Literature is generally seen as depicting the lives of human subjects through their unique narratives. And that, while its endpoint may be universal, it is typically grounded in the specificity of a human being (or, occasionally, an animal). Philosophy is tasked with providing the foundational cognitive tools to grasp the meaning of experience for the whole. In Hegelian terms, it unfolds the history of the concept. Yet, as George Steiner, Jacques Derrida, and other recent authors have shown, both philosophy – along with its agonistic cousin, religion -evoke literary themes, rhetorics, and struggles. Over the past fifty years, Continental philosophy has found a home for literature within philosophic discourse (and vice-versa). That is the backdrop for this special issue. The topic is suffering, as a concept and an experience. The theme of suffering is broad enough to accommodate many different approaches and texts. And that is hopefully borne out by the multiplicity of themes and topics the authors have chosen

中文翻译：

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苦难，忍耐，理解入门：哲学和文学内的新话语

人们通常认为文学通过其独特的叙事方式描绘了人类的生活。而且，尽管其端点可能是通用的，但它通常是基于人类（或偶尔是动物）的特异性。哲学的任务是提供基本的认知工具，以掌握整个体验的含义。用黑格尔的话来说，它展现了这一概念的历史。然而，正如乔治·施泰纳（George Steiner），雅克·德里达（Jacques Derrida）和其他最近的作者所表明的那样，这两种哲学-连同其表亲，宗教-都唤起了文学主题，修辞学和斗争。在过去的五十年中，大陆哲学在哲学话语中找到了文学之家（反之亦然）。这就是本期特刊的背景。主题是痛苦，是一种概念和经验。苦难的主题足够广泛，可以容纳许多不同的方法和文字。希望可以通过作者选择的多个主题来证明