On The Rene Wellek’s Literary Ontology Concept

Rene Wellek is a famous literature theorist and Comparative Literature scholar inthe West in20thcentury. He has successfully constructed his own unique system ofliterary theory and determined the core position of literary ontology under thebackground of literary criticism.He followed the theory of phenomenology of E. Edmund Husserl and paid moreattention to “ontology”. In the meantime, he integrated theories of Ingarden’sontology of Being and concretization. With the influence of Formalism in Russia andnew criticism in UK&US and some other theories, he emphasized probing intoliterature of text from language analysis, and laid stress on the crucial meaning ofliterature language structure in works.Rene Wellek emphasized that literary ontology is the existence of literature, anEmpirical Object, different from the Intentionality Object of individual experience.At the same time, as a multilayer structure of symbol and meaning, literary ontologyis an inner standard to judge the essence of literature. Moreover, through the“Concretization” of works, literature ontology emerged with obvious historicalsignificance.In the view of Rene Wellek, literature ontology is also closely related to itsessence. So he pointed out that literature ontology has the aesthetic, virtual andimaginative natures which are virtually the speciality of literature ontology. Theessential nature of literature finally is reflected in language symbols and structure. Thestudy on the essence of literature is essentially excavation to the nature of literary.Rene Wellek believed that the literature ontology should be the keynote ofliterature study. The external research is valued because it focuses on the externalfactors of literary works, while the internal research on the essential research of“Ontological structure” of literary works yet it can’t become the main way ofliterature stusy. However, due to external factors are often intertwined with theinternal factors, external research to some extent, helps to study the literature ontology,and promotes literary studies. Both Internal research and external research shouldserve for the study of literature and return to the literature ontology research.Rene Wellek’s theory of literature is distinctive because he placed literary ontology in the core location of his theory, but he overemphasized literary ontologywhich caused bias. To a certain extent, the neglect of the social and cultural value ofliterature, may eventually lead to its isolated and empty, thus weakening its aestheticvalue.