返回首页

ChimamandaAdichie_2009G-_单一故事的危险性_
I'm a storyteller . 我是个说书之人。
storyteller:n.说故事的人;故事作者;短篇小说作家;
And I would like to tell you a few personal stories about what I like to call "the danger of the single story." 在这里,我想和大家分享一些我本人的故事, 一些关于所谓的“单一故事的危险性”的经历。
personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词;
I grew up on a university campus in eastern Nigeria. 我成长在尼日利亚东部的一所大学校园里。
campus:n.(大学)校园;大学,大学生活;校园内的草地; eastern:adj.东方的;向东的;东部的;东方国家的;n.东方人;东正教信徒;
My mother says that I started reading at the age of two, although I think four is probably close to the truth. 我母亲常说我从两岁起就开始读书, 不过我觉得“四岁起”比较接近事实。
So I was an early reader. And what I read were British and American children's books. 所以我从小就开始读书, 读的是英国和美国的儿童书籍。
I was also an early writer. 我也是从小就开始写作。
And when I began to write, at about the age of seven, stories in pencil with crayon illustrations that my poor mother was obligated to read, 当我在七岁那年 开始强迫我可怜的母亲阅读我用铅笔写好的故事 外加上蜡笔描绘的插图时,
illustrations:n.[印刷]插图;插画(illustration的复数); obligated:adj.有义务的,有责任的,必须的; v.使负有义务; (obligate的过去式和过去分词)
I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading. 我所写的故事正如我所读到的故事那般。
All my characters were white and blue-eyed . 我故事里的人物们都是白皮肤、蓝眼睛的,
blue-eyed:adj.蓝眼睛的;心爱的;
They played in the snow. 常在雪中嬉戏,
They ate apples. 吃着苹果。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And they talked a lot about the weather, how lovely it was that the sun had come out. 而且他们经常讨论天气, 讨论太阳出来时,一切都多么美好。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, this despite the fact that I lived in Nigeria. 我一直写着这样故事,虽然说我当时住在尼日利亚,
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱;
I had never been outside Nigeria. 并且从来没有出过国。
We didn't have snow. We ate mangoes . 虽然说我们从来没见过雪;虽然说我们实际上只能吃到芒果;
mangoes:n.芒果;(mango的复数)
And we never talked about the weather, because there was no need to. 虽然说我们从不讨论天气 因为根本没这个必要。
My characters also drank a lot of ginger beer because the characters in the British books I read drank ginger beer. 我故事里的人物们也常喝姜汁啤酒, 因为我所读的那些英国书中的人物们 常喝姜汁啤酒,
ginger beer:n.姜汁啤酒;一瓶(或一杯)姜汁啤酒;
Never mind that I had no idea what ginger beer was. 虽然说我当时完全不知道姜汁啤酒是什么东西。
Never mind:没关系;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And for many years afterwards, I would have a desperate desire to taste ginger beer. 事隔多年,我一直都怀揣着一个深切的渴望 想尝尝姜汁啤酒的味道。
desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的;
But that is another story. 不过这要另当别论了。
What this demonstrates , I think, is how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story, particularly as children. 这一切所表明的 正是在一个个的故事面前 我们是何等得脆弱,何等得易受影响, 尤其当我们还是孩子的时候。
demonstrates:v.证明;证实;论证;说明;演示;(demonstrate的第三人称单数) impressionable:adj.敏感的;易受影响的; vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; in the face of:面对; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地;
Because all I had read were books in which characters were foreign, 因为我当时读的所有书中 只有外国人物,
I had become convinced that books, by their very nature, had to have foreigners in them, and had to be about things with which 我因而坚信:书要想被称为书, 就必须有外国人在里面, 就必须是关于
convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式)
I could not personally identify . 我无法亲身体验的事情。
personally:adv.个人;亲自;本人;就本人而言; identify:v.识别:鉴定:确认:发现:
Now, things changed when I discovered African books. 而这一切都在我接触了非洲书籍之后发生了改变。
There weren't many of them available. And they weren't quite as easy to find as the foreign books. 当时非洲书并不多, 而且它们也不像国外书籍那样好找。
But because of writers like Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye 不过因为Chinua Achebe和Camara Laye之类的作家,
Camara:n.(果)室;脑穹隆;
I went through a mental shift in my perception of literature . 我思维中对于文学的概念 产生了质的改变。
mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; shift:n.移动;变化;手段;轮班;v.移动;转变;转换; perception:n.感知;知觉;看法;洞察力; literature:n.文学;文献;文艺;著作;
I realized that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails , could also exist in literature. 我意识到像我这样的人── 有着巧克力般的肤色 和永远无法梳成马尾辫的蜷曲头发的女孩子们── 也可以出现在文学作品中的。
kinky:adj.奇形怪状的,怪癖的;稍微变态的;扭结的,古怪的; ponytails:n.马尾辫;
I started to write about things I recognized . 我开始撰写我所熟知的事物。
recognized:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的过去分词和过去式)
Now, I loved those American and British books I read. 但这并不是说我不喜爱那些美国和英国书籍,
They stirred my imagination . They opened up new worlds for me. 恰恰相反,那些书籍激发了我的想象力,为我开启了新的世界。
stirred:v.搅动;搅和;搅拌;(使)微动;(stir的过去分词和过去式) imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物;
But the unintended consequence was that I did not know that people like me could exist in literature. 但随之而来的后果就是 我不知道原来像我这样的人 也是可以存在于文学作品之中的。
unintended:adj.无意识的;非计划中的; consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论;
So what the discovery of African writers did for me was this: 而与非洲作家的结缘
It saved me from having a single story of what books are. 则是将我从对于书籍的单一故事(认识)中 拯救了出来。
I come from a conventional , middle-class Nigerian family. 我来自一个传统的尼日利亚中产家庭。
conventional:adj.符合习俗的,传统的;常见的;惯例的; middle-class:adj.中产阶级的;中层社会的;
My father was a professor. 我的父亲是一名教授,
My mother was an administrator . 我的母亲是一名大学管理员。
administrator:n.管理人;行政官;
And so we had, as was the norm , live-in domestic help, who would often come from nearby rural villages. 因此我们和很多其他家庭一样 都会从附近的村庄中雇佣一些帮手来打理家事。
norm:n.规范;标准;定额;常态;v.规范;规定; live-in:adj.同居的;住在雇主家的; domestic:n.佣人;家佣;家庭纠纷;家庭矛盾;adj.本国的;国内的;家用的;家庭的; nearby:adj.附近的,邻近的;adv.在附近;prep.在…附近; rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的;
So the year I turned eight we got a new house boy. 在我八岁那一年,我们家招来了一位新的男仆。
His name was Fide. 他的名字叫做Fide。
The only thing my mother told us about him was that his family was very poor. 我父亲只告诉我们说, Fide是来自一个非常穷苦的家庭。
My mother sent yams and rice, and our old clothes, to his family. 我的母亲会时不时地将山芋、大米 还有我们穿旧的衣服送到他的家里。
yams:n.[园艺]山药;洋芋;蕃薯(yam的复数);
And when I didn't finish my dinner my mother would say, "Finish your food! Don't you know? People like Fide's family have nothing." 每当我剩下晚饭的时候,我的母亲就会说: “吃干净你的食物！难道你不知道嘛？像Fide家这样的人可是一无所有的。”
So I felt enormous pity for Fide's family. 因此我对Fide的家人充满了怜悯。
enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
Then one Saturday we went to his village to visit. 后来的一个星期六,我们去Fide的村庄拜访,
And his mother showed us a beautifully patterned basket, made of dyed raffia , that his brother had made. 她的母亲向我们展示了一个精美别致的草篮── 是Fide的哥哥用染过色的酒椰叶编织的。
dyed:adj.被染色的;v.染色(dye的过去分词形式); raffia:n.酒椰叶纤维(由酒椰棕榈树叶制成,用于编篮子、垫子或捆扎东西等);
I was startled . 我当时完全被震惊了。
startled:v.使惊吓;使大吃一惊(startle的过去分词和过去式)
It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. 我从来没有想过Fide的家人 居然有亲手制造东西的才能。
occurred:v.发生;出现;存在于;出现在;(occur的过去分词和过去式)
All I had heard about them is how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. 在那之前,我对Fide家唯一的了解就是他们是何等的穷苦, 正因为如此,他们在我脑中的印象 只是一个字──“穷”。
Their poverty was my single story of them. 他们的贫穷是我赐予他们的单一故事。
poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣;
Years later, I thought about this when I left Nigeria to go to university in the United States. 多年之后,在我离开尼日利亚前往美国读大学的时候, 我又想到了这件事。
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
I was 19. 我那时19岁。
My American roommate was shocked by me. 我的美国室友当时完全对我感到十分惊讶了。
She asked where I had learned to speak English so well, and was confused when I said that Nigeria happened to have English as its official language. 她问我是从哪里学得讲一口如此流利的英语, 而当我告知她尼日利亚刚巧是以英语作为官方语言的时候, 她的脸上则是写满了茫然。
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式) official:adj.官方的;正式的;公务的;n.官员;公务员;高级职员;
She asked if she could listed to what she called my " tribal music," 她问我是否可以给她听听她所谓的“部落音乐”。
tribal:adj.部落的;部族的;n.(尤指南亚的)部落成员;
and was consequently very dissapointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey. 可想而知,当我拿出玛丽亚凯莉的磁带时, 她是何等的失望。
consequently:adv.因此;结果;所以;
(Laughter) （笑声）
She assumed that I did not know how to use a stove . 她断定我不知道如何使用 电炉。
assumed:adj.假定的;假设的;v.假定;假设;认为;承担;(assume的过去分词和过去式) stove:n.火炉;窑;烘房;[园]温室;v.用火炉烤[烘干];把…放入温室内培育;
What struck me was this: She had felt sorry for me even before she saw me. 我猛然意识到:在她见到我之间, 她就已经对我充满了怜悯之心。
Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing , well-meaning , pity. 她对我这个非洲人的预设心态 是一种充满施恩与好意的怜悯之情。
default:n.违约;拖欠;缺席;缺陷;v.违约;拖欠;缺乏;不履行; patronizing:adj.自认为高人一等的; v.摆出高人一等的派头; (patronize的现在分词) well-meaning:adj.善意的;好心的;
My roommate had a single story of Africa. 我那位室友的脑中有一个关与非洲的单一故事。
A single story of catastrophe . 一个充满了灾难的单一故事。
catastrophe:n.大灾难;大祸;惨败;
In this single story there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her, in any way. 在这个单一故事中,非洲人是完全没有可能 在任何方面和她有所相似的;
No possibility of feelings more complex than pity. 没有可能接受到比怜悯更复杂的感情;
complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
No possibility of a connection as human equals. 没有可能以一个平等的人类的身份与她沟通。
I must say that before I went to the U.S. I didn't consciously identify as African. 我不得不强调,在我前往美国之前, 我从来没有有意识地把自己当作个非洲人。
consciously:adv.自觉地;有意识地;
But in the U.S. whenever Africa came up people turned to me. 但在美国的时候,每当人们提到“非洲”时,大家都回转向我,
Never mind that I knew nothing about places like Namibia. 虽然说我对纳米比亚之类的地方一无所知。
But I did come to embrace this new identity . 但我渐渐的开始接受这个新的身份。
embrace:n.拥抱,怀抱;v.拥抱;乐意采纳(思想、建议等);信奉;包括; identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式;
And in many ways I think of myself now as African. 现在很多时候我都是把自己当作一个非洲人来看待。
Although I still get quite irritable when 不过当人们把非洲当作一个国家来讨论的时候,
irritable:adj.过敏的;急躁的;易怒的;
Africa is referred to as a country. 我还是觉得挺反感的。
referred:v.提到;引用;认为;指示;涉及;(refer的过去式和过去分词)
The most recent example being my otherwise wonderful flight from Lagos two days ago, in which there was an announcement on the Virgin flight about the charity work in "India, Africa and other countries." 最近的一次例子就发生在两天前, 我从拉各斯搭乘航班。旅程原本相当愉快, 直到广播里开始介绍在“印度、非洲以及其他国家” 所进行的慈善事业。
Virgin:n.处女;童男;无…经验的人;新手; charity:n.慈善;施舍;慈善团体;宽容;施舍物;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So after I had spent some years in the U.S. as an African, 当我以一名非洲人的身份在美国度过几年之后,
I began to understand my roommate's response to me. 我开始理解我那位室友当时对我的反应。
response:n.响应;反应;回答;
If I had not grown up in Nigeria, and if all I knew about Africa were from popular images , 如果我不是在尼日利亚长大,如果我对非洲的一切认识 都来自于大众流行的影像,
images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数)
I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes , beautiful animals, and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves, and waiting to be saved, by a kind, white foreigner. 我相信我眼中的非洲也同样是充满了 美丽的地貌、美丽的动物、 以及一群难以理解的人们 进行着毫无意义的战争、死于艾滋和贫穷、 无法为自己辩护 并且等待着一位慈悲的、 白种的外国人的救赎。
landscapes:n.风景; v.从事庭园设计; incomprehensible:adj.费解的;不可思议的;无限的; senseless:adj.愚蠢的;无知觉的;无意识的; speak for:要求得到;代表…讲话;
I would see Africans in the same way that I, as a child, had seen Fide's family. 我看待非洲的方式将会和我儿时 看待Fide一家的方式是一样的。
This single story of Africa ultimately comes, I think, from Western literature. 我认为,关于非洲的这个单一故事从根本上来自于西方的文学。
ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究;
Now, here is a quote from the writing of a London merchant called John Locke, who sailed to west Africa in 1561, and kept a fascinating account of his voyage . 这是来自伦敦商人John Locke的一段话。 他在1561年的时候 曾游历非洲西部, 并且为他的航行做了番很有趣的记录。
quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; merchant:n.商人;批发商;(尤指)进出口批发商;(某活动的)爱好者;adj.海上货运的; fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词) voyage:v.航行;远行;(尤指)远航;n.航行;(尤指)航海;
After referring to the black Africans as "beasts who have no houses," 他先是把黑色的非洲人称为 “没有房子的野兽”,
referring:v.引用;提到;将…归因于…;把…提交;(refer的现在分词)
he writes, "They are also people without heads, having their mouth and eyes in their breasts." 随后又写到:“他们也是一群无头脑的人, 他们的嘴和眼睛都长在了他们的胸口上。”
Now, I've laughed every time I've read this. 我每次读到这一段的时候,都不禁大笑起来。
And one must admire the imagination of John Locke. John Locke的想象力真的是让人敬佩。
But what is important about his writing is that it represents the beginning of a tradition of telling African stories in the West. 但关于他这段作品极其重要的一点是 它昭示着西方社会讲述非洲故事 的一个传统。
represents:v.代表;维护…的利益;相当于;(represent的第三人称单数)
A tradition of Sub-Saharan Africa as a place of negatives , of difference, of darkness, of people who, in the words of the wonderful poet, 在这个传统中,撒哈拉以南的非洲充满了消极、 差异以及黑暗, 是伟大的诗人Rudyard Kipling笔下
Sub-Saharan:撒哈拉以南地区; negatives:n.[摄]底片; v.否定;
Rudyard Kipling, are "half devil , half child." 所形容的“半恶魔、半孩童” 的奇异人种。
devil:n.魔鬼;撒旦;家伙;恶棍;淘气鬼;冒失鬼;v.虐待,折磨;扯碎;做助手;
And so I began to realize that my American roommate must have, throughout her life, seen and heard different versions of this single story, as had a professor, who once told me that my novel was not " authentically African." 正因此,我开始意识到我的那位美国室友 一定在她成长的过程中 看过并且听过关于这个单一故事的 不同版本, 就如同之前一位 曾经批判我的小说缺乏“真实的非洲感”的教授一样。
throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; novel:adj.新奇的;异常的;n.小说; authentically:adv.真正地,确实地;可靠地;
Now, I was quite willing to contend that there were a number of things wrong with the novel, that it had failed in a number of places. 话说我倒是甘愿承认我的小说 有几处写的不好的地方, 有几处败笔。
contend:v.主张,认为;竞争;争夺;
But I had not quite imagined that it had failed at achieving something called African authenticity . 但我很难相像我的小说 竟然会缺乏“真实的非洲感”。
authenticity:n.真实性,确实性;可靠性;
In fact I did not know what 事实上,我甚至不知道“真实的非洲感”
African authenticity was. 到底是个什么东西。
The professor told me that my characters were too much like him, an educated and middle-class man. 那位教授跟我说我书中的人物 都和他太接近了, 都是受过教育的中产人物。
My characters drove cars. 我的人物会开车。
They were not starving. 他们没有受到饥饿的困扰。
Therefore they were not authentically African. 正因此,他们缺少了真实的非洲感。
But I must quickly add that I too am just as guilty in the question of the single story. 我在这里不得不指出,我本人 也常常被单一的故事蒙蔽双眼。
guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的;
A few years ago, I visited Mexico from the U.S. 几年前,我从美国探访墨西哥。
The political climate in the U.S. at the time, was tense. 当时美国的政治气候比较紧张。
And there were debates going on about immigration . 关于移民的辩论一直在进行着。
debates:n.[法]辩论;讨论(debate的复数);v.[法]辩论;讨论(debate的三单形式); immigration:n.外来移民;移居;
And, as often happens in America, immigration became synonymous with Mexicans. 而在美国,“移民”和“墨西哥人” 常常被当作同义词来使用。
synonymous:adj.同义的;同义词的;同义突变的;
There were endless stories of Mexicans as people who were fleecing the healthcare system, sneaking across the border, being arrested at the border, that sort of thing. 关于墨西哥人的故事是源源不绝, 讲的都是 欺诈医疗系统、 偷渡边境、 在边境被捕之类的事情。
endless:adj.无止境的;连续的;环状的;漫无目的的; fleecing:v.敲诈;敲…的竹杠;(fleece的现在分词) healthcare:n.医疗保健;健康护理,健康服务;卫生保健; sneaking:adj.偷偷摸摸;暗中的;v.偷带;偷拿;偷走;(sneak的现在分词)
I remember walking around on my first day in Guadalajara, watching the people going to work, rolling up tortillas in the marketplace , smoking, laughing. 我还记得当我到达瓜达拉哈拉(墨西哥西部一城市)的第一天, 看着人们前往工作, 在市集上吃着墨西哥卷、 抽着烟、大笑着。
tortillas:n.墨西哥玉米粉圆饼(tortilla的复数); marketplace:n.市场;集市;
I remember first feeling slight surprise. 我记得我刚看到这一切时是何等的惊讶,
slight:adj.轻微的;略微的;细小的;纤细的;n.侮慢;冷落;轻视;v.侮慢;冷落;轻视;
And then I was overwhelmed with shame. 但随后我的心中便充满了羞耻感。
overwhelmed:v.受打击,压倒;淹没;(overwhelm的过去分词和过去式)
I realized that I had been so immersed in the media coverage of Mexicans that they had become one thing in my mind, the abject immigrant . 我意识到我当时完全被沉浸在 媒体上关于墨西哥人的报道, 以致于他们在我的脑中幻化成一个单一的个体── 卑贱的移民。
immersed:adj.沉入的; v.浸没; (immerse的过去分词和过去式) media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉; coverage:n.覆盖,覆盖范围; abject:adj.卑鄙的;可怜的;不幸的; immigrant:n.(外来)移民;外侨;adj.侨民的;
I had bought into the single story of Mexicans and I could not have been more ashamed of myself. 我完全相信了关于墨西哥人的单一故事, 对此我感到无比的羞愧。
ashamed:adj.惭愧;尴尬;因惭愧而不情愿;
So that is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again , and that is what they become. 这就是创造单一故事的经过, 将一群人一遍又一遍地 呈现为一个事物,并且只是一个事物, 时间久了 他们就变成了那个食物。
over and over again:adv.一再地;反复不断地;
It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. 而说到单一的故事, 就自然而然地要讲到权力这个问题。
There is a word, an Igbo word, that I think about whenever I think about the power structures of the world, and it is "nkali." 每当我想到这个世界的权力结构的时候, 我都会想起一个伊博语中的单词, 叫做“nkali”。
structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式);
It's a noun that loosely translates to "to be greater than another." 它是一个名词,可以在大意上被翻译成 “比另一个人强大”。
noun:n.名词; loosely:adv.宽松地;放荡地;轻率地;
Like our economic and political worlds, stories too are defined by the principle of nkali. 就如同我们的经济和政治界一样, 我们所讲的故事也是建立在 nkali的原则上的。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; defined:adj.有定义的,确定的; v.使明确; principle:n.原理,原则;主义,道义;本质,本义;根源,源泉;
How they are told, who tells them, when they're told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. 这些故事是怎样被讲述的、由谁来讲述、 何时被讲述、有多少故事被讲述, 这一切都取决于权力。
dependent on:依赖于;依靠;
Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. 所谓的权力,不单单是讲述一个关于别人的故事的能力, 而是将那个故事转变为关于那个人的决定性故事。
definitive:n.限定词;adj.决定性的;最后的;限定的;
The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story, and to start with, "secondly." 巴勒斯坦诗人Mourid Barghouti曾经写到: 如果你想剥夺一群人的权利, 最简单的办法就是讲述一个关于他们的故事, 并且从“第二点”开始讲起。
Palestinian:adj.巴勒斯坦的;巴勒斯坦人的;n.巴勒斯坦人;
Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have and entirely different story. 从印第安土著人的弓箭讲起, 而不是英国人的侵占, 整个故事将变得完全不同。
Native:adj.本国的;土著的;天然的;与生俱来的;天赋的;n.本地人;土产;当地居民;
Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story. 讲述一个故事, 从非洲国家的失败谈起, 而不是殖民者瓜分创建这些非洲国家的过程, 整个故事将变得完全不同。
colonial:n.殖民地居民;adj.殖民地的,殖民的; creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
I recently spoke at a university where a student told me that it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers like the father character in my novel. 我最近刚刚在一个大学做了一篇讲座, 一个学生对我说: 非常可悲, 尼日利亚的男人都和我书中的父亲角色一样, 都是施暴者。
recently:adv.最近;新近; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; abusers:n.abuser的名词复数形式;
I told him that I had just read a novel called "American Psycho " -- 我告诉他我最近刚刚读了一本小说, 叫做《 美国精神狂魔》,
Psycho:n.心理分析,精神分析;精神病患者;adj.精神病的;精神病学的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
- and that it was such a shame that young Americans were serial murderers. 对此我也感到很惋惜, 美国青年都是连环杀手。
serial:adj.顺序排列的; n.电视连续剧;
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）
Now, obviously I said this in a fit of mild irritation . 当然了,那是我一时的气话。
mild:adj.温和的; n.(英国的一种)淡味麦芽啤酒; irritation:n.刺激;激怒,恼怒,生气;兴奋;令人恼火的事;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I would never have occurred to me to think that just because I had read a novel in which a character was a serial killer that he was somehow representative of all Americans. 我绝不会认为 仅仅因为我对了一本 以连环杀手为主角的小说, 他便可以代表 所有的美国人。
serial killer:n.连环杀手; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; representative:n.代表; adj.典型的;
And now, this is not because I am a better person than that student, but, because of America's cultural and economic power, 这并不是因为我比那位学生出色, 而是因为,美国的文化以及经济雄厚实力
cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的;
I had many stories of America. 使得我有机会掌握了关于美国的多重故事。
I had read Tyler and Updike and Steinbeck and Gaitskill. 我读过泰勒、厄普代克、斯坦贝克以及盖茨克尔。
I did not have a single story of America. 因此,我对美国的了解并不是来自单一的故事。
When I learned, some years ago, that writers were expected to have had really unhappy childhoods to be successful, 当我多年前听说作家们 必须有极其不幸的童年 才能取得成功的时候,
childhoods:n.童年时期;幼年时代;
I began to think about how I could invent horrible things my parents had done to me. 我开始思考如何捏造一些 我父母对我做过的恶行。
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的,
(Laughter) （笑声）
But the truth is that I had a very happy childhood, full of laughter and love, in a very close-knit family. 但是事实,我的童年非常愉快, 充满了欢笑和关爱,也有着一个非常亲密的家庭。
close-knit:adj.紧密的;严谨的;紧密结合着的;
But I also had grandfathers who died in refugee camps. 但我也有在难民营中死去的祖父。
refugee:n.难民;避难者;逃亡者;v.避难;adj.避难的;
My cousin Polle died because he could not get adequate healthcare. 我的表兄Polle因为无法得到充足的医疗而去世。
adequate:adj.充足的;适当的;胜任的;
One of my closest friends, Okoloma, died in a plane crash because our firetrucks did not have water. 我最亲近的朋友之一Okoloma死于一场飞机失事 因为我们的消防车中没有水。
I grew up under repressive military governments that devalued education, so that sometimes my parents were not paid their salaries. 我在不重视教育、充满压迫性的 军权政府下长大, 以致于我的父母有时根本拿不到他们的工资。
repressive:adj.镇压的;压抑的;抑制的; military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; devalued:vt.使贬值;降低…的价值;vi.贬值;
And so, as a child, I saw jam disappear from the breakfast table, then margarine disappeared , then bread became too expensive, then milk became rationed . 因此,年少的我目睹果酱从早餐桌上消失, 随后黄油也消失了, 面包变得无比昂贵, 牛奶需要限量供应。
margarine:n.人造黄油;人造奶油; disappeared:adj.消失的;消失了的;v.消失,失踪;(disappear的过去式和过去分词) rationed:vt.配给;定量供应;n.定量;口粮;配给量;
And most of all, a kind of normalized political fear invaded our lives. 最重要的是,政治恐惧 成了我们生活中习以为常的一部分。
normalized:adj.标准化的; v.使规范化(normalize的过去分词); invaded:v.入侵;拥入;遍布(invade的过去分词);adj.被侵入的;
All of these stories make me who I am. 所有这些故事都塑造了我。
But to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experience, and to overlook the many other stories that formed me. 但如果我仅仅关注这些悲观的故事, 那么我就简化了我的生命历程, 并且忽视了许多其他 同样塑造了我的故事。
flatten:vt.击败,摧毁;使…平坦;vi.变平;变单调; overlook:v.忽略;俯视;视而不见;眺望;
The single story creates stereotypes . 单一的故事衍生单一的传统典型。
stereotypes:n.模式化观念(或形象); v.对…形成模式化(或类型化)的看法; (stereotype的第三人称单数和复数)
And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue , but that they are incomplete . 而这些以偏概全的想法所存在的问题 并不是在于它们不真实, 而是在于它们不完整。
untrue:adj.不真实的;不合标准的;不忠实的;不正当的; incomplete:n.未完成;adj.不完整的;不完全的;不完善的;
They make one story become the only story. 它们将一个故事转变成了唯一的故事。
Of course, Africa is a continent full of catastrophes . 当然了,非洲大陆充满了灾难。
continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的; catastrophes:n.灾难;灾祸;横祸;不幸事件;困难;(catastrophe的复数)
There are immense ones, such as the horrific rapes in Congo. 有的灾难,比如刚果猖獗的强奸,是无比巨大的;
immense:adj.巨大的,广大的;无边无际的;非常好的; horrific:adj.可怕的;令人毛骨悚然的; rapes:v.强奸;强暴(rape的第三人称单数)
And depressing ones, such as the fact that 5,000 people apply for one job vacancy in Nigeria. 而有的现实,比如尼日利亚5千人申请一个工作职位, 则更让人无比的压抑。
depressing:adj.令人抑郁的; v.使沮丧; (depress的现在分词) apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求; vacancy:n.空缺;空位;空白;空虚;
But there are other stories that are not about catastrophe. 但与此同时,非洲大陆也有许多和灾难不相关的故事。
And it is very important, it is just as important, to talk about them. 谈论这些故事也是相当重要的,也是同等重要的。
I've always felt that it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person. 我一直都觉得要想充分理解 一个地区、一个民族, 就必须充分理解和那个地区、那个民族相关的所有故事。
engage:v.吸引,占用;使参加;雇佣;使订婚;预定; engaging:adj.有趣的; v.吸引住(注意力、兴趣); (engage的现在分词)
The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity . 而单一故事的结果就是: 它夺走了人们的尊严。
dignity:n.尊严;高贵;
It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. 它使得我们难以意识到人与人之间的平等。
recognition:n.识别;认识;承认;认可; humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科;
It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar. 它强调我们之间的不同, 而不是我们之间的相同。
emphasizes:v.强调;重视;着重;使突出;使明显;(emphasize的第三人称单数)
So what if before my Mexican trip 如果在我的墨西哥之行开始前,
what if:如果…怎么办?
I had followed the immigration debate from both sides, the U.S. and the Mexican? 我去同时聆听移民辩论美墨两边的论点, 结果会是怎样呢？
What if my mother had told us that Fide's family was poor and hardworking? 如果我的母亲告诉我们Fide一家虽然穷,但是很努力, 结果会是怎样呢？
What if we had an African television network that broadcast diverse African stories all over the world? 如果我们有一个非洲电视台在全世界播报关于非洲的不同故事, 结果会是怎样呢？
broadcast:v.广播; n.广播节目; adj.[无线]播音的; diverse:adj.不同的;多种多样的;变化多的;
What the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe calls "a balance of stories." 播报尼日利亚作家奇努阿·阿契贝所谓的 “平衡的故事”。
What if my roommate knew about my Nigerian publisher , 我杰出的尼日利亚出版商Mukta Bakaray
publisher:n.出版者,出版商;发行人;
Mukta Bakaray, a remarkable man who left his job in a bank to follow his dream and start a publishing house? 是个让人难以置信的男人, 他离弃了原本在银行的工作,去追逐自己的理想,成立了个出版社, 如果我的室友听说过他,结果又会是怎样呢？
remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
Now, the conventional wisdom was that Nigerians don't read literature. 世俗告诉Mukta Bakaray:尼日利亚人是不读文学作品的。
wisdom:n.智慧;明智;才智;学问;
He disagreed . He felt that people who could read, would read, if you made literature affordable and available to them. 他不这样认为。 他觉得尼日利亚人会读书、想读书, 但前提是这些书价格不能太昂贵,并且要普及到人民大众。
disagreed:v.不同意;有分歧;不符;不一致;(disagree的过去分词和过去式) affordable:adj.负担得起的;
Shortly after he published my first novel 在他发布了我的第一部小说的不久后,
I went to a TV station in Lagos to do an interview . 我前往拉各斯的一家电视台接受访问。
interview:n.接见,采访;面试,面谈;v.采访;接见;对…进行面谈;
And a woman who worked there as a messenger came up to me and said, "I really liked your novel. I didn't like the ending. 期间一位在那里做通信员的女士走向我,并且说道: “我真的非常喜欢你的小说。但我不喜欢那个结尾。
messenger:n.报信者,送信者;先驱;
Now you must write a sequel , and this is what will happen ..." 你必须写一个续集,并且要这么写...”
sequel:n.续集;结局;继续;后果;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And she went on to tell me what to write in the sequel. 她滔滔不绝地告诉我在续集中要写些什么。
Now I was not only charmed , I was very moved. 她的言语不仅仅让我充满欢喜,也让我充满了感动。
charmed:adj.让人心醉的,迷人的; v.吸引; (charm的过去分词和过去式)
Here was a woman, part of the ordinary masses of Nigerians, who were not supposed to be readers. 她只是一个平凡的女士,尼日利亚普罗大众中的一员, 一个本不应该读书的分子。
masses:n.民众;大量(mass的复数);包块;v.集中;聚集(mass的三单形式); supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
She had not only read the book, but she had taken ownership of it and felt justified in telling me what to write in the sequel. 但她不仅仅是读了那本书,而且充满参与创作的欲望, 并且觉得有足够的权力 来告诉我在续集中要写些什么。
justified in:有理由;
Now, what if my roommate knew about my friend Fumi Onda, a fearless woman who hosts a TV show in Lagos, and is determined to tell the stories that we prefer to forget? 我的朋友Fumi Onda是个无畏的女人, 她在拉各斯主持一档电视节目,旨在揭露那些被掩埋的故事, 如果的室友听说过她,一切会变得不同吗？
fearless:adj.无畏的;大胆的; hosts:n.主人; v.主办,主持(活动); (host的第三人称单数和复数) determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式) prefer:v.更喜欢;宁愿;提出;提升;
What if my roommate knew about the heart procedure that was performed in the Lagos hospital last week? 如果我的室友听说过上周在拉各斯医院进行的心脏手术, 一切会变得不同吗？
procedure:n.步骤;手术;(商业、法律或政治上的)程序; performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式)
What if my roommate knew about contemporary Nigerian music? 如果我的室友听说过尼日利亚的当代音乐呢？
contemporary:n.同时代的人;同时期的东西;adj.当代的;同时代的;属于同一时期的;
Talented people singing in English and Pidgin , and Igbo and Yoruba and Ijo, mixing influences from Jay-Z to Fela to Bob Marley to their grandfathers. 极富才能的人们用英语、皮钦语、 伊博语、约鲁巴语和伊乔语演唱, 将杰斯、费拉、鲍勃·马利以及 他们祖父们的音乐混杂在一起。
Pidgin:n.洋泾滨语;混杂语言;事务; mixing:n.混合;混频;录音;v.混合,掺和,融合;调配;配制;相容;(mix的现在分词) influences:n.影响; v.影响;
What if my roommate knew about the female lawyer who recently went to court in Nigeria to challenge a ridiculous law that required women to get their husband's consent before renewing their passports? 最近有一名女律师 在尼日利亚的法庭上挑战一条极其不可思议的法案── 妇女必须经过她们老公的许可 才可以更新她们的护照, 如果我的室友听说过她,结果会怎样呢？
female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物; ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; consent:vi.同意;赞成;答应;n.同意;(意见等的)一致;赞成; renewing:adj.再生的,更新的;v.复兴(renew的ing形式);使…更新;重新开始;
What if my roommate knew about Nollywood, full of innovative people making films despite great technical odds ? 如果我的室友听说过“尼莱坞”以及那些 冲破技术上的缺陷,不断地创作影视作品的创新者呢？
innovative:adj.革新的,创新的; technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别;
Films so popular that they really are the best example of Nigerians consuming what they produce. 他们制作的电影在本地极其流行, 是尼日利亚人自给自足的 最佳例子。
consuming:adj.消费的;强烈的;v.消耗(consume的ing形式);
What if my roommate knew about my wonderfully ambitious hair braider, who has just started her own business selling hair extensions ? 给我辫辫子的朋友最近刚刚成了自己的事业,开始售卖她的接发片, 如果我的室友听说过她,结果会怎样呢？
wonderfully:adv.精彩地;惊人地;极好地; ambitious:adj.野心勃勃的;有雄心的;热望的;炫耀的; extensions:n.扩大;延伸;扩建部分;增建部分;(extension的复数)
Or about the millions of other Nigerians who start businesses and sometimes fail, but continue to nurse ambition ? 或者是其他数以百万的尼日利亚人,创办自己的产业, 虽然难免失利,但却不曾放弃雄心, 如果我的室友听说过他们,又会怎样呢？
ambition:n.追求的目标;野心;志向;抱负;
Every time I am home I am confronted with the usual sources of irritation for most Nigerians: our failed infrastructure , our failed government. 我每次回家的时候,都会面临 那些令众多尼日利亚人头疼的事情: 失败的基础设施,失败的政府。
confronted:v.使…无法回避;降临于;处理;面对;对抗;(confront的过去分词和过去式) sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数) infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造;
But also by the incredible resilience of people who thrive despite the government, rather than because of it. 但与此同时,我也看到了人们面对这个政府 所展现出的坚韧不拔, 而不是被它给击垮。
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的; resilience:n.恢复力;弹力;顺应力; thrive:v.繁荣;茁壮成长;蓬勃发展;兴旺发达;
I teach writing workshops in Lagos every summer. 每年夏天我都在拉各斯开办写作班。?
workshops:n.工作坊,[工业]车间;研习会,讲习班(workshop的复数形式);
And it is amazing to me how many people apply, how many people are eager to write, to tell stories. 都会被申请的人数震惊到, 有这么多的人想要学习写作, 想要讲述他们的故事。
My Nigerian publisher and I have just started a non-profit called Farafina Trust. 我的尼日利亚出版商和我刚刚成立了个非营利性的组织 叫做Farafina信托。
non-profit:adj.非营利的;
And we have big dreams of building libraries and refurbishing libraries that already exist, and providing books for state schools that don't have anything in their libraries, and also of organizing lots and lots of workshops, in reading and writing, for all the people who are eager to tell our many stories. 我们充满了伟大的梦想:我们想建造图书馆, 并且重新装修已有的图书馆, 对于那些图书馆内空空如也的政府学校 我们会捐赠图书, 我们也会组织大量的阅读班、写作班 来帮助那些 渴望讲述我们身上故事的人们。
refurbishing:v.翻修;重新清理(refurbish的ing形式); organizing:v.组织;安排;处理;分配;管理;(organize的现在分词)
Stories matter. 故事很重要。
Many stories matter. 多重性的故事很重要。
Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign . 故事一直被用来剥夺、用来中伤。
malign:vt.诽谤,污蔑;中伤,说坏话;adj.恶意的,恶性的;有害的;
But stories can also be used to empower , and to humanize . 但故事也可以赋予力量与人性化。
empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够; humanize:vt.教化;赋予人性;使通人情;vi.变为有人性;有教化;
Stories can break the dignity of a people. 故事可以击毁一个民族的尊严,
But stories can also repair that broken dignity. 但也可以修补那被击毁的尊严。
repair:v.修理;修补;修缮;补救;n.修理;修补;修缮;
The American writer Alice Walker wrote this about her southern relatives who had moved to the north. 美国作家Alice Walker曾写过 她那些搬迁至北方的 南方亲戚们。
relatives:n.亲戚;亲属;同类事物;(relative的复数)
She introduced them to a book about the southern life that they had left behind. 她为他们推荐了一本书, 一本关于他们已挥别的南方生活的书。
'"They sat around, reading the book themselves, listening to me read the book, and a kind of paradise was regained ." “他们团团坐在一起,读着这本书, 或是听我给他们读这本书,一种天堂因此而被重拾。”
paradise:n.天堂;至福境地; regained:v.重新获得,恢复;回到(原位);返回;(regain的过去分词和过去式)
I would like to end with this thought: 我想以此来结束我的演讲:
That when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise. 当我们拒绝单一的故事, 当我们认识到任何地方 都没有单一的故事时, 我们将重拾一份天堂。
reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）