英文摘要 |
This essay starts with a general survey of contemporary occidental friendship studies in its present condition by focusing in particular on two scholars with major contributions to the field, namely Alan Bray and Allan Silver, whose works are then juxtaposed in a “debate” for the purpose of mapping out the macro-history of occidental friendship as well as throwing a new light on modernity from this perspective. The second part foregrounds one of the most intriguing aspects of friendship either as practice or discourse, i.e. the egalitarian politics of friendship that has posed as a challenge to the established order before it is adopted as the dominant ideology of modern nationalist democracy (which is why Jacques Derrida deconstructs it in his Politics of Friendship). The third part turns to explore the “suspicious” status of friendship in the traditional, family-centered Chinese context, friendship’s subversive use in this regard in the late imperial times (late Ming), and its oblivion in the modern process of modernization. The fourth as well as the last part concludes the essay with a tentative exposition of the continuing progressive potential of friendship “as a way of life,” based on its modern conflation with homosexuality. |