Interrupting Augustine: Hermeneutics,Allegory, and Irony in El perro del hortelano

Whatever else El perro del hortelano might be, it is a deeply ironic text about the difficulties of reading. The play not only stages acts of reading and writing where irony disrupts understanding, it is itself an ironic reading of Augustine's moment of conversion that shows the difficulty of allegorical and programmatic readings.     

'Being Martin': Saint and Successor in Sixth-Century Tours

Utilising the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus ( c . 530–600), this article explores the literary fashioning of an idealized episcopal identity for the sixth-century bishops of Tours as successors to Martin, the celebrated fourth-century saint of the city. It is argued that the poet's deployment of the model was of political use to his patron, Bishop Gregory of Tours, both in the establishment of his authority in the town and in dealings with the Frankish kings about matters of taxation. It is suggested that this crafting of an episcopal identity allowed the poet to put pressure on Gregory himself to be Martin and intervene in such matters as a legal case or the affairs of a diocese outside his jurisdiction as metropolitan. The legitimating Martinian model of episcopal behaviour is presented therefore as potentially coercive.     

试论中世纪法国王室的"圣德尼崇拜"

在宗教氛围浓郁的中世纪西欧,几乎每个社会群体都拥有自己的守护神(庇护圣徒),法国王室亦不例外,它也常年沐浴在其守护神圣德尼(Saint Denis)的圣光之下。通过对"圣德尼崇拜"发展历程的考察可以看出,这一崇拜的确立虽非一帆风顺,但在法兰西王权和圣德尼修院的合作经营下,圣徒德尼终究成为法兰西君主的守护神、国家的守护神以及王权象征物的守护神。正是在"圣德尼崇拜"这一官方意识形态的辅佑下,法兰西民族国家开始形成,法兰西王权开始走向绝对化。然而,绝对化的法兰西王权最终灰飞烟灭,隆崇的圣德尼修院最终亦败落凋零。     

论中世纪晚期英国的圣徒崇拜

在中世纪晚期,英国的圣徒崇拜盛行,成为民众宗教信仰的中心。与中世纪早期相比,晚期的圣徒崇拜已发生了一些变化,民众已经开始关注到自己,具有了自我取向与现实取向。这表明在中世纪晚期,英国民众的宗教信仰中出现了“个人主义”倾向,在物质力量增长的同时,英国民众的精神力量也在发展。     

Honouring Saint Louis in a small town

The cult of Saint Louis of France has traditionally been regarded as largely limited to royal shrines and aristocratic patronage, but two documents published here provide some tentative evidence that patronage may have been wider. Evidence of this sort may be rare not because non-aristocratic patronage was rare but because so few records of parish church endowments have survived.     

“反文明”的文明圣人:排华酝酿时期美国媒体的孔子形象

19世纪是中西力量对比最为悬殊的时期,西方社会蔑视中国文明之举极为普遍。美国媒体的孔子观具有强烈的代表性。孔子本为中国的文明圣人,但美国的媒体话语却让其走向文明进步的对立面,被刻画为中国融入近代世界的巨大障碍。美国媒体认为,孔子控制着中国人的思维,造就了极其保守、极具惰性的中国国民性格,导致了中美社会发展程度之间的鸿沟。他们沾沾自喜于以基督教为基础的美欧文明的"先进性",某些中国人皈依基督教以及日本人抛弃孔子思想的积极态度被毫不犹豫地用作了支撑证据。19世纪后半期的美国媒体论及孔子的真正目的在于证明欧美文明的优越。     

从文物与文本的互证性看《楚辞》的文化写实主义──关于《楚辞》浪漫主义的异议

本文从大量出土的楚国文物和《楚辞》文本的互证性关系出发,对《楚辞》主体性的浪漫主义文学史界说提出异议,并认为《楚辞》文本所体现的中心倾向是一种文化写实主义。