古代两河流域智慧文学研究综述

李宏艳

提 要：在古代两河流域文学的早期研究中，“智慧文学”这个术语被学者们广泛使用，很少有人提出质疑，直到英国学者兰伯特《巴比伦智慧文学》的出版，情况才有了转变。一些学者开始采用“说教文学”以取代“智慧文学”的使用；另有一些学者则完全放弃使用类似的术语，把考察作品的智慧主题作为研究的出发点。笔者认为，无论“智慧文学”还是“说教文学”都不是一种文类，完全放弃使用“智慧文学”术语是不可取的。古代两河流域智慧文学研究大致经历了文献整理出版、分类归纳和多元化研究等3个阶段；国内学术界对古代两河流域智慧文学尚缺乏系统研究，即使在一些著述中有所提及，也多为介绍性文字。

关键词：古代两河流域 智慧文学 说教文学 《吉尔伽美什》史诗

Title:A Review of the

Studies of the Wisdom Literature in Ancient Mesopotamia

Author:Li Hongyan, Ph.D. Candidate,

Department of Western Asia, School of Foreign Languages,

Beijing, Beijing University, 100871, China

Abstract:No one had ever challenged the

validity of the term “wisdom literature” until the

publication of the famous book Babylonian Wisdom Literature

written by W. G. Lambert in the 1960s, in which he wrote:

“‘Wisdom’ is strictly a misnomer as applied to Babylonian

literature”. Since then, some scholars began to adopt

didactic literature instead of wisdom literature. Others

abandoned the use of “Wisdom Literature” and employed

“wisdom themes” instead. The present author suggested that

neither wisdom literature nor didactic literature is

literary genre. The term wisdom literature should be

retained, but we should define it differently. Studies on

wisdom literature in the West underwent three stages, the

first being texts edition, the second classification, and

the third pluralistic studies. In China, books and articles

on wisdom literature from ancient Mesopotamia are primarily

of introductory character.

Key wards:Ancient Mesopotamia Wisdom Literature Didactic Literature

Gilgamesh Epic