范炳煇 Fuoco B. Fann "读书人知识人 ── 千古文人名士梦的终结"

2020 年春天，我收到著名人类学家保罗 · 拉比诺 (Paul Rabinow 1944-2021) 新作、也是绝笔《忽视的殊荣: 重审学术作为职业生涯》。他开篇写到，“这本书是无声的 ‘心灵呐喊’ [Cri de Coeur]，以精神为中介，讲述、赞叹、感慨一段逝去的盎然时光。那时教授和学生携手创新、尝试、品味学术生涯; 共同鞭策、工作进取，体现了一个学术实践的新探索”。拉比诺在传统纵向研究的同时，试图跨学科横向拓展，称之为 “纵列熔炉” (a series of crucibles)。虽然伯克利大学是一个学术 “特权场所”，但拉比诺 ‘合纵连横’ 的探索，“最终还是被人类学系其他成员的行为侵蚀而终止”。

Fuoco B. Fann: A Synopsis of the Unfinished Project with Paul Rabinow January 18, 2021

In the spring of 2020, the late Paul Rabinow invited me to his home. Paul’s backyard garden was quiet and peaceful with fresh breeze under the clear blue sky in Berkeley. We had a heart-to-heart and knee-to-knee talk and decided to work together. However, things are impermanent and unpredictable. This outstanding thinker of our time, Paul the Elder (as Rabinow was called by his close friends) passed away unexpectedly in April 2021. For those who still care about “intellectual life” and “academic life” today, it is a profound and irreparable loss. I would like to offer my deepest condolences with this synopsis: the world has lost a wise man with a free mind and a good teacher and friend.

Fuoco B. Fann: Buddhism and Confucianism in Sudden Approach

A Cunning Cultural Paradigm

Many scholars would agree that the sudden and gradual paradigm has caused as much ink to flow as it deserves. It is well known that the rise of Chan orthodoxy was conducive to the success of the “sudden” teaching. It calls forth the most famous argument between the “Northern” and “Southern” factions of Chinese Buddhism in the eighth century that reflected upon the supposed differences between the two schemes of meditative paths to the attainment of awakening; while the Northern school describes a “gradual” mental cultivation, the Southern school emphasizes a “sudden” spiritual insight. The complex theme of the sudden-gradual distinction, throughout Chinese culture and literature, seems to cover a bewildering succession of issues.

Fuoco B. Fann 范炳煇 “西说中国：域外汉学哲学思想取向综述”

闻一多留学美国期间，难融外乡习俗，深感 “蛰居异域，何殊谪戍”。1925 年回国后，写了那首名诗《一句话》: “有一句话说出就是祸，有一句话能点得着火”，这句 “五千年没有说破” 的话，就是 “咱们的中国”，“这话教我今天怎样说?” 闻一多的这句话，那时不好说， 现在还是不好说。1912 年以前，“咱们” 是 “大清” 国，再往前是 “大明” 国、甚至是 “大元” 国、“大宋” 国、“大唐” 国、“大汉” 国，从未自称大 “中国”。

Fuoco B. Fann 范炳煇 "现代后的现代：21世纪艺术侧影"

20 世纪三十年代末，本雅明 (Walter Benjamin 1892-1940) 首次指出二十世纪的再生产方式，消解了二十世纪的生产方式，改变了生产的目的性，生产者和产品地位也由此颠倒。而依附于再生产方式的机械复制技术，同样导致了艺术家和艺术品地位颠倒，艺术品的 “本真” (authenticity) 受到胁迫，艺术品的 “灵韵” (aura) 凋萎:

Fuoco B. Fann 范炳煇 "我的外祖朱幼华：七十年代轶事“

1974 年春天，罗兰 · 巴特 (Roland Barthes 1915-1980) 和四位法国左翼知识分子，经过组织设定访问了中国。在为期三周的旅行中，巴特写了满满三本日记，回到法国却拒绝发表，随后写了一篇文章，名为 “这就是中国吗”? 文章立刻招来各方面批评，法国文化界左翼右翼都不高兴。2009 年，读者盼望已久的巴特日记首次发表，人们大失所望，其中除了一丝不苟记录室内室外温差、旅行吃食茶水、人物面貌，参与各种讨论和无休止的演讲，以及农民讲述乡下人又、田地、产量、农机具等流水账，巴特表达了一个令人迷惑的思路，他说如果日记发表了，不过是另一个安东尼奥尼的作品而已。面对中国，巴特感到束手无策，无论以所谓 “内在” 话语或 “外在” 话语、“赞扬” 或 “批 评” 中国，结果一样: 行不通。都只是一个简短、无头绪的 “现象学” 描述而已。