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BobMankoff_2013S-_一个纽约人漫画解剖_
I'm going to be talking about designing humor , which is sort of an interesting thing, but it goes to some of the discussions about constraints , and how in certain contexts , humor is right, and in other contexts it's wrong. 今天我们来聊聊如何营造幽默感 这个话题挺有趣的,但是有的时候 营造幽默感需要考虑环境的限制和约束 在一些场合下,幽默是合适的; 而在另一些场合,幽默就不大妥当。
humor:n.幽默;心情;情绪;脾气;v.迎合;迁就; constraints:n.[数]约束;限制;约束条件(constraint的复数形式); contexts:n.环境,[计]上下文(context复数);
Now, I'm from New York, so it's 100 percent satisfaction here. 我来自纽约, 所以我是百分之百能够接受的。
satisfaction:n.满意,满足;赔偿;乐事;赎罪;
Actually, that's ridiculous , because when it comes to humor, 75 percent is really absolutely the best you can hope for. 这实际上挺荒谬的,因为如果说到幽默感, 75%的满意度其实就是最好的期望值了。
ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
Nobody is ever satisfied 100 percent with humor except this woman. 没人会对一幅幽默百分之百地满意。 除了这位女士
satisfied:adj.满意的:满足的:v.使满意:使满足;(satisfy的过去分词和过去式)
(Video) Woman: (Laughs) （录像）女士:（大笑）
Bob Mankoff: That's my first wife. 鲍勃?曼克夫:她是我的第一位妻子。
(Laughter) （笑声）
That part of the relationship went fine. 在幽默感这方面我们很和谐。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now let's look at this cartoon. 来,现在让我们看看这幅漫画。
One of the things I'm pointing out is that cartoons appear within the context of The New Yorker magazine, that lovely Caslon type, and it seems like a fairly benign cartoon within this context. 我想要提醒一点 漫画一般都是印在《纽约客》杂志的 文字内容旁边的。 嵌在用好看的卡斯隆字体印刷的文章中 让人感觉漫画和文章内容是相关的。
fairly:adv.相当地;公平地;简直; benign:adj.良性的;和蔼的,亲切的;吉利的;
It's making a little bit fun of getting older, and, you know, people might like it. 这个漫画小小的幽默了一把变老的人, 你知道,人们也许会觉得这漫画有趣。
But like I said, you cannot satisfy everyone. 但是就像我说的,你永远不可能让所有人满意
satisfy:vt.满足(要求,需要等):使满意:使确信:
You couldn't satisfy this guy. 比如说这位老兄的评论,
'"Another joke on old white males. Ha ha. The wit . “关于白人老头的另一则笑话。哈哈,有意思。
wit:n.智力;风趣;才思;头脑;v.(wist)[古语]知道;
It's nice, I'm sure to be young and rude, but some day you'll be old, unless you drop dead as I wish." 不错的漫画。我知道年少轻狂没什么, 可有一天你也会变老的,除非你如我所愿地英年早逝。
(Laughter) （笑声）
The New Yorker is rather a sensitive environment, very easy for people to get their nose out of joint . 《纽约客》面向的读者圈子是相对敏感的, 很容易不小心就惹到谁。
sensitive:adj.敏感的;感觉的;易受影响的;n.敏感的人;有灵异能力的人; nose out of joint:生气;
And one of the things that you realize is it's an unusual environment. 你会体会到 这是一个特殊的环境。
Here I'm one person talking to you. 现在是我一个人给你们大家演讲。
You're all collective . You all hear each other laugh and know each other laugh. 你们聚集在一起, 能听到其他人的笑声,大家都在笑。
collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词;
In The New Yorker, it goes out to a wide audience, and when you actually look at that, and nobody knows what anybody else is laughing at, and when you look at that the subjectivity involved in humor is really interesting. 但《纽约客》有着广阔的受众群体 当人们观赏漫画的时候, 没人知道其他人的笑点是什么, 你在观赏漫画时,融在幽默中的那种主观性 是非常有意思的。
subjectivity:n.主观性,主观; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
Let's look at this cartoon. 比如这幅漫画,
'" Discouraging data on the antidepressant ." ”抗抑郁药的悲观结果“
Discouraging:adj.使人沮丧的;阻止的;v.使灰心;阻止;劝阻;(discourage的现在分词) antidepressant:n.抗抑郁剂;adj.抗抑郁的(等于antidepressive);
(Laughter) （笑声）
Indeed, it is discouraging. 确实,看起来太悲观了。
Now, you would think, well, look, most of you laughed at that. 现在你会想,好呀,看, 现场大多数人都在看着漫画笑呢。
Right? You thought it was funny. 对吧,你觉得这个确实挺好笑的。
In general , that seems like a funny cartoon, but let's look what online survey I did. 总的来说,这是一幅搞笑的漫画。 但是我们看看我做的网络问卷调查,
In general:总之,通常;一般而言; survey:n.调查;测量;审视;纵览;vt.调查;勘测;俯瞰;vi.测量土地;
Generally , about 85 percent of the people liked it. 总的来说有85％的人喜欢这则漫画。
Generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地;
A hundred and nine voted it a 10, the highest. Ten voted it one. 有109人给它打了最高分,十分。也有10个人打了一分。
But look at the individual responses . 让我们看看一些具体的回复吧！
individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的; responses:n.回答,答复;反应;响应;(response的复数)
'"I like animals!!!!!" Look how much they like them. ”我爱死动物了！！！！！！“你们看他多爱动物啊。
(Laughter) （笑声）
'"I don't want to hurt them. That doesn't seem very funny to me." ”我不想伤害小动物。对我来说这漫画一点都不好笑。“
This person rated it a two. 这人给它打了2分。
'"I don't like to see animals suffer -- even in cartoons." ”就算是在漫画里我也不想看到动物们受折磨“。“
To people like this, I point out we use anesthetic ink. 对于这些人,我想说:”我们用的是麻醉墨水,好吗？“
anesthetic:adj.麻醉的;感觉缺失的;n.麻醉剂,麻药;
Other people thought it was funny. 其他人则认为这幅漫画很有趣
That actually is the true nature of the distribution of humor when you don't have the contagion of humor. 其实这些都是在传播幽默是遇到的正常反应。 有的时候你就是抓不住笑点在哪儿。
distribution:n.分布;分配;分发;分销; contagion:n.传染病;蔓延;触染;
Humor is a type of entertainment. 幽默也是一种娱乐。
All entertainment contains a little frisson of danger, something that might happen wrong, and yet we like it when there's protection. 所有娱乐产品都有些小危险小刺激, 一些有可能搞砸搞错的东西。 当然了我们也不希望冒太大的危险。
frisson:n.(法)颤抖;战栗;
That's what a zoo is. It's danger. The tiger is there. 就像一个动物园,动物园很危险,因为老虎在那儿。
The bars protect us. That's sort of fun, right? 铁笼子保护了我们,所以动物园是个好玩儿的地方,对吧？
That's a bad zoo. 这是个不好玩的动物园。
(Laughter) （笑声）
It's a very politically correct zoo, but it's a bad zoo. 这绝对是个政治上完全正确的动物园,但是它太不好玩了。
politically correct:adj.政治上正确的(指言行上避免有歧视之嫌);
But this is a worse one. 这是个更糟糕的动物园。
(Laughter) （笑声）
So in dealing with humor in the context of The New Yorker, you have to see, where is that tiger going to be? 所以说到《纽约客》里的幽默漫画, 你需要知道:老虎会在哪里出现？
Where is the danger going to exist? 哪里会出危险？
How are you going to manage it? 你该如何应付？
My job is to look at 1,000 cartoons a week. 我的工作是每周浏览1000则漫画。
But The New Yorker only can take 16 or 17 cartoons, and we have 1,000 cartoons. 其中只有16到17幅会在《纽约客》发表。 有1000幅漫画呀！
Of course, many, many cartoons must be rejected . 当然,就会有很多漫画被退稿。
rejected:adj.被拒的;不合格的;v.拒绝,驳回;(reject的过去式和过去分词)
Now, we could fit more cartoons in the magazine if we removed the articles. 如果我们想要杂志里有更多漫画的话, 我们就得删去一些文章咯。
(Laughter) （笑声）
But I feel that would be a huge loss, one I could live with, but still huge. 但是这样做的话损失就太大了。 虽然我个人能接受,代价还是太大。
Cartoonists come in through the magazine every week. 每周都有漫画家为《纽约客》工作。
Cartoonists:n.漫画家;
The average cartoonist who stays with the magazine does 10 or 15 ideas every week. 这些留在杂志社里的漫画家 平均一周要有10到15个点子。
But they mostly are going to be rejected. 但是绝大多数的点子都会被毙掉。
That's the nature of any creative activity. 这在创意活动中的正常现象。
creative:adj.创造性的;
Many of them fade away . Some of them stay. 他们中有许多成了匆匆过客。但也有人幸存下来。
fade away:逐渐消失;
Matt Diffee is one of them. 马特·迪菲就是其中一位。
Here's one of his cartoons. 这是他的一则漫画。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Drew Dernavich. "Accounting night at the improv ." 德鲁·德纳维奇。“会计之夜的即兴表演”。
improv:n.即兴表演;adj.即兴的(等于impro);
'"Now is the part of the show when we ask the audience to shout out some random numbers." “现在,这是表演的一部分。我们让 观众随便喊出一些数字来。”
random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
Paul Noth. "He's all right. I just wish he were a little more pro-Israel." 保罗·诺斯。 “他没事,我只是希望他能更亲以色列一些。”
(Laughter) (笑声）
Now I know all about rejection , because when I quit -- actually, I was booted out of -- psychology school and decided to become a cartoonist, a natural segue , 我当然知道被拒稿是怎么回事, 因为当我从心理学专业退学－实际上,是被开除的时候, 我决定当一位漫画家,对我是一件很自然的事儿。
rejection:n.抛弃;拒绝;被抛弃的东西;盖帽; quit:v.离开;放弃;停止;使…解除;n.离开;[计]退出;adj.摆脱了…的;已经了结的; psychology:n.心理学;心理状态; segue:n.继续(用作指示语);
from 1974 to 1977 I submitted 2,000 cartoons to The New Yorker, and got 2,000 cartoons rejected by The New Yorker. 于是从1974年到1977年我向《纽约客》投了2000幅漫画 然后2000幅全部被《纽约客》退回来了。
submitted:v.提交;顺从;投降;表示;认为;建议;(submit的过去分词和过去式)
At a certain point, this rejection slip , in 1977 -- 到了1977年的某天,退稿的情况好像有点好转。
slip:v.溜;下降;滑落;n.纸条;衬裙;
[We regret that we are unable to use the enclosed material. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider it.] — magically changed to this. 从“我们很抱歉不能采用你的稿件。多谢你的投稿。” 一下子变成了这个:
enclosed:adj.封闭的;附上的;v.把…围起来;围住;附上;(enclose的过去分词和过去式) magically:adv.用魔法地;如魔法般地;
[Hey! You sold one. No shit! You really sold a cartoon to the fucking New Yorker magazine.] “嘿！你终于中了一幅。真的！天杀的《纽约客》真的用了你的漫画！“
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now of course that's not what happened, but that's the emotional truth. 当然了他们不是这么说的, 不过这确实是我当时的心情。
emotional:adj.情绪的;易激动的;感动人的;
And of course, that is not New Yorker humor. 当然了,这不是《纽约客》式的幽默。
What is New Yorker humor? 什么是《纽约客》式的幽默呢？
Well, after 1977, I broke into The New Yorker and started selling cartoons. 从1977年开始,我成功地向《纽约客》兜售我的漫画。
Finally , in 1980, I received the revered 终于在1980年,我签下了让人眼红的
Finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; revered:v.崇敬,尊崇,敬畏(revere的过去式和过去分词);
New Yorker contract , which I blurred out parts because it's none of your business . 《纽约客》合同。 具体细节我们就省了,因为都是些题外话。
contract:v.收缩;感染;订约;n.合同;婚约; blurred:adj.模糊不清的; v.玷污; (blur的过去式和过去分词) none of your business:不关你的事;没你的事;
From 1980. "Dear Mr. Mankoff, confirming the agreement there of -- " blah blah blah blah -- blur -- "for any idea drawings." 从1980开始,“亲爱的曼克夫先生,请确认该协议 内容是,巴拉巴拉巴拉巴拉－省略－ ”提供思想绘画（idea drawings）。”
blah:n.废话;空话;瞎说;int.废话;
With respect to idea drawings, nowhere in the contract is the word "cartoon" mentioned. 用了“思想绘画”这个词儿,合同里面根本没有 提到“漫画”这个词儿。
With respect:怀有敬意; nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的;
The word "idea drawings," and that's the sine qua non of New Yorker cartoons. “思想绘画”这个词是《纽约客》漫画的专用词汇。
sine qua non:n.必要条件;
So what is an idea drawing? An idea drawing is something that requires you to think. 那什么是“思想绘画”？思想绘画就是一些 需要你琢磨出来的画。
Now that's not a cartoon. It requires thinking on the part of the cartoonist and thinking on your part to make it into a cartoon. 这并不是漫画。它需要人们 站在漫画家的角度来琢磨,也要站在你个人的角度来琢磨, 把两种想法融合到一幅漫画里。
on the part of:就...而言;由...所作出的;在...一边;由...所表现出的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Here are some, generally you get my cast of cartoon mind. 我给大家看几幅漫画,你会明白我上面所说的漫画思维了。
'"There is no justice in the world. There is some justice in the world. The world is just." “世界上没有绝对的正义。只有部分的正义。世界‘正’是这样。”
justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判;
This is What Lemmings Believe. 这是漫画”旅鼠们所相信的“。
Lemmings:n.旅鼠;(lemming的复数)
(Laughter) （笑声）
The New Yorker and I, when we made comments, the cartoon carries a certain ambiguity about what it actually is. 《纽约客》和我都曾认为 漫画本身的真实含义其实是带有模糊性的。
ambiguity:n.含糊;不明确;暧昧;模棱两可的话;
What is it, the cartoon? Is it really about lemmings? 这是什么,漫画吗？这漫画讲的真是旅鼠们吗？
No. It's about us. 当然不是。漫画讲的是我们。
You know, it's my view basically about religion, that the real conflict and all the fights between religion is who has the best imaginary friend. 知道吗？这基本上就是我对信仰的认识。 真正的宗教间的冲突和争端 都是关于哪一派有最好的幻象挚友。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; conflict:n.冲突;矛盾;争执;抵触;v.抵触; imaginary:adj.虚构的,假想的;想像的;虚数的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And this is my most well-known cartoon. 这是我最出名的漫画了。
well-known:adj.著名的;众所周知的;清楚明白的;
'"No, Thursday's out. How about never — is never good for you?" “不,周四不行。‘从来不’怎么样？－‘从来不’行吗？”（原文:“How about never — is never good for you?”）
It's been reprinted thousands of times, totally ripped off. 这幅漫画重印了几千次,风行一时呀。
reprinted:vt.再版;重印;n.重印;翻版;
It's even on thongs , but compressed to "How about never — is never good for you?" 甚至被印在皮带上, 但是被缩写成“‘从来不’怎么样？－‘从来不’行吗？”（“How about never — is never good for you?”）
thongs:n.皮带(thong的名词复数); n.丁字裤; v. v.给…装皮带(thong的第三人称单数形式); compressed:adj.(空气或气体)压缩的; v.(被)压紧; (compress的过去式和过去分词)
Now these look like very different forms of humor but actually they bear a great similarity . 看起来这些是不同形式的漫画, 但是事实上他们有很大的相似之处。
similarity:n.类似;相似点;
In each instance , our expectations are defied . 每一幅漫画都违反了我们原先的判断。
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; expectations:n.预料;预期;期待;希望;指望;(expectation的复数) defied:adj.受蔑视的;遭违抗的;v.违抗(defy的过去式);
In each instance, the narrative gets switched. 每一幅漫画中的故事都跟字面描述的不一样。
narrative:n.叙述;故事;讲述;adj.叙事的,叙述的;叙事体的;
There's an incongruity and a contrast . 既不协调,又有对比鲜明。
incongruity:n.不协调;不一致;不适宜; contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比;
In "No, Thursday's out. How about never — is never good for you?" “不,周四不行。‘从来不’怎么样？－‘从来不’行吗？”里（“How about never — is never good for you?”）
what you have is the syntax of politeness and the message of being rude. 有很礼貌的措辞, 传达的却是很粗鲁的意思。
syntax:n.语法;句法;有秩序的排列; politeness:n.有礼貌;优雅;
That really is how humor works. It's a cognitive synergy where we mash up these two things which don't go together and temporarily in our minds exist. 这就是漫画的妙处。它是认知的协同作用。 我们把两个完全不着边的东西放在一起, 让它短暂地停留在我们的意识里。
cognitive:adj.认知的,认识的; synergy:n.协同;协同作用;增效; mash:n.饲料;糊状物;麦芽浆;vt.捣碎;调情; temporarily:adv.临时地,临时;
He is both being polite and rude. 画中人既带着礼貌,又带着粗鲁。
In here, you have the propriety of The New Yorker and the vulgarity of the language. 而这里,你可以看到《纽约客》的礼仪 和措辞上的粗鲁。
propriety:n.适当;礼节;得体; vulgarity:n.粗俗;粗俗语;粗野的动作;
Basically, that's the way humor works. 基本上,这就是幽默的妙处。
So I'm a humor analyst , you would say. 你会说,我是幽默分析家。
analyst:n.分析者;精神分析医师;分解者;
Now E.B. White said, analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. 那E.B.怀特就说,分析幽默就象解剖一只青蛙。
analyzing:adj.分析的;v.分析(analyze的现在分词); dissecting:adj.解剖的;v.解剖;仔细检查(dissect的ing形式);
Nobody is much interested, and the frog dies. 没人真正感兴趣,并且会杀死青蛙。
Well, I'm going to kill a few, but there won't be any genocide . 好吧,接下来我还要杀掉一些,但那可不是种族灭绝呀。
genocide:n.种族灭绝;灭绝整个种族的大屠杀;
But really, it makes me — 实际上,它把我弄得－
Let's look at this picture. This is an interesting picture, 来看看这张照片。这张照片很有趣。
The Laughing Audience. 观众们在放声大笑。
There are the people, fops up there, but everybody is laughing, everybody is laughing except one guy. 很多人,一群花花公子们, 每个人都在笑呀,笑地, 只有一个人除外。
This guy. Who is he? He's the critic . 这家伙,他是谁呢？他就是批评家。
critic:n.评论家;反对者;批评者;
He's the critic of humor, and really I'm forced to be in that position, when I'm at The New Yorker, and that's the danger that I will become this guy. 他就是幽默批评家。 实际上,我是被迫坐在这个位置上的。 我在《纽约客》,就有这个危险 变成这个（剧场里不笑的）家伙。
Now here's a little video made by Matt Diffee, sort of how they imagine if we really exaggerated that. 我给大家放段马特·迪菲拍的录像, 虽然是有些夸张,但这就是漫画家眼里的我。
exaggerated:adj.夸张的,言过其实的;v.夸张,夸大(exaggerate的过去分词和过去式)
(Video) Bob Mankoff: "Oooh, no. （录像）鲍勃?曼克夫:“噢,不行！
Ehhh. 恩。
Oooh. Hmm. Too funny. 噢,恩。太可笑了。
Normally I would but I'm in a pissy mood . 一般我会要的,但现在我很挑剔。
Normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; pissy:adj.低劣的;臭尿一样的;讨厌的; mood:n.情绪,语气;心境;气氛;
I'll enjoy it on my own. Perhaps. 对我来说还行。也许吧。
No. Nah. No. 不行。啊！不行！
Overdrawn . Underdrawn. 用笔过多,用笔过少。
Overdrawn:v.透支;夸张;张拉过度(overdraw的过去分词);
Drawn just right, still not funny enough. 画得挺好,就是不可笑。
No. No. 不！不！
For God's sake no, a thousand times no. 天哪,不,一千遍地不！
(Music) （音乐）
No. No. No. No. No. [Four hours later] 不。不。不。不。不。（四个小时以后）
Hey, that's good, yeah, whatcha got there? 嗨,这还不错。啊,你拿来什么了？
Office worker : Got a ham and swiss on rye?BM: No. 办事员:火腿奶酪黑麦面包。鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
Office worker:n.(公司、企业的)办事人员;公司职员;上班族;
Office worker: Okay. Pastrami on sourdough ?BM: No. 办事员:好吧,那黑麦面包呢？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
Pastrami:n.熏牛肉之一种;五香烟熏牛肉; sourdough:n.酵母;拓荒者;
Office worker: Smoked turkey with bacon ?BM: No. 办事员:培根熏火鸡？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
bacon:n.咸肉;腌肉;熏猪肉;
Office worker: Falafel ?BM: Let me look at it. 办事员:沙拉三明治？鲍勃?曼克夫:让我自己看看。
Falafel:n.沙拉三明治(等于felafel);
Eh, no. 呃,不要！
Office worker: Grilled cheese?BM: No. 办事员:烤奶酪？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
Grilled:adj.装有栅格的; v.烧烤; (grill的过去分词和过去式)
Office worker: BLT?BM: No. 办事员:奶酪三明治？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
Office worker: Black forest ham and mozzarella with apple mustard ?BM: No. 办事员:苹果酱黑森林火腿加玛苏里拉奶酪？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
mozzarella:n.马苏里拉奶酪; mustard:n.芥末;芥菜;深黄色;强烈的兴趣;
Office worker: Green bean salad?BM: No. 办事员:绿豆色拉？鲍勃?曼克夫:不要。
Green bean:青豆,嫩菜豆;
(Music) （音乐）
No. No. 不！不
Definitely no. [Several hours after lunch] 绝对不行！（午饭后几个小时）
Definitely:adv.清楚地,当然;明确地,肯定地;
(Siren) （警笛）
No. Get out of here . 不要。快走！
Get out of here:出去(表示气愤或不耐烦等)
(Laughter) （笑声）
That's sort of an exaggeration of what I do. 这个场面其实是有些夸张了。
exaggeration:n.夸张;夸大之词;夸张的手法;
Now, we do reject, many, many, many cartoons, so many that there are many books called "The Rejection Collection." 现在我们确实拒掉很多,很多,很多漫画作品。 拒得太多了,后来就有了一本叫《拒稿漫画集》。
'"The Rejection Collection" is not quite New Yorker kind of humor. 《拒稿漫画集》其实不是那种《纽约客》式的幽默。
And you might notice the bum on the sidewalk here who is boozing and his ventriloquist dummy is puking . 你看（这张漫画里面表现的是）在人行道上醉醺醺的流浪汉 和他手上呕吐的木偶。
bum:n.屁股; vt.乞讨; adj.劣质的; sidewalk:n.人行道; boozing:v.喝酒;(尤指)狂饮(booze的现在分词) ventriloquist:n.腹语术者;口技艺人; dummy:adj.虚拟的;假的;n.傀儡;哑巴;仿制品; puking:v.吐;呕吐;(puke的现在分词)
See, that's probably not going to be New Yorker humor. 看,这幅漫画就不是《纽约客》式的幽默。
It's actually put together by Matt Diffee, one of our cartoonists. 这个其实是我们《纽约客》的漫画家马特·迪菲画的。
put together:..放在一起;组合;装配;
So I'll give you some examples of rejection collection humor. 这里我再给你举几个拒稿漫画集里面的幽默漫画。
'"I'm thinking about having a child." 我在考虑要一个孩子。
(Laughter) （笑声）
There you have an interesting -- the guilty laugh, the laugh against your better judgment . 你觉得有趣而发出有点罪恶感的笑声吧。 但是这个笑声其实和你良好的判断力不符。
guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的; judgment:n.判断;裁判;判决书;辨别力;
(Laughter) （笑声）
'"Ass-head. Please help." ”屁股-头儿,请帮帮我吧！”
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, in fact, within a context of this book, which says, "Cartoons you never saw and never will see in The New Yorker," this humor is perfect. 实际上,这本漫画集里的内容实际上是说, “这本集子里面的漫画是你在《纽约客》没看过 也永远看不到。” 这本书本身就是非常好的幽默。
I'm going to explain why. 我来解释一下为什么这么说。
There's a concept about humor about it being a benign violation . 这就是一种关于幽默的概念叫做 良性违背原理。
violation:n.违反;妨碍,侵害;违背;强奸;
In other words, for something to be funny, we've got to think it's both wrong and also okay at the same time . 换句话说,有些很可笑的幽默,我们会觉得 它有些出格但是又不是太出格。
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时;
If we think it's completely wrong, we say, "That's not funny." 如果我们觉得它实在太出格了,我们就会说,“一点都不好笑。”
And if it's completely okay, what's the joke? Okay? 如果它完全是正确的,那哪里可笑呀？对不对？
And so, this benign, that's true of "No, Thursday's out. How about never — is never good for you?" 所以呀,那句客气的,“不,周四不行。‘从来不’怎么样？－‘从来不’行吗？”
It's rude. The world really shouldn't be that way. 其实是有些粗暴的。实际上不应该是以这样的方式说话的。
Within that context, we feel it's okay. 但是在漫画里面,我们就会觉得它不错。
So within this context, "Asshead. Please help" 所以在漫画里,“屁股－头儿。帮帮我吧！”
is a benign violation. 是个良性的违规。
Within the context of The New Yorker magazine ... 把这幅漫画嵌到《纽约客》的文章,
'"T-Cell Army: Can the body's immune response help treat cancer ?" Oh, goodness. T-细胞军队: 人体的免疫反应可以 帮助治疗癌症吗?“ 噢,天哪！
immune response:n.免疫应答(机体对抗原的应答); treat:v.治疗;处理;招待;款待;n.款待;乐事;乐趣; cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
You're reading about this smart stuff , this intelligent dissection of the immune system . 你读这篇很有益的文章时, 这篇关于免疫系统知识的好文章时,
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本: intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的 dissection:n.解剖,切开;解剖体;详细查究; immune system:n.免疫系统;
You glance over at this, and it says, "Asshead. Please help"? God. 突然瞄到这幅漫画,它写着, ”屁股－头儿,请帮帮我吧！” 天哪！
glance over:浏览;简略阅读;
So there the violation is malign . It doesn't work. 如果有恶意的违规那就不好笑了。
malign:vt.诽谤,污蔑;中伤,说坏话;adj.恶意的,恶性的;有害的;
There is no such thing as funny in and of itself. 没有什么东西是它本身就好笑的,
Everything will be within the context and our expectations. 它必需是在特定的内容里才让我们觉得好笑。
One way to look at it is this. 这么说吧,
It's sort of called a meta-motivational theory about how we look, a theory about motivation and the mood we're in and how the mood we're in determines the things we like or dislike. 漫画让人发笑可以被称为”元驱动理论“。 这个关于驱动的理论讲的是:我们的情绪 如何直接决定了我们喜欢 还是不喜欢一幅漫画。
motivation:n.动机;积极性;推动; determines:v.查明;测定;准确算出;决定;裁决;安排;(determine的第三人称单数)
When we're in a playful mood, we want excitement . 当我们心情愉悦时,我们很容易兴奋起来。
playful:adj.开玩笑的;幽默的;爱嬉戏的; excitement:n.兴奋;刺激;令人兴奋的事物;
We want high arousal . We feel excited then. 当我们想嗨翻全场的时候,我们容易兴奋起来。
arousal:n.觉醒;激励;
If we're in a purposeful mood, that makes us anxious. 如果我们有所企图的时候,我们会变得紧张。
purposeful:adj.有目的的;有决心的;
'"The Rejection Collection" is absolutely in this field. 《拒稿集》就绝对是这样的幽默。
You want to be stimulated . You want to be aroused . 你想得到刺激。你想被逗笑。
stimulated:adj.受激的;v.刺激(stimulate的过去式和过去分词); aroused:v.激起,引起;激起性欲;使行动起来;激发(arouse的过去分词和过去式)
You want to be transgressed . 你想稍稍出点儿格。
transgressed:v.越轨;违背(道德);违犯(法律);(transgress的过去式和过去分词)
It's like this, like an amusement park . 这就象,去一个娱乐主题公园一样。
amusement park:n.游乐场;娱乐园;
Voice: Here we go. (Screams) 声音:走咯！（尖叫声）
He laughs. He is both in danger and safe, incredibly aroused. There's no joke. No joke needed. 他大笑了。他处在危险又安全的情况下, 被狠狠地逗了一下。根本没什么笑话,也不需要笑话。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
If you arouse people enough and get them stimulated enough, they will laugh at very, very little. 如果你使出全身解数来逗别人, 他们不怎么会笑的。
This is another cartoon from "The Rejection Collection." 这是另外一幅来自《拒稿集》的漫画,
'"Too snug ?" 太紧了吗？“
snug:adj.舒适的; vt.使变得温暖舒适; vi.偎依; n.舒适温暖的地方;
That's a cartoon about terrorism . 这是一幅关于恐怖分子的漫画。
terrorism:n.恐怖主义;
The New Yorker occupies a very different space. 《纽约客》有很与众不同的地方。
occupies:v.使用,占用;使用(房屋、建筑);居住;侵占;占据;(occupy的第三人称单数)
It's a space that is playful in its own way, and also purposeful, and in that space, the cartoons are different. 它既有自己有趣可笑的表现方式,也有着很强的目的性。 在这样的杂志里,漫画自然会有所不同。
Now I'm going to show you cartoons The New Yorker did right after 9/11, a very, very sensitive area when humor could be used. 现在我给你看几幅《纽约客》的漫画, 9／11刚过,是需要小心地使用幽默的时候。
How would The New Yorker attack it? 《纽约客》怎么使用它的幽默呢？
It would not be with a guy with a bomb saying, "Too snug?" 它不会用“太紧了？”这样画着带炸弹的恐怖分子的漫画。
Or there was another cartoon I didn't show because actually I thought maybe people would be offended . 或者是另一幅我还没给你们看的漫画,因为 我觉得没准会有人觉得自己被冒犯了。
offended:v.得罪;冒犯;犯罪;犯法;(offend的过去分词和过去式)
The great Sam Gross cartoon, this happened after the Muhammad controversy where it's Muhammad in heaven, the suicide bomber is all in little pieces, and he's saying to the suicide bomber, "You'll get the virgins when we find your penis." 伟大的山姆·格罗斯的漫画,讲的是 穆罕默德大辩论后,当穆罕默德在天堂的时候, 自杀恐怖袭击者都成了小小的碎片。 穆罕默德对自杀袭击者说, “如果你找到你的小鸡鸡,你会得到你的童贞。”
Gross:adj.总共的;粗野的;恶劣的;显而易见的;v.总共收入;n.总额,总数; controversy:n.争论;论战;辩论; suicide:n.自杀;自杀行为;自杀者;adj.自杀的;v.自杀;vi.自杀; bomber:n.轰炸机;投弹手; virgins:n.处女;童男;无…经验的人;新手;(virgin的复数)
(Laughter) （笑声）
Better left undrawn . 最好谁也别画这样的画。
undrawn:adj.未拉开的;未抽出的;v.拉开(undraw的过去分词);
The first week we did no cartoons. (9/11以后的）第一周,我们没有刊登任何漫画。
That was a black hole for humor, and correctly so. 那是幽默的黑洞,绝对是。
a black hole:莫名其妙,如坠云雾;
It's not always appropriate every time. 有的时候,幽默确实是不妥当的。
appropriate:adj.适当的;恰当的;v.占用,拨出;
But the next week, this was the first cartoon. 接下来的一周,我们发了第一幅漫画。
'"I thought I'd never laugh again. Then I saw your jacket." “我以为我再也不会笑了,直到我看到你的夹克。”
It basically was about, if we were alive, we were going to laugh. We were going to breathe. 这幅漫画要说的是,如果我们还活着, 我们就得笑,我们就得呼吸。
We were going to exist. Here's another one. 我们就得存在着。这是另一幅。
'"I figure if I don't have that third martini , then the terrorists win." “我知道如果我不要第三杯马提尼的话,恐怖分子就会赢。”
martini:n.马提尼(一种鸡尾酒,等于Martini);
These cartoons are not about them. They're about us. 这些漫画讲的不是恐怖分子,讲得是我们自己。
The humor reflects back on us. 这些幽默折射我们的生活。
reflects:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;表明,表达;(reflect的第三人称单数)
The easiest thing to do with humor, and it's perfectly legitimate , is a friend makes fun of an enemy. 其实最简单的漫画是 朋友开敌人的玩笑,这绝对是适宜的。
legitimate:adj.合法的;正当的;合理的;正统的;v.使合法;认为正当(等于legitimize);
It's called dispositional humor. 这样的幽默叫做意向性幽默。
dispositional:adj.意向的;
It's 95 percent of the humor. It's not our humor. 占95％的幽默都是这种,不是关于我们自己的。
Here's another cartoon. 这有一幅漫画。
'"I wouldn't mind living in a fundamentalist Islamic state." “我不介意生活在原教旨主义的伊斯兰国家。“
fundamentalist:n.基要主义者;信奉正统派基督教的人;adj.基要主义的; Islamic:adj.穆斯林的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Humor does need a target. 幽默需要一个靶心。
But interestingly , in The New Yorker, the target is us. 有趣的是,《纽约客》里面的靶心是我们自己。
interestingly:adv.有趣地;
The target is the readership and the people who do it. 这个靶心是读者和做了（漫画里的）事的人。
readership:n.读者人数;读者们;读者的身分;
The humor is self-reflective and makes us think about our assumptions . 幽默是自我的折射。 幽默让我们考虑自己的作为。
self-reflective:自我反射;自我反省;自我反思性的; assumptions:n.假定;假设;承担;获得;(assumption的复数)
Look at this cartoon by Roz Chast, the guy reading the obituary . 看这幅洛兹查斯特的漫画《阅读讣告的人》。
obituary:adj.讣告的;死亡的;n.讣告;
'"Two years younger than you, 12 years older than you, three years your junior , your age on the dot , exactly your age." ”比你小两岁,比你大12岁, 比你小三岁,和你同岁, 和你同岁。“
junior:n.青少年;职位较低者;adj.青少年的;地位低下的; on the dot:正点,准时地;
That is a deeply profound cartoon. 那是幅非常深刻的漫画。
profound:adj.深厚的;意义深远的;渊博的;
And so The New Yorker is also trying to, in some way, make cartoons say something besides funny and something about us. Here's another one. 所以《纽约客》也在努力地以某种方式, 使幽默不仅仅是好笑, 而是折射我们的生活。这是另一幅。
besides:adv.此外;而且;prep.除…之外;
'"I started my vegetarianism for health reasons, ”我因为健康原因开始做素食者,
vegetarianism:n.素食主义;
Then it became a moral choice, and now it's just to annoy people." 然后它变成了道义的选择,现在它就是让别人讨厌我的。“
moral:n.寓意;品行;教益;adj.道德的;道义上的;道德上的;品行端正的; annoy:v.骚扰;打扰;使恼怒;使生气;
(Laughter) （笑声）
'"Excuse me — I think there's something wrong with this in a tiny way that no one other than me would ever be able to pinpoint ." ”对不起－我觉得有点不对劲儿呀, 除了我,怎么没人精确定位呢？“
pinpoint:vt.查明; adj.精确的; n.针尖;
So it focuses on our obsessions , our narcissism , our foils and our foibles , really not someone else's. 所以说《纽约客》的漫画j聚焦在我们的自恋和偏执上, 聚焦在我们的虚假和缺点上,而不是其他的人身上。
obsessions:n.癖好;着迷;使人痴迷的的人或物;强迫意念(obsession的复数); narcissism:n.[心理]自恋,自我陶醉; foils:n.[材]箔;薄片(foil的复数);v.衬托,挡开(foil的第三人称单数); foibles:n.弱点;小缺点;癖好;
The New Yorker demands some cognitive work on your part, and what it demands is what Arthur Koestler, who wrote "The Act of Creation " about the relationship between humor, art and science, is what's called bisociation. 《纽约客》让你 重新认识自己, 就象阿瑟 · 斯特勒在他的 著作《创作的行为》里面讲到的 幽默,艺术和科学的关系一样, 被称为“亚生物群落”。
Creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
You have to bring together ideas from different frames of reference , and you have to do it quickly to understand the cartoon. 你要把从不同的信息整合在一起, 在短时间内理解一幅漫画。
frames:n.[计][电子][通信]帧,[电影]画面;[建][计]框架;眼镜架(frame的复数); reference:n.参考,提及;参考书目;证明书;v.引用;
If the different frames of reference don't come together in about .5 seconds, it's not funny, but I think they will for you here. 如果你不能在0.5秒内整合这些信息, 这漫画就不好笑了。 但我想这些漫画是会让你笑的。
Different frames of reference. 他们带来不同的信息。
'"You slept with her, didn't you?" “你和她上床了,对不？”
(Laughter) （笑声）
'" Lassie ! Get help!!" “莱西 ！快找人帮我!!
Lassie:n.姑娘;少女;恋人;
(Laughter) （笑声）
It's called French Army Knife. 这个叫做”法国军刀“。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And this is Einstein in bed. "To you it was fast." 这张说的是爱因斯坦在床上。”对你来说是有点儿快了。“
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now there are some cartoons that are puzzling . 也有些漫画呢,让人费解。
puzzling:adj.使为难的;费解的;v.迷惑;使困惑;(puzzle的现在分词)
Like, this cartoon would puzzle many people. 象这个,它让人不得其解。
puzzle:n.谜;疑问;智力游戏;不解之谜;v.迷惑;使困惑;
How many people know what this cartoon means? 有谁知道这幅漫画的意思？
The dog is signaling he wants to go for a walk. 这个狗在告诉自己的主人它想出去溜弯了。
signaling:n.发信号;打信号;
This is the signal for a catcher to walk the dog. 这是让接球手去溜狗的信号。
catcher:n.捕手,捕捉者;接球手;
That's why we run a feature in the cartoon issue every year called "I Don't Get It: The New Yorker Cartoon I.Q. Test." 所以我们特意每年出一期漫画专刊, 叫:“真搞不懂:纽约客漫画智商测试”
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
(Laughter) （笑声）
The other thing The New Yorker plays around with is incongruity, and incongruity, I've shown you, is sort of the basis of humor. 另外,《纽约客》爱刊登的是 互不协调的东西。我告诉过你们 这算是幽默的一个基本原理。
Something that's completely normal or logical isn't going to be funny. 如果都是完全正确的合理的话,那就不好笑了。
logical:adj.合逻辑的,合理的;逻辑学的;
But the way incongruity works is, observational humor is humor within the realm of reality. 有不协调性的漫画又使我们看到它 带着一定的合理性。
observational:adj.观测的;根据观察的; realm:n.领域,范围;王国;
'"My boss is always telling me what to do." Okay? “我的老板总是不停地告诉我要做什么。” 是吧？
That could happen. It's humor within the realm of reality. 这是可能发生的事儿。这个幽默在合理的范围内。
Here, cowboy to a cow: "Very impressive . I'd like to find 5,000 more like you." 看这个,牛仔给一头牛说, “你让我印象深刻。我真想找到5000头象你这样的。”
impressive:adj.感人的;令人钦佩的;给人以深刻印象的;
We understand that. It's absurd . But we're putting the two together. 我们能理解这样的漫画。看起来很荒谬,但是我们理解到它的合理和荒谬。
absurd:adj.荒谬的;可笑的;n.荒诞;荒诞作品;
Here, in the nonsense range: " Damn it, Hopkins, didn't you get yesterday's memo ?" 在这儿,是不合理范畴内的: “哎呀,霍普金斯,你没带来昨天的记录本吗？”
nonsense:n.胡说;废话;adj.荒谬的;int.胡说; Damn:v.谴责;该死;n.诅咒;adj.可恶的; memo:n.备忘录;
Now that's a little puzzling, right? It doesn't quite come together. 这个有些让人费解,对不对？因为它的荒谬和合理性没有走到一起。
In general, people who enjoy more nonsense, enjoy more abstract art , they tend to be liberal , less conservative , that type of stuff. 一般来说,那些会欣赏带有不合理性作品的人 都挺喜欢抽象艺术的。 这类人更可能是自由主义者,而较少的成为保守派。
abstract art:n.抽象派;抽象主义; liberal:adj.宽宏大度的; n.理解且尊重他人意见的人; conservative:adj.保守的;n.保守派,守旧者;
But for us, and for me, helping design the humor, it doesn't make any sense to compare one to the other. 但对我们来说,对我来说,是帮助营造幽默感的。 我们不需要拿一个和另一个比。
make any sense to:理解; compare:v.比较;对比;n.比较;
It's sort of a smorgasbord that's made all interesting. 我们需要的幽默象个大杂烩,要让所有人感兴趣。
smorgasbord:n.瑞典式自助餐(餐前冷菜及冷菜宴会);大杂烩;
So I want to sum all this up with a caption to a cartoon, and I think this sums up the whole thing, really, about The New Yorker cartoons. 让我来总结下我讲的漫画, 我觉得这个总结,真的就是, 关于《纽约客》的漫画。
sums:n.算术题;总数;全部;v.归纳;总计;(sum的第三人称单数和复数)
'"It sort of makes you stop and think, doesn't it." “它其实让你停下来想想,不是吗？”
(Laughter) （笑声）
And now, when you look at New Yorker cartoons, 从现在开始,如果你在欣赏《纽约客》漫画的时候,
I'd like you to stop and think a little bit more about them. 我希望你能停下来,想想这些漫画。
Thank you. 非常感谢！
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you. (Applause) 谢谢！（掌声）