美學與現代性：Mary Wollstonecraft《寫自瑞典、挪威、與丹麥的書信》

Abstract

本論文探究Mary Wollstonecraft如何使用「崇高」(the sublime) 與「美」(the beautiful) 此兩種美學詞彙，並分析其社會指涉及意涵，特別強調現代性 (modernity) 誕生於十八世紀歐洲的歷史脈絡，以及於此之際美學 (aesthetics) 作為一種現代論述的發展。本論文主要所處理的文本是《寫自瑞典、挪威、與丹麥的書信》，認為「崇高」代表的是個人化的力量，而「美」所代表的則是整合化的力量。本論文同時也分析比較Wollstonecraft與Edmund Burke兩者對於相同美學詞彙之不同運用，尤其是此間差異與兩人不同之社會政治觀念的關係。本論文另外關注《寫自瑞典、挪威、與丹麥的書信》文本中焦慮不安、遲疑不決的氛圍，最後認定其在情感上的濃度和修辭上的遲疑，乃是現代個體 (modern individual) 在面對一個理性化的現代世界時，為了在情感和感知上自我調節而產生。

Through foregrounding the emergence of modernity in the eighteenth century as well as the rise of aesthetics as a specifically modern form of discourse, this thesis aims to elucidate the social significance of Mary Wollstonecraft's use of the aesthetic terms 'the sublime' and 'the beautiful' in her _Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark_ (_Letters_). It argues that the sublime aesthetic represents a propensity to individuation, while the beautiful aesthetic represents a propensity to integration. It further examines the differentiation between Wollstonecraft and Edmund Burke's use of the same aesthetic terms, especially with regard to the two writers' respective socio-political visions. Lastly, it addresses the circuitous and equivocal use of aesthetic language in _Letters_, taking the text's emotional intensity and rhetorical hesitancy as exempla of a modern individual’s struggle towards self-attunement in the face of a rationalized modernity.