《西方正典》的經典理論與博雅教育思想

The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages Literary Canon Reading and the Concept of Liberal Arts Education

《西方正典》（The Western Canon：The Books and School of the Ages）的作者哈洛‧卜倫（Harold Bloom）是自美國教育家赫欽斯（Robert Hutchins）之後十分重要的經典閱讀論者，他與後現代諸文論家論戰，提出甚具特色的文學經典閱讀論（literary canon reading），儼然成為當代最具影響力的經典閱讀理論家。哈洛‧卜倫所主張的閱讀理論：誤讀（misreading）、反諷（irony）、影響的焦慮（the anxiety of influence）、疏異性（strangeness）等說法，已成為當代文學批評界，耳悉能詳的關鍵詞彙，而其主張對文學經典的選擇標準：必須摒棄無謂的道德訓誨與意識形態，回歸單純的審美興趣與自主性閱讀，才能真正體會到偉大經典的壯麗（sublime），亦為獨具一格的論述。作為博雅教育核心的經典閱讀，在當代形成一種話語權之爭的「文化戰爭」，本文將以博雅教育的演變為主軸，分析經典閱讀在博雅教育的大學體系中的地位，及其教育目的與課程內涵的演變，並以《西方正典》為主要的分析文本，以探討經典閱讀在當代的博雅教育中，可提供的反思和可能的發展。

Harold Bloom, the author of The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, was an important theorist of canon reading succeeding American educational philosopher Robert Hutchins. Bloom debated with the various postmodernists promoting his theory of “literary canon reading,” and is now almost the most influential canon reading theorist. The theory of reading Harold Bloom advocated, including concepts such as misreading, irony, the anxiety of influence, and strangeness, have become familiar keywords in contemporary literary criticism. Bloom’s standard in selecting “the canon,” namely abandoning irrelevant moral teaching and ideology, returning to pure aesthetic interest and self-motivated reading, so as to truly experience the sublime in literary canon, has also formed a unique discourse of its own. The reading of canon, as the core of liberal arts education, has currently generated a “cultural war” on the contest of rights for discourse. This article focuses on the evolution of liberal arts education, analyzing how the reading of canon is placed in college academic system, its educational goal and changing contents. It examines The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, exploring the reflection and future possibilities of canon reading in liberal arts education.