比较研究中的陷阱--评劳拉·霍斯泰特勒《清朝殖民地事业》

近年来的西方中国学研究纷纷致力于以后现代主义、后殖民主义、中国中心论等视角来瓦解从前居统治地位的西方中心视角,目前又流行互动比较的视角,而且偏爱比较晚明前清与同时期欧洲的关系,但比较中总是忽略中国历史的连续性和整体性。美国学者霍斯泰特勒的《清朝殖民地事业》一书所作的中西历史比较研究,即存在这种不足,并且这种状况在西方学者中具有明显的普遍性。

The Trap of the Comparative Research Some Notes on Laura Hostetler's Qing Colonial Enterprise

In recent years, the Western scholarship on China is trying to disintegrate the once dominant Western-centered approach by using a variety of approaches, such as post-modernism, post-colonialism and China-centered approach. The intercomparable approach is a new fashion. But when Western scholars are practicing such intercomparisons, they often ignore the continuity and integrity of Chinese history. This paper uses Laura Hostetler's Qing Colonial Enterprise as an instance to explore these common defects in Western comparative researches between Chinese and European history, and tries to provide some ideas on proper intercomparison.