成的被排除和/或納入關係中，成為問題。

關鍵字

啟蒙；國學；後殖民主義；批评性话语分析

並列摘要

To put “China” and “Enlightenment” in translation means to question the contemporary regime of truth conditioning the representation of their historical (non-)relation. In this thesis, we raise the question of the dispute involved in the setting up of their discursive articulation. The hegemony of the Western regime of global knowledge production and exchange rendered the Chinese reverse angle view on Enlightenment invisible. We expose here the discursive conditions under which Western knowledge of China contributed in keeping the “Chinese Enlightenment” illegibile. Our will to think “Enlightenment” with “China” is triggered by the depoliticization of knowledge production inherent in the condition of the contemporary “global modernity”. Postcolonial studies engaged a re-politicization of knowledge production, but we will see that they do not provide us with a paradigm for the revaluation of the discursive history we propose to engage. In order to decolonize “Chinese reason” we must deconstruct the representation of an essential opposition between the West and China and the way it structures discursive arrangements. The leading thread of the three disparate chapters presented in this thesis is the attempt to delineate the historical institution of a difference between a native (Chinese) and a foreign (Western) knowledge of China. The first chapter deals with the so-called European “encounter” with Chinese knowledge during the 17th and 18th century, and questions the dominant sinological self-narrative praising Jesuits endeavours against Enlightenment's imaginary reinvention of China. The second chapter consists in a genealogical analysis of the discourse of “China studies”, focusing on the questionable integration of China within the scope of Orientalism and the setting up of a mechanism of colonial denial in Western knowledge production. The last chapter finally discusses the Chinese Enlightenment as a potential “counter-effectuation” involving both imitation and elicitation from the Western experience of modernity. In this thesis, we do not propose to speak for the Chinese Enlightenment, but to bring to light how it is posed in a relation of exclusion and/or inclusion to Western self-referential appropriation of the discourse on modernity.