马修·阿诺德在《当前文学批评的功能》中主张文学批评家要了解世界上的知识精粹和思想精华;从事文学批评要恪守不计个人利害的原则;还需具备世界主义的眼光,从他国文学批评作品中汲取养分。这些理念成为他文化理论的雏形并在名作《文化与无政府状态》一书中得到进一步完善,正确理解这种内在关联有助于更为全面地洞悉阿诺德的文化理论。 Matthew Arnold, in “The Function of Current Literary Criticism,” advocates that literary critics want to know the essence of the world’s knowledge and ideology; that literary criticism must abide by the principle of excluding personal unfavorable interests; and that it must also possess cosmopolitanism and learn from other countries’ literature Criticize the work to draw nutrients. These ideas become the embryonic form of his theory of culture and are further refined in the book “Culture and Anarchy”. A correct understanding of this intrinsic relationship helps to fully understand Arnold’s cultural theory.