本論文試圖重新思考外文學門（尤以英美文學為主）在台灣的知識狀況，以複雜化一般對「外文系」的平面認識：一方面被簡化成訓練英語的工具化科系，另一方面則常被批評為西方文化與文學的代理人。為了歷史化並問題化「外文系」，本論文以發生於一九六六至一九七五年間，由朱立民教授與顏元叔教授主導之台大外文系「朱顏改」為分析對象，不只因為「朱顏改」是當今外文系之知識形構基礎，更因其顯影出外文系內部如何隨著客觀政治條件而調整自身。一九六Ｏ年代，因著美國政治文化勢力於台灣之佈局，「朱顏改」顯示了台大外文系如何以美國大學英文系作為自身的（唯一）參照對象；至一九七Ｏ年代初期，當中華民國政府國際地位備受威脅，「朱顏改」隨之（偶然地）改變策略，在外文系課程中加重中國古典文學比例，遂促成比較文學研究在台灣的興起。本論文以朱立民教授對比較文學研究在台灣之描述：「我們只有中國與西方」，進一步指出「中國 vs. 西方」之二元對立結構，作用於、且架構了外文系的知識生產。在此結構中，「我們卅中國」只看見「我們」以及值得參照之對象：「西方」；於是，無論是一九六Ｏ年代仿效美國大學英文系，或一九七Ｏ年代重視中國傳統文化與文學，皆落入此同一結構中。換句話說，因著客觀條件轉變，儘管「朱顏改」前期看似「崇洋媚外」而後期看似「愛國心切」，實則於「中國 vs. 西方」之結構中辯證地合而為一。為脈絡化此「中西對立」結構，本論文以兩個歷史時刻──一九九Ｏ年代台灣外文系當時的知識生產與一九四Ｏ年代中國的新文學概念──作為切入點，期能以歷史化作為方法，指出外文系知識狀況由來已久的問題，更提示中西二元對立結構如何系統地構築了當今知識狀況，致使「我們」的參照對象總是指向「西方」以便向之學習並與之抗衡。最後，本論文以聞一多於一九四Ｏ年代企圖超越「中西對立」的論述為思想資源，試圖再啟動重新思考──甚或重構──外文系與文學研究的契機與空間。This thesis reconsiders the knowledge condition of the discipline of foreign literature studies in Taiwan, and complicates the simplified understandings of waiwenxi as either an instrumental department or an agency of western literature and culture. It tries to historicize and problematize waiwenxi by analyzing Chu-Yen Reform, a series of institutional changes conducted by Prof. Chu Limin and Prof. Yen Yuan-shu in National Taiwan University from 1966 to 1975. Chu-Yen Reform is contextualized with the political conditions in Taiwan at that specific juncture. In the 1960s Taiwan, the American politico-cultural forces was epitomized in the Reform, as NTU waiwenxi apparently emulated the US English department; afterwards, in the early 1970s when the international status of the Republic of China was in jeopardy, the Reform (contingently) adjusted its agenda to underscore Chinese literary classics and thus facilitated the rise of comparative literature studies. By elaborating on Chu Limin’s description of such studies, “We had only China and the West,” this thesis argues that the structure of “China versus the west” has effected and framed the knowledge production of waiwenxi. Therefore, the emulation of the US English department in the 1960s and the emphasis on Chinese traditional culture and literature in the 1970s were both structured by the premise “China versus the west,” within which “our” point of reference is fixed to the comparable model, the west. Therefore, the pursuit of the west (the United States of America) in the first half of Chu-Yen Reform and the nationalist feelings for the Chinese in the latter half were dialectically combined into one. To contextualize this structure of “China versus the west” that has constituted the enduring problematics within waiwenxi, this thesis invokes two historical moments—the 1990s Taiwan and the 1940s China—to form a genealogical narrative. It indicates that this structure has framed the knowledge condition of our time, since “our” reference point has been systematically directed to the west in order to learn from it and surpass it. Finally, taking Wen Yiduo’s 1940s discourse that endeavored to overcome the opposition of China and the west as a thinking resource, this thesis hopes to initiate the possibility to reconsider and re-configure waiwenxi as well as literature and literature studies in Taiwan.
