艾略特（T. S. Eliot）文學理論及其教育藴意

Abstract

本文研究旨在探討英國詩人、劇作家、評論家、及哲學家艾略特(T. S. Eliot)的文學理論在教育中的教師圖像藴義，其中其文學理論包含文學批評及社會批評。全文先從18世紀詩人思想及當時的歷史背景切入，以了解艾略特所乘載的傳統，進而分析艾略特生處的19世紀末至20世紀中的動盪年代所帶給文學世界的衝擊及影響。接著，將艾略特文學批評中對於詩人理想圖像的概念帶進教師圖像，將教育與文學做跨學科的結合，試圖藉由文學理論找出教師圖像的創新樣貌。最後，本研究總結艾略特的文學批評對於教師圖像的啟示作為教師專業發展的新參照，歸結如下四點： 一、 教師即詩人，意指教師得以在其學生心中創造出永恆且深刻的理想，且其學生將帶著此理想繼續流傳至下一代。 二、 教師即詩人，意指教師如同詩人，能使用極簡的文字，帶來極深刻的影響。 三、 教師即詩人，意指教師對於學生的教學就如同詩人之於其讀者的啟發，將在人生每一不同階段產生不同的意義與價值。 四、 教師即詩人，意指教師能開拓學生視野，帶領其至更高境界的世界，正如詩人能帶領讀者領略真理，昇華生命。

This study attempts to trace the image of the teacher reflected in the corpus of T. S. Eliot’s literary criticism. Known primarily for his poetry, Eliot also generated a great number of critical essays discussing not only literature but also education. With the introduction to poets and historical background in the 18th century, this study assesses the impact and influence from Eliot on literature and society in the 20th century. And through the lens of Eliot’s literary criticism, we try to “overlap” the image of ideal poet and the image of teacher by means of comparing the two fields—literature and education—and thereby arrive at a novel image of teacher. The findings of this study are as follows: (a) teacher as poet is able to create poetic images that are timeless and exert a deep influence on students who in turn have their own impact on others; (b) teacher as poet is able to fix a particular emotion in the right and minimum number of words, just as a poet’s poetry does for its readers; (c) teacher as poet performs a lifelong task, which is to help students to increase their understanding at every stage of their maturing; and lastly, (d) teacher as poet is to teach the lesson of breadth of emotional range with his words, to make students see and hear more than they could ever see without his help.