希利斯·米勒是世界知名的美國文學批評家和理論家,是改革開放以來最早來到中國講學并且對中國人文學界產生重大影響的西方學者之一。他先后訪問中國達十五次之多,在中國高校和研究機構陸續作了三十多場講座。近幾年,他從這些講座中精選了十五篇,修訂整理匯編成一部新書:《天真的海外來客——米勒中國演講集》。新書既有宏觀的視野,又有微觀的分析,多元的視角涉及英語文學、比較文學、世界文學、文學理論和文化研究等領域,探討了全球化、新興技術、媒體對文學和理論的沖擊和影響,以及人文學科如何應對這些沖擊的策略,其中多篇與中國學界直接相關。因此,較為詳細地介紹該書各章的內容,對全書的特點和價值進行述評,并嘗試性地對閱讀該書提出建議和推介,可以系統深入地理解米勒教授的學術思想,獲得全球化語境下文藝理論和文學研究的最新動態。

J. Hillis Miller, a world-renowned American literary critic and theorist, is one of the earliest Western intellectuals who came to lecture after China started its Openness and Reform and exerted significant influence on Chinese scholars of humanities. He has visited China fifteen times and given over 30 lectures in Chinese institutions of higher learning. Recently, he selected fifteen lectures, revised them, and edited them into a book, An Innocent Abroad: Lectures in China. With a macrocosmic vision, microcosmic analyses, and multiple perspectives, it covers a wide range of fields including English literature, comparative literature, world literature, literary theory and cultural studies, explores the influence of globalization, new technologies, and media upon literature and theory, and discusses strategies to cope with the impact of technology. Quite a few chapters are directly related to Chinese academia. This article intends to offer a detailed introduction of the book, conduct a critical review of its distinct features and values, and recommend ways of reading it for the public, with the hope to gain a systematic understanding of Miller’s intellectual thought and an up-to-date knowledge of the most recent developments in literary theory and criticism.