苏珊·朗格符号理论研究

【作者】 沙凯；

【导师】 张杰；

【作者基本信息】 南京师范大学 ， 外国语言学及应用语言学， 2014， 博士

【摘要】 苏珊·朗格(Susanne K. Langer,1895～1985)是美国二十世纪著名的哲学家、美学家、符号学家,通常将她与卡西尔视为符号美学的开创者之一,而本论文的主要目的是探讨朗格符号思想的发展轨迹以及其符号理论研究逐步嬗变超越的过程,揭示朗格在符号体系建构、符号美学以及符号心智认知方面的主要贡献。本文从历时性考察与逻辑分析出发,主要采取文献检索法、共时对比法以及理论分析法相结合的研究方法,把朗格的符号学理论统摄为一个连贯的整体,从而更好地呈现朗格符号理论思想的全貌,指出其符号理论思想在当今符号哲学语境下给我们的启悟。故此,本文是一个跨学科的研究,是对符号在语言、艺术及心智中的整体性探讨。研究发现,朗格符号理论思想具有广泛的批评继承性,尽管朗格承继了卡西尔从符号视角看待人与世界的本质,但是,朗格更受益于恩师怀特海的影响,尤其是怀氏以过程性、生成性、关系性为主的宇宙观的基本立场。此外,朗格还承续了逻辑实证主义对分析的热情及经验主义对意义阐释的热衷。在与同时代哲学思潮以及符号思想的对话碰撞中,朗格提出了对直觉、抽象、逻辑等范畴的自我见解,为一般符号理论体系的构建奠定了多元融合的基础。朗格从功能角度界定符号,从不同的逻辑意义关系图式出发区分信号与符号,从人类符号转换需求本能角度阐释符号建构意义世界的必然性。对推理性符号与表象性符号的区分是朗格符号理论思想的飞跃,早期数理逻辑符号研究使她早已洞察推论性符号的本质特性,尤其是作为典范的语言符号的特性及其经验生成性,然而语言符号强大的抽象逻辑也决定了它在表现内在情感上的局限性,而这正是表象性符号的典范即艺术符号的独特性所在。朗格的艺术符号美学思想是其整个符号理论思想的精华,她对艺术符号的定义,对符号情感的本质内涵、独特的表现性形式、以及符号幻象生成的阐释给予文艺批评极大的启迪。更重要的是,朗格认识到艺术符号投射了一个具体的心智意象,而心智行为又是艺术符号的产生之源,故此,朗格提出通往艺术之路也是通往心智之途,艺术可以帮助我们揭开人类心智的堂奥。朗格试图构建的心智行为理论与行为过程原则便是对符号在发生学意义上的探源,是逆向追溯符号世界的源起与构造,是她多学科、多元化研究方法的最大体现,更为整个符号理论思想提供了认识论意义上的支撑与解释框架。朗格的符号理论给我们一个意义阐释的新方式,符号世界的一个新构造,这样的努力是建立在她整体性的、多元化的、跨学科的、动态的、对话的研究姿态基础之上,也是其在感性与理性两个方面将存在意义阐释视为观念构建的主要动因。’当然,朗格的符号理论也不可避免地存在局限性,她在生物学基础上寻求心智的终极解释颇有基础主义之嫌,而且本身也是一个二律背反；此外幻象说虽包孕了众多艺术类别的解释,但对于个别艺术类型来说,颇有牵强之处。不过,总的来说,朗格的符号理论思想在当今的哲学、符号学语境中,仍有重要的启发意义,而她的符号研究在方法论上的创新也值得我们借鉴,这也是本论文的初衷与追求。更多还原

【Abstract】 Susanne K. Langer (1895-1985) is one of the famous philosophers, estheticians, semioticians in the20th century in America, who is often looked upon as the founder of semiotic aesthetics, together with Cassirer. The present dissertation attempts to trace her developmental process in semiotic research; indicate her change and transcendence in semiotic thinking; investigate her contribution to the development of modern semiotics in the aspects of the construction of a semiotic system, semiotic thinking in aesthetics and semiotic minding. Based on the diachronic observation and logical analyses, this thesis adopts the combined research methods of literature retrieval, synchronic comparisons and contrasts and theoretical analyses, so as to maintain her semiotic theory as a general system, expose her comprehensive and coherent thinking in semiotics and explore her heuristic and enlightening ideas in contemporary philosophical context. Therefore, this is an interdisciplinary research and a holistic examination of the functions of the symbols in language, art and mind fields.This investigation finds that Langer’s semiotic thinking has extensive criticism and adoption from the contemporary-philosophy. Though she adopts the cultural symbolic critical perspective from Cassirer in definition of the relations between human beings and the world, she surely benefits a lot from her tutor Whitehead, especially his universal outlook which is based on the process, generation and relation perspectives. Moreover, Langer inherits the zest in logical analyses from the logical positivism and the enthusiasm in meaning interpretation from the empiricism. Upon the clashes and dialogues with the contemporary philosophical ideas and semiotic theories, Langer proposes her own creative thinking regarding such categories as intuition, abstraction and logic, which lays a solid polynary foundation for her general semiotic theory. Langer defines a symbol from the perspective of function, discriminates signals from symbols on the basis of the different logic scheme, indicates the necessity of symbol-oriented meaning interpretation in terms of the human instinct of symbolic transformation. The classification and distinction of discursive symbols and representational symbols is a leap in her semiotic thinking. The earlier research in mathematic and scientific symbols renders her aware-of the nature of discursive symbols, especially the features and experimental generation of language as the typical discursive symbol. Nevertheless, the logic power of language also determines its limitation in interpreting our inner feelings, which is intended for the representational symbols. Langer’s research in art symbols as the typical representational symbol is the highlight in his entire semiotic theory. Her definition of art and her illumination of the nature of art in terms of the symbolic feeling, expressive form, and its semblance and illusion enlighten us considerably in artistic criticism. Also, Langer realizes that there exists a concrete mental image in artistic symbol projection, and the minding activity is the source of art symbols. Thus, Langer proposes that art is the key to the mystery of human minding and the way to art is the way to the mind. Langer’s establishment of an act theory and act principles is a research in-the genesis of symbols, which traces the construction of the symbolic world, reflects her endeavor and achievements in interdisciplinary and multi-methodology exploration, and affords a supportive epistemological and interpretive framework for her semiotic theory.Langer’s semiotic theory accords us a new way to meaning interpretation and a fresh theory in semiotics, which is based on her holistic, polynary, dynamic, and dialogic research perspective; and which is also the motive for her to interpret the meaning of being from both the rational and the perceptual perspectives. However, there inevitably exist drawbacks in her theory. Her attempt in seeking an ultimate for minding in physiology and biology is kind of fundamentalism and an antinomy and her illusion interpretation can not be supposed to include all of the artistic types. Despite these, Langer’s semiotic theory still has much enlightening significance in present philosophical and semiotic contexts, and her methodological innovative ideas are definitely worth learning, which is also the incentive and pursuit of this paper.更多还原