教養(manners)這一研究角度為審視埃德蒙·伯克文化觀與英國文學之間的互動提供了無限可能性。自伯克以降,擅長運用教養題材的英國文學家層出不窮,而且教養不僅關乎人們的日常言談舉止和禮貌風度,更關乎國家的治理、社會風氣的養成,以及社會秩序的維持和演進。鑒于伊格爾頓在討論伯克文化觀念內涵時只是捎帶地提及少數英國文學作品,我們有理由從較多的英國文學作品入手,進一步探索它們跟伯克文化思想之間互動的軌跡。

The perspective of manners provides an infinite number of possibilities for the inquiry into the interaction between Edmund Burke’s idea of culture and English literature. Ever since Edmund Burke, there have emerged in an endless stream men of letters who excel in treating the subject of manners, which not only has to do with grace and politeness, with the way in which people talk and behave in everyday life, but also with the maintenance and evolution of the social order, as well as the way the state is governed and social modes are developed. While discussing Edmund Burke’s idea of culture, Terry Eagleton has mentioned only a small number of works of English literature. We therefore need to examine more literary works so as to further explore the trajectory of their interaction with Burke’s thoughts on culture.