經典的百年詮釋－《克萊維王妃》與二十世紀的文學批評

The French classical novel The Princess of Cleves, written in the 17th century by Madame de Lafayette, represents the end of the ＂river novel＂ tradition, and anticipates modern novels with its simple and condensed structure. Arguably, this novel launched the line of French psychoanalytic novels. Ever since its publication, academics have been critiquing this novel in various lights. However, the most heated debates over the novel took place in the 20th century when the classical novel became the subject of theoretical interpretation by European and American academics. The various approaches of reinterpretation included traditional academic, Existentialist, psychoanalytic, formalist-structuralist, feminist and queer, etc. Jauss' idea of ＂horizon d’attente＂ is useful in capturing the interaction between The Princess of Cleves and its readers, which always reflects the changes in the spirit of times, readers' reading habits, publishers' strategies, as well as the significant influence, in the 20th century, of modern and postmodern aesthetics on the acceptance of this classic work. The present paper delineates the aesthetic reception of the novel according to critics' different approaches in the 20th century, and analyzes the formation and consolidation of this classic work in terms of the origins, differences, and evolution of literary theories. The diversity of theories in the 20th century led to profound and divergent views on The Princess of Cleves, as the ＂inherent modernity＂ of this classic work provides ample textual space of maneuvering for various literary criticisms. The Princess of Cleves thus witnesses the history of 20th century theories, and demonstrates the complementary relationship between literary criticism and literary works.