Tragedy and Modernity: Two Misconstrued Cause/Effect Relationships

Abstract

Abstract: “Tragedy” and “modernity” are normally viewed as two discrete concepts, one related to literature and the other to social theory, but they were coupled into two different cause/effect relationships in the early and middle parts of the 20^th century by some Chinese and Western literary critics. For George Steiner and his followers, modernity which is characterized by scientific rationalism has caused the demise of tragedy as a form of art after the 17^th century, but for Hu Shi and many other Chinese intellectuals of his time, it is the absence of tragedy that has partially caused the delay of modernity in China. In hindsight, neither of the propositions seems tenable because they are both predicated on too narrow an interpretation of what tragedy is, especially their overemphasis on sad ending as an indispensable element of tragedy.

Key words: tragic drama, theory of tragedy, modernity, death of tragedy, happy ending

摘要： “悲剧”与“现代性”通常被视为两个互不相干的概念,前者泛指展现人间苦难的文学作品,后者标识人类文明演变的最新阶段,但在20世纪初期和中期,有不少中外学者曾在这两者之间做出因果连接。乔治·斯坦纳及其追随者认为,现代社会崇尚科学理性,导致悲剧艺术在17世纪之后一蹶不振;胡适和许多同时代其他学人则将现代性在中国姗姗来迟部分归咎于悲剧的缺失。拨开历史的迷雾,我们现在可以清晰地看到,这两个论断其实都站不住脚,因为它们基于过分狭隘的悲剧定义,而且错误地坚持悲剧的凄惨结局不可或缺。

关键词: 悲剧, 悲剧理论, 现代性, 悲剧的死亡, 欢乐结局

Ding Ersu. Tragedy and Modernity: Two Misconstrued Cause/Effect Relationships[J]. Comparative Literature in China, 2025, 0(1): 93-104.

Ding Ersu. Tragedy and Modernity: Two Misconstrued Cause/Effect Relationships[J]. 中国比较文学, 2025, 0(1): 93-104.

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