중국소설의 위상 변천으로 본 과도기 지식 장(場)의 변화 — 梁啓超의 小說界革命을 중심으로 —

Abstract

In this paper, the transition of the status of Chinese novels and the change of the knowledge field in the modern times from the end of 19th century to the early 20th century, the transition period between the tradition and the modern times, have been investigated based on Liang Qichao’s assertion of the Revolution of the Novel World. How the traditional novels have been evaluated, how modern novels enlightened a people and changed the political society, and what role novels acted in the change of the knowledge field are investigated. Especially I looked into the accumulations of knowledge and changes inside China which were overlooked in the previous researches which focused on the inflow of the Western culture and its impact on Chinese culture. Firstly the evaluation and classification of the traditional novels are considered. Because the transition of the status of novels and the classification method of the catalog of books are tightly coupled with the change of academic ideologies. Later I tried to understand novels as a way of thinking the modern times with a discussion on the changes of modern knowledge society and the consideration of Liang Qichao’s Revolution of the Novel World in the two viewpoints, i.e. the relationship between novels and political society, and novels and the style of writing. Liang Qichao raised novels to the topmost position of literature. He pushed the traditional poetry off the top position and replaced it with popular novels. As the outside impact of Western culture made Chinese novels a tool for enlightening the ignorant people and the medium of propagating the knowledge, the status of novels was elevated to the highest level which novels had never reached in the past. With the limitation that the valuation was not based on the aesthetic appreciation of art but based on the value for politics and society, novel was a discourse of life and death to save the country and a container of knowledge to rebuild the people’s mind and convert the crisis of the national ruin.