人文主义传统的捍卫者——巴克斯特·米勒访谈录

王祖友

（河南理工大学，焦作，454003）

人文主义传统的捍卫者
——巴克斯特·米勒访谈录

王祖友

（河南理工大学，焦作，454003）

《美国黑人文学与人文主义》（1981）的出版为巴克斯特·米勒赢得国际赞誉，从此他便一直被誉为人文主义传统的领军人物。他（1989）证明了休斯通过体现艺术形式与革命性真实之间的相互影响以扩大我们关于休斯对美国文学贡献的欣赏。他的《黑色批判理论》（1991）旨在重新建立南部非洲裔美国人的批判性思维，以纠正在美国遗留下来的奴隶制和吉姆·克罗歧视，关键要表达的是最先进的智性审美和历史性的反响。他（2008）通过尝试“艺术性的文学批判”，说明文学记忆远甚于文学暗示，而且是神圣的，标志着美国黑人奴隶制的绵延：始于19世纪中叶，经过20世纪中期前的吉姆·克罗种族隔离，再到21世纪早期的体制挑战。他（1998，2002）证明了嵌入在美国政治史上的价值层次。非裔美国文学传统中存在着永远处于动态的自我完美的调用和响应。对于米勒而言，现代主义表明奴隶制存在于近代早期的欧洲和美洲并一直延续到19世纪后半世纪之久。现代主义也包括从1896年至1964年体现在美国文学中的种族隔离，而且更形象地在法律上植入后现代主义。在他那本最重要批判性书籍（2012）中，非裔美国现代主义重新建立了一个新审美形式和政治历史的纽带。

巴克斯特·米勒，非裔美国文学，人文主义

R.Baxter Miller，Professor of English，who holds a Ph.D.from Brown University，is the author or editor of ten books.He has written The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes（1989；paperback 2006），which won the American Book Award for 1991，The Southern Trace of Black Critical Theory（1991），A Literary Criticism of Five Generations of African American Writing：The Artistry of Memory（2008），and On the Ruins of Modernity：New Chicago Renaissance from Wright to Fair（2012）.His other volumes include a collaborative edition titled Black American Literature and Humanism（1981）which won international acclaim；and its subsequent volume，BlackAmericanPoetsbetweenWorlds，1940－1960（1986），an academic bestseller；Critical Insights：Langston Hughes，An Edition，appeared in 2013，and his Reference Guide to Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks（1978），which is superseded today by current texts，remains a standard source.

Miller，who has written scores of chapters，articles，and reviews for professional journals，is a coauthor and co－editor（with General Editor Patricia Liggins Hill，et.al.）of Call and Response：The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition（1998，2002）.A nomination by the editorial board，Miller's short story edition of Langston Hughes in the Collected Works 15（Missouri 2002）is a volume in the centennial series.Miller has written for publication 38 chapters and anthologized articles，29 essays for professional journals，2 invited encyclopedia articles，9 review－essays，and more than thirty reviews.His favorite courses are those on African American autobiography，Intellectual History，the Harlem Renaissance，and Modern African American Poetics.

Wang Zuyou：Your collaborative edition titled Black American Literature and Humanismwon international acclaim.What is the relationship between black American literature and humanism？Has your opinion of the issue changed over the years since its publication？

R.Baxter Miller：Thirty－four years ago at twenty－nine，before BlackAmericanLiteratureandHumanism had even appeared，I postulated that the proletarian compulsion for social liberation and the human spirit that informs aesthetic form are organic，irreducible.What I have learned over those three decades（really can't believe all those years have passed）is that there will be fashionable and disingenuous ways to make us forget the vital connections between art and power.But ideology and race compel the thinker to recognize the identities of both the producer and recipient of texts—intellectual properties as aesthetic forms—that signify who's in power and defining beauty.Whatever the critical school of the transitory moment，the question of aesthetics literally re－turns to whether the test is autotelic or human.Today I am more wisely accepting of intellectual engagements that change the terminologies over the years.Often the words lead us across old battlegrounds，reminding us of the cultural wars that remain，as William Faulkner would say，never really past.I remain a humbled champion of the humanist legacy as articulated by the forties poet Margaret Walker and then empowered by her friend Richard Wright.The communal individual—an oxymoron and a paradox—must verify the startling realization of aesthetic truth.

Wang：James Langston Hughes（1902～1967）was one of the most important American writers of his generation and one of the most versatile，producing poetry，fiction，drama，and autobiography.He was one of the earliest innovators of the then－new literary art form jazz poetry and is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.There are numerous books and papers on Langston Hughes as an American poet，as a social activist，as a novelist，as a playwright，and／or as a columnist.What is innovative in your book The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes？

Miller：During the five decades of Hughes's publishing career，and later the first two afterwards，scholars of all races and creeds had looked as his work as literary artifacts more than imaginary creations.I wanted to account for his extraordinary lyrical quality while still allowing for his inspiration as a cultured historian.Hopefully，the Art and Imagination has helped reveal the wonderful interplay between artistic form and revolutionary authenticity.It was original to demonstrate that Hughes exemplified both.

Wang：The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes won the American Book Award for 1991.What is the citation for its award？

Miller：For Excellence in Literature.

Wang：In China，Langston Hughes is remembered as a revolutionary poet.His artistic values have been downplayed.Will you please enumerate his artistic dimensions？

Miller：Well，we could see Hughes's technical experimentations as at least several complementary streams—first，the apocalyptic and revolutionary potential of symbolic landscape（“Daybreak in Alabama，”1940），then the dramatic－situational revelation of the blues humorist（“Madame and the Fortune Teller”1949）and，finally，the political stream of consciousness and modernist expression（“Madrid”1937 and“Ask Your Mama”1961）.Genuine appreciation for his literary experiments still needs to emerge.

Wang：What does The Southern Trace of Black Critical Theory contribute to the history of black critical theory？

Miller：The Southern Trace of Black Critical Theory seeks to re－establish the Southern roots of African American critical thought，including a compulsion to redress the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow discrimination in the US while articulating an intelligent aesthetic，at once sophisticated，and responsive.

“I am concerned here with the degree that the Southern［United States］temper of historical struggle refuses to be translated into theoretical play，or even into post－structural diction，or be adapted therefore completely into a post－modern construct.One reason is that African American rebellion is so rooted in the Civil Rights Movement of the late nineteen fifties and sixties as to collapse an academic binary between critical theory and Black American freedom”（Artistry of Memory 2008：201－202）.What I really appreciate now about Artistryis that it furnished me with an opportunity to polish my work of a generation before.There's a significant distinction between what we see and reason at thirty－five and later at sixty.In fact，I believe that my three most recent books（Artistry of Memory，2008；Ruins of Modernity，2012，and Langston Hughes：Critical Insights，2013），an edition，extend my wisest realizations，if they are at all wise.Certainly，over the years I have wanted to express profundity without pedantry or aloofness；I have sought fluency with broad reader accessibility.And，most of all，I have desired to write a critical record of these last forty years for posterity.I am implying the trace of cultured memory.And I pray that humility comes with time.

Wang：What is the distinction between what we see and reason at thirty－five and later at sixty？Why is there such distinction？

Miller：Well，the difference involves the complementary dimensions of generations，critical method，and memory.In the first instance，the citizen lives across three decades，but it's only in the final one that he realizes that he has been thinking all that time—not only about the decisive history of events he has lived or those he has encountered but about the invigorating process of thought itself.Then，too，the critic who is born at a closing era of literary history，then into a more fashionably formalistic era（actually the Marxists once created formalismas a pejorative term）—the once New Criticism of the fifties to the early seventies—comes to appreciate why even explication de texte becomes quite limited.As in the case of the anthropomorphized satellite in StarTrek，the movie，there emerges a profound desire for something more human.And this something directs us toward the deeper explanations of philosophy and religion.So it all eventually becomes a matter of critical theory—of a revealed self and history.When the critic stands at a historic moment near the end of a cycle，we ponder exactly what it is along other points on the turn that has determined the course.Once，the great African American writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote that time makes all things even；indeed，often time makes things exceedingly clear.The lasting importance of memory is not only that it encapsulates generations but that it points to an emerging self that advances across what would have been temporal walls.We hope，in some modest way，to have provided a new turn of astute enlightenment.

Wang：What are the special“aesthetic struggles”that African Americans who wrote in the American South must deal with？Are those particular struggles fundamentally different from those African American artists who live and create works in such places as California，the Mid－West，and New York？

Miller：At lunch one day，an outstanding biologist told me that the most adaptive possibilities of a species to change usually exist at the locus of origin.Since I propose the Southern United States as the genesis point of African American culture，it is especially the deep American South that the practice of a pure aesthetic would be most imperiled.In fact such an autotelic method would actually become irresponsible.

The imaginary wonder of black Mississippi writers such as Richard Wright and Margaret Walker is that they transformed racial history into the superbly crafted figures of an imaginary flower（Wright）or a patchwork quilt（Walker）.The shared greatness of the two literary philosophers derives from their subsuming history into lasting beauty rather than being consumed by this same history.Southern narrative reminds us，then，that an often lyrical aesthetic has a price，the disclaimer of American innocence.The uniqueness of Southern suffering—when set against the historical refinement of New York in the east or the technological rawness of Chicago in the Midwest—suggests an inevitable reckoning for the nation.After all，isn't this what Herman Melville of New York foresaw，and Toni Morrison of Lorraine，Ohio confirmed？As is often true with race and gender，it is unwise to define literary properties solely in terms of region.Almost always，there will be exceptions to the unique features claimed.But the great African American writing of the South defines a moral landscape of hidden crime that both the eastern and mid－western nation would absolve.

Wang：The word memory originates in the Latin memor meaning mindful or remembering.In its simplest sense memory means the ability to remember，recollect，recall，or revive a mental impression of a past experience.In A Literary Criticism of Five Generations of African American Writing：TheArtistry of Memory，are the realm of memory and the act of remembrance unique creative expressions of African American writers'experiences in life；that is to say，are memories created from the sum of their thoughts，ideas，moods，feelings，and emotions as perceived in the midst of the situations and circumstances that surround the past generations？What is unique about African American artistry of memory？

Miller：In the most literal and historical sense，memory means a most objective recounting of an event or occurrence，for instance，my integration of Rocky Mount Senior High School（NC），as one of eight blacks out of a thousand students in 1963.Literary memory，however，is far more suggestive and probably even sacred，signifying a continuum，agreater meta－narrative.Memory therefore points to an advance from slavery in the mid nineteenth century，through Jim Crow racial desegregation during the first－half of the twentieth，to the more refined challenges of the early twenty－first century now.Within a philosophical and theoretical context，memory retraces the historical roots of a scholar's aesthetic and ideological preference.There derives a historical profundity from reading Langston Hughes's poetry as an oeuvre in spiraled time.Hughes asks，“Have we ever really grasped anything？”In fact，James Baldwin once wrote that only poets have ever learned anything from history.

Wang：Will you please explicate the concept of“call and response”in Call and Response：The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition？

Miller：The trope of call and response comes primarily out of the religious structure of the traditional African American church service in which a minister's plea for his congregation's acceptance results in his spiritual empowerment by the audience.Though the aesthetic structure of call and response can be dialed back secondarilyto mean the contesting of ideological beliefs，the communion indicates thirdly a stylistic distinction between folk and（elite）high art.Fourthly，the folk device of call and response indicates sequential decades within African American writing.During the early years of the twentieth century，Booker T.Washington's Up from Slavery and W.E.B.Du Boise's Souls of Black Folks differed on strategies for racial uplift in America.While Washington argued for a submissive appeal to the Southern white majority，including the ownership of personal property，Du Bois proposed a Civil Rights program that was based on African American enfranchisement.Though the one plan emphasized social function，the other sought to realize human dignity as well.Actually，both designs would have resulted，at least theoretically，in socio－economic liberation.Which voice was African American？

Well，both were.During the years of 1830 to 1850，African American spirituals had counterbalanced the folk poems about an escape from slavery.？By the time of the Harlem or New Negro Renaissance of the 1920s，the black philosopher Alain Locke tried to displace the harsh realities of the abolitionist period（1870s～1890s）with a polished lyricism that transcended history.And just as Locke's own more refined era（actually there were still Black Nationalist and expatriate threads）had sought to soften the confrontational tone of abolitionism，the proletarian resistance to polite aesthetics during the thirties became a corrective for the more formal“chants”of Harlem Renaissance literature.In fact，soon the forties would offer lyric relief for the earlier social realism of the thirties.In turn，the schizophrenia of the red scare，the Communist threat of the fifties，in stark contrast to the rock and roll by the white Elvis Presley，only set the tone for political rebellion by the American Left during the sixties.Over the next half century，the contrapuntal music would repeat itself in accord with new terminologies and times.Hence，shifting hierarchies of value are embedded within American political history.African American literary tradition exists in a perpetual state of dynamic self－perfection—call and response.

Wang：On the Ruins of Modernity：New Chicago Renaissance from Wright to Fair is said to be your most important critical book.What do you mean by“the ruins of modernity”？Is modernity an essential element in the study of African American literature in general，and New Chicago Renaissance in particular？

Miller：Modernity presumes that our consciousness of the world has suddenly become old.Within my critical world，modernity represents the technological advances of the late 19th century（the transatlantic cable，iron horse，and steam engine）as well as the early transistors and solid state advances across the 20th century.Modernity suggests the centuries－long refinement of chattel slavery that had persisted in the Western world from the early modern period in Europe and the Americas to the last half of the 19th century.Then，too，modernity expresses the national practice of racial segregation in the United States literally from1896 to 1964，and，more figuratively—de jure—well into present.Though modernity may well mean forces that interact with literary texts and shape them，modernismconveys a sense of the literary and artistic devices that derive from these social forces.Today Jean Toomer，the experimental author of Cane is well－known for the brilliant turns in stream－of－consciousness in which the narrator's rapid thought leaps several levels within mid－sentence.Later，Robert Hayden and Gwendolyn Brooks，possibly the two greatest African American modernist poets of the forties（Margaret Walker is unique），infused western poetics with a transformative recognition of the interplay between race and historical suffering.The result was to restore a moral accountability that traditional modernism had forbidden.While such modernism had banished the social world as，African American modernism recovered an exciting bond between aesthetic form and political history.

In many ways，Chicago became a defining site of African American modernism.Indeed，by the late 1930s，the pioneering author Richard Wright began to question whether modernist forms，like contemporary laws，might ever articulate the mutant voices of the metaphysical outsiders—the urban poor—who often exist beyond capitalist theories.African American modernism reveals the hidden hierarchies of power within modernity and the ideological prescriptions inherent within modernist form.Hence，Chicago is a locus of awareness.A coherent legacy in African American modernism（individual talent within cultured tradition）emerges in Chicago between 1935 and 1972，revolutionizing the concept of American literary renaissance.

Wang：You have won numerous awards and recognition.Will you please share with me some of your response and reflection？

Miller：Often I have told my classes over the years that we do not live our lives for popular acclaim or approval，but strive to do what's right.This is the reason I have so much respect for the eminent scholars Jerry Ward and Maryemma Graham who inspire me.Some time ago，during a rare occasion in which I actually taught during a summer，it was wonderful to instruct African Americans and Hispanics，along with a few disadvantaged whites，in the McNair program.The study plan，of course，is named for Ronald McNair（my first name is also Ronald）the black astronaut who perished in the Challenger Shuttle fireball in1986.In a class evaluation，an astute black male wrote that I had revealed the personal delight of what it means for an African American scholar to succeed on his own cultural terms.My own rise through the ranks，he suggested，did not mean assimilating into someone else's idiom.Well，I hope he's right.

Despite the receipt of the American Book Award and later the Albert Christ－Janer Award，for distinguished achievements in the arts and humanities，I have still sacrificed some self－promotion，if not advancement，for the greater good.Doing my duty merits no special favor；after all，people have died for less.After all，how much recognition does the individual really need？Probably more than I want to admit.There are moments of doubt in which neither traditionalists，nor even my own people，may seem to appreciate what I hope for.And yet，the record suggests there have been honors enough.A professor's greatest award derives from the student lives he has touched and the careers he has nurtured.There are those precious moments of reflection in which the old man，a teacher's son now of nearly sixty－five，remembers black bullies vanquished by him on the streets of Rocky Mount，NC during the late fifties.As they say，I decked the guys.My mother，who never knew about the fights，would have called the scenes deplorable.In those days，I never said what I thought or later remembered during the many post－doctoral years：“So，you ripped my coat with a knife behind my back，or taunted me，because you detested the class inequities；I didn't create them and so I stopped you with a hand.My fury startled you.”Years later，younger boys，who had grown into toothless men by then（deprived of good dentistry），confessed gleefully，“you were mean.”“［I was.］If I ever achieve any modicum of influence or power，”I promised myself silently then，“I will become your voice and subsume your rage.I will speak for you in the corridors of power.I will write for you.And in never betraying you，I will never have betrayed myself.”Authenticity is the greatest honor.

This final draft is crisper and clearer；I think you'll like it.The excellent questions challenged me to explain the most intimate workings of my critical method.In the future，anyone who wants to understand my work as part of a personal coherent design will certainly have to read your interview.

R.Baxter Miller's Major Works（in chronological order）：

1978.Reference Guide to Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.Boston：G.K.Hall.

1981.Black American Literature and Humanism.Lexington：University Press of Kentucky.

1986.Black American Poets Between Worlds.Knoxville：University of Tennessee Press.

1989.The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes.Lexington：University Press of Kentucky.

1991.The Southern Trace of Black Critical Theory.New Orleans：Xavier Review Press.

（co－ed.with Hill，P.L.）.1998.Call and Response：The Riverside Anthology of African American Literary Tradition.Boston：Houghton.（co－ed.）.2002.Langston Hughes：The Short Stories.Columbia：University of Missouri Press.

2008.A Literary Criticism of Five Generations of African American Writing：The Artistry of Memory.Lewiston：Edwin Mellen.

2012.On the Ruins of Modernity：New Chicago Renaissance from Wright to Fair.Champaign：Common Ground.

2013.Langston Hughes：Critical Insights.Ipswich：Salem Press.

（责任编辑 林玉珍）

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王祖友，文学博士，河南理工大学教授。主要研究方向为美国文学和西方文论研究。电子邮箱：wiziyi＠gmail.com