外国语学院学术讲座

讲座时间：1月4号下午2:30

讲座地点：崇远楼二楼世界文化室（210）

讲座题目：Tragedy and Modernity � Two Misconstrued Cause/Effect Relationships

讲座专家：丁尔苏教授

Tragedy and Modernity � Two Misconstrued Cause/Effect Relationships

((DING Ersu, Lingnan University)

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 hind sight, 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.