Wellek’s View Of Literary History Studies

Rene Wellek was born in Vienna and graduated from Charles University, Prague. He entered the United States after World War II and then worked in the University of Iowa, later in Yale University. He engaged himself in teaching and research literature. Considered as an internationally renowned literary theorist, he is the founder of the study of comparative literature in the United States, and one of the most influential Western literary theorists in China.This thesis tries to explain the theoretical value and limitations of Wellek’s perspective on the literature history in order to achieve the development of Chinese contemporary literature and art history as well as to offer meaningful inspiration and reference to contemporary literary writing in China.The first part analyzes the basic category of Wellek’s perspective on the literature history. Wellek advocated to establish a new theory of less externalization of literary history, demanded a dual unity of literature History and Literature history, and emphasizes historical consciousness in the study of literary history. Wellek’s literary theory defined both the complementarity between the three literary criticism and literary history of the close relationship and mutual distinction, and demanded that literary historians must understand the requirements of literary criticism and literary theory, and a literary historian must also be a literary critic. In the study of literary history, Wellek proposed a "Perspectivism" literature research method to examine the structural works, symbols, values in three different dimensions. To describe the changes of structures of literature works and the development history of the literature form are literature history’s two specific tasks. Wellek’s opposed the chronological history of literature and political staging and advocated to develop literary staging purely according to standard literature.The second part explains key concepts of Wellek’s literature history. Wellek preferred to let the name of literary history play an important role in literary study. Wellek’s main investigation included such representative periods as the baroque, classicism, romanticism, realism, symbolism. He explained and illustrated them in the historical development of the situation change and development.The third part traces sources of Wellek’s literature history theory. Wellek’s view of literary history is an important part of his literary theory. The formation of Wellek’s literature theories is affected by a variety of literary theories and cultural theory genre of literary ideas. So, Wellek’s view of literary history is roughly a product of phenomenological concept of literature literary theory, structural linguistics, and Anglo-American new criticism.The fourth part throws thoughts on Wellek’s literature history. Through a detailed analysis of Wellek’s literature history, this thesis sums up the value and drawbacks of the Wellek’s literary history. In the analysis of the Chinese mainland literary history writing in specific circumstances, to discover and learn beneficial part of Wellek’s literature history is of great importance for the construction and improvement of China’s literary history and the writing of theory of literary history.