從The Bluest Eye商務版漢譯的駁雜語言設計談異質性的涵容與交流

從The Bluest Eye商務版漢譯的駁雜語言設計

談異質性的涵容與交流

◎ 前言：方言語言策略在兩部翻譯典範中的運用

典範一：馬丁路德的德語《聖經》譯本

Annie Brisset, “The search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity” (Rosalind Gill和 Roger Gannon 英譯):

根據Henri Gobard的理論，每一個文化場域或語言社群都掌握了四種語言類別或次級語碼可供驅遣：1. 地方方言， 2. 都會官話， 3. 傳統雅言，4. 宗教神聖的秘語。當傳統雅言是外來語時，以馬丁路德倡導宗教改革時期的德國為例，使用地方方言翻譯聖經，旨在取代外來雅言，消泯其所造成的用語與日常生活疏離的現象。翻譯的職責在於以本土語言取代外來語，本土語言往往就是在地方言，是「與生俱來的語言行使權，不可抹煞的歸屬標誌」（“the linguistic birthright, the indelible mark of belonging”），於是，翻譯成為一種重新找回或重新定焦認同，一種回歸本土，的作為。它並不創造一種新的語言，而是把方言提升為國語或文化語言。

典範二：楊牧的莎劇《暴風雨》譯本

楊牧的譯版有異於同年出版，由李魁賢翻譯的，台語版《暴風雨》。台語、台灣國語、和風台語、英語、古典漢語出現在楊版《暴風雨》中，除了標示出這本新譯主要以台灣這一處多族群、多語化的地理區域為流通場域，翻譯旨趣的確包括了後殖民訴求，但翻譯語體多語化的表現，更是涵容台灣多元文化特色的一種高度藝術考量。

◎     The Bluest Eye的多元語言書寫策略

Toni Morrison 在1993年撰寫的〈後記〉所提供的說明：

“My choices of language (speakerly, aural, colloquial), my reliance for full comprehension on codes embedded in black culture, my effort to effect immediate co-conspiracy and intimacy (without any distancing, explanatory fabric), as well as my attempt to shape a silence while breaking it are attempts to transfigure the complexity and wealth of Black-American culture into a language worthy of the culture.

     Thinking back now on the problems expressive language presented to me, I am amazed by their currency, their tenacity.  Hearing “civilized” language debase humans, watching cultural exorcisms debase literature, seeing oneself preserved in the ember of disqualifying metaphors—I can say that my narrative project is as difficult today as it was thirty years ago.”

「我所選擇的語言（說話者的、聽覺的、口語的），我所仰仗的對於潛藏在黑人文化中各樣語碼的充分掌握，我對形成即時同謀和親暱（不需任何保持距離的、詮釋性的鋪陳）所做的努力，以及我試圖形塑沈默同時加以打破，都是為了企圖把非裔美國文化的複雜面與豐富性轉化成與其文化質地相稱的語言。

此刻回顧表達性語言曾經帶給我的挑戰，我倒是驚詫於這些挑戰始終存在，如影隨形、與時俱進。處處聽見「文明化的」語言如何讓人墮落，目睹文化的驅魔動作使文學墮落，省察自己被保存在時時自行解構的隱喻餘燼裡─我能說的是我的敘事工程之艱鉅今日如同三十年前。」

◎ 商務版《最藍的眼睛》所採取的多元譯語策略

譯者序所提供的說明：

「翻譯這本小說的過程，我特別著重讓譯文讀起來與原著的味道相稱。原作者摩理森雖然宣稱大量使用黑人口語，其實在敘述與議論部分，她寫出來的是省淨而不失典雅的標準散筆英文；在抒情與寫景部分，則擅長適度將語言意象化、隱喻化，使其臻入詩的意境。這一層面，我所做的努力已呈現在譯文中，有心的讀者可以細加玩味。更令人好奇的是，我到底採取了什麼樣的策略翻譯在對話中大量出現的黑人口語？細心的原作者為小說中的角色打造了不同的語姿，每個角色在對白中使用黑人英語的含量多寡有別，摩里森甚至讓白人角色以模仿黑人說話的口吻來對其進行污辱。黑人口語相對於標準英語，在這本小說中最常見的變異計有：雙重否定的構句方式、音近假借、不穩定的動詞單複數與時態形式等。這一部份，除了扼要擇例在註解中摘錄原文略加說明之外，在譯文的本身，我並未有系統地變造華文句構或動詞語彙以平行模擬之。我所著力的是用生動的華文口語，佐以微量的台語，讓對白的語姿活靈活現。只有在原文以斜體字印出，屬於寶琳口述的回憶部分，我才嘗試在譯文中大量引進台語的語彙和句構，讓寶琳的語言呈現台華互滲、駁雜多音的風格，為什麼在這一段落特別為她設計這樣的語言，我在註解裡提出了說明。不熟悉台語的讀者可參酌書尾的台華語詞對照表幫助閱讀。」

◎ 譯例與譯註的解說功能

例一：開場白

「噓，毋通講出去。」

原文：“Quiet as it’s kept”

例二：麥克提爾太太的口白

「…天曉得人家把我當做在經營，一間救濟站，是吧我猜。夠了，我要換邊了，從施捨這一邊換到接受那一邊。看來，我注定什麼東西都留不住，注定要流落到貧民收容所去。好像我怎麼搏拼，終歸還是躲不過這厄運。人家總是時時刻刻想盡辦法要把我送進收容所。口袋對貓有什麼屁用？我幹嘛吃飽太閒多養一張嘴？」

原文： “…I don’t know what I’m suppose to be running here, a charity ward, I guess.  Time for me to get out of the giving line and get in the getting line.  I guess I ain’t supposed to have nothing. I’m supposed to end up in the poorhouse. Look like nothing I do is going to keep me out of there.  Folks just spend all their time trying to figure out ways to send me to the poorhouse. I got about as much business with another mouse to feed as a cat has with side pockets.”

註：摩里森為麥克提爾太太所設計的口語夾雜了黑人英語和標準英語，反映了羅蘭鎮黑白雜處的生活實況。標準英文的習得在北方黑人家庭中是力爭上游的指標。但在自家人的閒聊中或黑人圈子裡，講黑人英語能增進親暱感。這裡冒出口袋對貓有何屁用的妙喻，有先行暖場的作用。貓將在下一部中關於潔若玎和俊良母子那章聚光登場。

例三：敘述者推想琵可拉憧憬有對藍眼睛背後的心裡因素

前些時候有個想法湧上琵可拉心頭：如果她的眼睛，那對保存畫面、照鑑事物的眼睛─如果她有一對不一樣的，換句話說，漂漂亮亮的眼睛，她就會變成一個完全不一樣的人了。她的牙齒長得算好，至少她的鼻子不像那些別人稱之為可人兒的那麼扁那麼大。如果她長得不一樣，長得漂亮，韭理也許就不會像現在這副德行，哺愛太太也一樣。也許他們會說，「等等，你看琵可拉的眼睛多美啊，讓我們不要在那對美麗的眼睛之前幹醜事。」

原文： 「等等，你看琵可拉的眼睛多美啊，讓我們不要在那對美麗的眼睛之前幹醜事。」原文作 “Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola.  We mustn’t do bad things in front of those pretty eyes.”

註： 哺愛夫妻使用的語言以黑人英語居多。這一句卻是標準英語。摩里森讓想像自己有藍眼睛的琵可拉想像自己的父母說得依口標準英語。

例四：妓女瑪麗的口白

「喔，蜜姐兒，妳錯過大半輩子海海人生了。哇，我的耶穌。195。還輪到妳說什麼水乳交融的！我十四歲時遇見他。我倆蹺家像恩愛夫妻一樣同居了三年。妳知道嗎？妳見到的那些猴急猴急上到這兒來的不死鬼加上大膿包，用碗裝它50個也比不上咱杜威王子的一根腳踝骨。喔，主啊！那個男人愛死我了！」

原文： “Oh, honey, you’ve missed half your life. Whoa Jesus, one-nine-five. You talkin’ ‘bout smooth! I met him when I was fourteen.  We ran away and lived together like married for three years. You know all those klinker-tops you see runnin’ up here? Fifty of ‘em in a bowl wouldn’t make a Dewey Prince ankle bone. Oh, Lord. How that man loved me!”

註： 摩里森模倣莎士比亞的詼諧對話風格，自創富涵性暗示的隱喻，功夫到家。以klinker-tops 這字為例說明。klinker 為clink 或clinker 之互文。clink為擬聲語，指吭啷作響；clinker 一般指爐渣或噴出後冷卻的火山灰，俚語作膿包。top 當名詞，指陀螺，但亦可按字面解為「在上者」。klinker-tops 因此可產生多重含義：（1）吭啷吭啷跑上來的陀螺和 （2）跨在上面的膿包等。將多重隱喻融會貫通之後，試以「不死鬼加上大膿包」譯出。

例五：白種獵人對韭理的雙重欺凌與污辱

「怎麼啦，操啊。快一點。你瞎操叫她爽個屁。」

原文： “ Come on, coon. Faster. You ain’t doing nothing for her.”

註： “coon” 是黑人俚語，而雙重否定的句構方式更是典型的黑人英語。小說家用心呈現白人獵人刻意模仿黑人粗話和黑人英語脅迫韭理，反映出韭理所遭受的是雙重的污衊：行為加上語言。

例六：白種巴士售票員對韭理的言語羞辱

「若被我碰到一個說謊的黑鬼我想我一定認得出來，就算你不是好了，就算你的一個媽媽真的快死了，去向創造她的那位報到之前就等著見見自己心愛的小黑炭，我還是做件好事成全你吧。」

原文：“I reckon I knows a lying nigger when I sees one, but jest in case you ain’t, jest in case one of them mammies is really dyin’ and wants to see her little old smoke before she meets her maker, I gone do it.”

註：蔑稱韭理”nigger” 和 “little old smoke”，這位售票員顯然是白人，但是他的發音和文法卻又與黑人無甚差別。小說家藉此呈現：以用語習慣作為區分種族的指標，在南方可能不完全準確。所謂黑人英語有極大部分受到南方白人方言的影響。不夠標準的文法與地理區域、社會階層和教育程度有關，不必然是種族的身份標誌。

例七：皂頭．教堂的標準英語用途

以利戶，不知道上哪兒去尋找自己，只好自求多福，結果「發現」自己毫無賺錢的本領。他開始陷入躋身上流的焦慮，輾轉換了幾個差事無不都是美國境內的黑人常見的白領工作，不管他們的身世有多高貴：在芝加哥的有色人種旅館當門房、保險掮客、黑人專用化妝品的旅行推銷員。最後，1931年，他落腳在俄亥俄州羅蘭市，化身成冒牌牧師，賣弄他說得字正腔圓的英語，讓人對他肅然起敬。當地的婦女很快就發現他不近女色，想不通他何以能抗拒她們的誘惑，於是下了個結論：他絕非怪胎（不自然）而是不同凡響（超自然）。

註：在這整本小說中，使用標準英文的黑人角色有皂頭．教堂（反映在他臨死前寫給上帝的信）、長大後的克洛蒂亞（小說中最主要的敘述者，作者摩里森的化身），和發瘋之後琵可拉內心的獨白。使用標準英語的能力與教育程度有關。皂頭用標準英語在自己的同種社群裡扮演假先知訛詐人。長大後的克洛蒂亞/摩里森用標準英語在世人面前「為民喉舌」。

例八：皂頭．教堂自殺前寫給上帝的信

這麼說來，名字難道是實體？一個人就只是他的名字所指稱的那樣？這就是為什麼當摩西對祢提出一個極其簡單和友善的問題：「祢叫什麼名字？」祢偏不明說，反而回答：「我是自有永有的那位。」這豈不像大力水手帕派？自稱「我是吃油用油的那位」？害怕洩漏祢的真實姓名，是不是？害怕他們一旦知道祢的名字就識破祢的底細？因此也就不再懼怕祢了？

原文： Is the name the real thing, then? And the person only what his name says? Is that why to the simplest and friendliest questions:”What is your name?” put to you by Moses, You would not say, and said instead “I am who I am.” Like Popeye? I Yam What I Yam? Afriad you were, weren’t you, to give out your name? Afraid they would know the name and then know you? Then they wouldn’t fear you?

註：「我是吃油用油的那位」原文作 “Like Popeye? I Yam what I Yam?”

Popeye 即家喻戶曉的卡通人物大力水手帕派。 “I Yam what I Yam” 為 “I am who I am” 的音近變異，為帕派的招牌口頭禪之一，故依音近變異譯成「我是吃油用油的那位」。不過，值得進一步補充說明的是，熟悉美國非裔小說傳統的人，應會注意到摩里森這一句嘲弄語：“I Yam what I Yam”，從文本互涉的角度看，係改寫自她的文壇前輩，非裔男性小說家羅夫‧艾里森（Ralph Ellison） 在經典小說《隱形人》（Invisible Man）裡由敘事者說出的一句令人印象深刻的口白。剛到紐約哈林區時，他在街上遇見有人賣烤蕃薯，讓他想起南方的老家。他買來吃，一面吃這根莖（root）食物，一面感受它與自己族裔根源（roots）的關係，於是脫口而出： “I Yam who I am.” 艾里森糅和了聖經裡猶太人的神對摩西說的話和街頭巷尾人人耳熟能詳的卡通人物口頭禪，為自己的族裔身份下定義，這一修辭上的神來之筆，雅俗雜糅，被批評家譽為巴赫汀(Bakhtin)所謂小說語言合該眾聲喧嘩（heteroglossia）的最佳例證之一。莫里森在這裡挪借並加以變造前輩作家的名句，不僅向其致敬，但也有分庭抗禮、自我期許的意味。

例九：瘋掉了的琵可拉與鏡中的另我對話

我不要再跟妳玩了。

喔，不要拋下我。

我要離開了。

怎麼了？妳生我的氣？

是的。

因為我的眼睛不夠藍？因為我沒有最藍的眼睛？

不是，因為妳愚不可及。

別走。別拋下我。如果我有了，妳會留下來嗎？

有什麼？

最藍的眼睛。妳會回來嗎？

當然，我會回來。我只離開一陣子。

遵守諾言？

當然。我會回來。回到妳真實的眼睛面前。

註：在瘋狂中以為自己已擁有藍眼睛的琵可拉對著鏡子觀看，一面與鏡中另一個自我（想像中永遠順著她的期望回應的友人）對話。擁有藍眼睛的琵可拉，兩個分裂的自我，在無法與外界溝通的封閉世界裡，所使用的語言全是標準英語。

例十：寶琳的記憶獨白之一

當阮全家攏要離開南方的故鄉在集合的所在等坐卡車，彼時是暗瞑夜。六月火金姑四界咻咻飛。它們照光一片樹葉，我每隔一短陣時間就會看到一束一束的綠光。這是我最後一次看到正港的六月火金姑。這邊的不是六月火金姑。是別種的。在地人叫伊螢火蟲。故鄉那邊的和這不仝款。我還記得那一束一束的綠光。我記得非常清楚。

原文：“When all us left from down home and was waiting down by the depot for the truck, it was nighttime. June bugs was shooting everywhere.  They lighted up a tree leaf, and I seen a streak of green every now and again.  That was the last time I seen real june bugs.  These things up here ain’t june bugs.  They’s something else.  Folks here call them fireflies. Down home they were different.  But I recollect that streak of green.  I recollect it well.”

註：以 “all us” 取代標準英文的“all of us”；複數主詞卻使用單數動詞 “was waiting”；這兩項變異反映出寶琳的黑人口語特色。至於方位副詞 “Down”的兩次重複使用，除了慣性用法之外，更貼切地呈現了寶琳對南方故鄉的懷念；用說話者的語言再現她的潛在心理，這已接近文學的修辭。像這初始的第一句，在以下寶琳的口述回憶中，摩里森大量使用黑人口語英文， 但同時融合抒情的想像和如詩的修辭，使寶琳的口語文學風格化。譯文摻合華文和台語，除了追求逼近原文的口語風格，兼顧詩意的營造之外，也希望能呈現不同族群語言的異質性。異質性的尊重涵容與交流正是這本小說有關美學、倫理與政治的中心信仰。因此譯文並非全盤的台語再現，台華互摻所產生的駁雜效果，正是譯者突破性的嘗試。

例十一：寶琳的記憶獨白之二

我最快樂的時光似乎獨獨是在電影戲院內。有時間，我就去。早早就去，在放映之前。 關電火，一片黑澀澀。接著，銀幕就光起來，我整個人就進入影片內。白種查甫對 的查某人那麼體貼， 總是穿得足正式，出現在打掃得清潔溜溜的豪宅裡，厝內浴缸和馬桶設在同一間房。這些電影帶給我足多的快樂，但是予我轉去厝內會心挫，看到韭理會心挫。連我自己攏莫名其妙。記得有一回我去看克拉克蓋博和珍哈蘿。我特別梳了一種我在雜誌上看見伊梳的彼種髮型。旁分，額頂有一小捲波浪。看起來就親像珍哈蘿。應該講是差不多親像伊。總之，我梳了個彼樣的髮型坐著看電影，感覺真爽。

例十二：敘述者克洛蒂亞將父親比擬為希臘神話中的火神

我爸爸的臉孔是一張繪畫習作。冬天來了，君臨於其上。他的眼睛變成覆雪的巉巖，威脅著隨時要雪崩；他的眉毛曲拱像葉子枯光了的黑色枝條。他的肌膚吸收了冬陽疏淡的、意興闌珊的黃；下巴是以積雪描界，殘梗離落的野地一角；高高的額頭是艾略湖冰封的湖面，掩藏著思想潛流，暗地裡渦漩不已冷冽入髓。夜晚在家門口殛狼，白天在窗台下鬥鷹。他活似護衛火焰的瓦爾幹神，指導我們哪扇門該關哪扇門該開好讓熱氣分佈均勻，該如何儲存火種、研判煤炭的品質，又教我們怎樣耙梳、添加、控制火候。心到口到，直到春天降臨。

原文：My daddy’s face is a study.  Winter moves into it and presides there. His eyes become a cliff of snow threatening to avalanche; his eyebrows bend like black limbs of leafless trees. His skin takes on the pale, cheerless yellow of winter sun; for a jaw he has the edges of a snowbound field dotted with stubble; his high forehead is the frozen sweep of the Erie, hiding currents of gelid thoughts that eddy in darkness. Wolf killer turned hawk fighter, he worked night and day to keep one from the door and the other from under the windowsills. A Vulcan guarding the flames, he gives us instructions about which doors to keep closed or opened for proper distribution of heat, lays kindling by, discusses qualities of coal, and teaches us how to take, feed, and bank the fire. And he will not unrazor his lips until spring.

註：Vulcan，羅馬神話中的火神，美麗女神維納斯的丈夫。對等於希臘神話中的火神和煉鐵工師Hephaestus。

瘋狂與靈光之間──從〈黃色壁紙〉的校譯工作談起

瘋狂與靈光之間──從〈黃色壁紙〉的校譯工作談起

 

逗點計畫出版美國十九世紀末的女性經典小說〈黃色壁紙〉中譯，譯者為畢業於東華大學創作與英語文學研究所的劉柏廷。逗點邀請我為這篇小說撰寫導讀序，讀過柏廷的中譯之後，忝為譯者碩士論文指導教授，覺得若能提供學生一點協助，校譯應比導讀序來得具體有益。原因是，涉及文學翻譯，尤其是一篇經典作品的翻譯，需要非常嚴謹地進行，譯文必須同時符合學術與藝術的雙重要求。學術上，首先要擇定一恰當的版本；在翻譯之前，除了熟讀原著之外，更應透過對其詮釋沿革的深入研究，加強對作品文本各個可能面相的體會與把握。在實際翻譯的過程中，除了英譯中語意轉化的一般考量之外，更應把小說創作活動過程中所需注重的藝術技巧加以靈活運用，譬如需要講究敘事者的語言調性與敘述律動，活現她的幻覺視景與情緒變化，以及最重要的，如何在譯文中保留原著文本曖昧的多義性，讓被內化的壓制與越界的反抗兩者間並存、僵持、拉扯的張力醞釀於字裡行間。

夏綠蒂．柏金斯．吉爾曼（1860-1935）於1890年完成〈黃色壁紙〉，經過多方努力，於1892年刊載於《新英格蘭雜誌》（New England Magazine），雖曾短暫引起迴響，但漸被遺忘。1973年伊蓮‧赫茲（Elaine Hedge）主持的女性主義出版社（The Feminist Press）重新印行，在女性主義批評推波助瀾之下，旋即入列美國十九世紀女性文學經典，成為大學女性文學、婦女研究，甚至心理諮商必讀教材之一，〈黃色壁紙〉研究蔚為一時顯學。1992年，女性主義出版社由學者凱薩琳．戈登（Catherine Golden）擔綱編輯，彙整與〈黃色壁紙〉研究相關的背景材料和名家詮釋，出版《被拘禁的想像：〈黃色壁紙〉研究彙編》（The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on “The Yellow Wallpaper”）；1998年學者茱麗．貝茲．達克（Julie Bates Dock）參考〈黃色壁紙〉手稿和作者生前印行的七種版本，完成校勘本，並附有背景材料和早期評論等：《夏綠蒂．柏金斯．吉爾曼的〈黃色壁紙〉及其出版和接受史：評註本與資料彙編》（Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” and the History of Its Publication and Reception: A critical Edition and Documentary Casebook）。這兩本學術專著是深入了解〈黃色壁紙〉的必讀參考書。我的校譯所採用的版本即為達克教授的校勘本。

作者吉爾曼曾現身說法，指出這篇小說的創作發想與自己的親身經驗有關。1886年，她罹患產後憂鬱症，被安排接受當時醫界推崇的「休息療法」為期三個月，期間完全被禁止動腦寫作，導致精神幾乎崩潰，幸經女性作家友人指點，靠寫作死裡逃生，獲得自我療癒。寫作這篇小說的目的，即在呼籲「具有創意的工作」而非壓制心智活動的「休息療法」才是讓憂鬱獲得紓解的良方。解構學說的流行已讓當代的讀者充分體會作者的意圖並非文本意涵的唯一指標。翻譯〈黃色壁紙〉最大的挑戰，除了對原文語意的精確把握之外，在參酌百家爭鳴的詮釋之後，譯者更應重視如何透過譯文讓讀者體會到原著文本的多重開放性：在以日記體為之的「歇斯底里」書寫背後隱藏著精心架構的女性驚悚小說；在精撰的女性驚悚小說背後則又蠢動著顛覆父權象徵次序的暴烈企圖，游擊於言說與不可言說之間試探女性身體書寫之端倪；甚至有論者力倡原著除了反抗父權文化婚姻制度與醫療體系對女性思想主體的壓制之外，更潛藏著解構性別二分的酷兒想像，而晚近貓學夯盛，女主角晝伏夜出，撕扯壁紙又敏於嗅覺，在爬行中以體液標示版圖的行為表現，更讓凱薩琳．戈登推翻女性主義批評的主流詮釋，認為小說結尾的爬行動作不宜讀成女性自主心智被壓制後退化成獸類的一種隱喻象徵，將敘述者視同於「閣樓中瘋女」的原型人物。相反的，女主角的貓性行為在小說結尾時臻至高峰表現，正是女性自主意識以詭譎莫測的迂迴策略推翻父權體制之達成（參閱 “Making Her Territory: Feline Behavior in ‘The Yellow Wall-paper,’ American Literary Realism, Vol. 40, no.1, 2007年秋季號，16～31 ）。小說結尾在房間內幽閉爬行的到底是退化成原始獸類的瘋女人，還是推翻宰制正在學習爬行的新生女性？美國國慶日，七月四日出現在小說中，是反諷地映現民主政體的誕生並未對等地捍衛性別平等，還是藉以召喚性別革命之必要與新女性的誕生？什麼樣的譯文容許多重開放文本同時並行？這是我的校譯工作努力的目標。目標是否達成取決於譯文是否容許並帶給讀者開放性閱讀的挑戰與樂趣。譬如小說一開始，敘述者來到整個夏天預計租寓的鄉間莊園，置身在超過百年歷史的廳堂空間，隨即墜入詭魅想像（gothic imagination），透露出她是詭魅小說的愛讀者。此際，由閱讀獲得的替代經驗透過租寓行為身歷其境，她即刻從浪漫的遐思獲得高度歡愉（felicity），她的敘述是在這樣的情緒中展開的。隨著敘述的展開，她從讀者轉化成作者，娛樂性的閱讀一步步翻轉成與驚恐角力的心智探險與抗爭。潛藏在原文表層關於這一機轉的啟動，譯文能有效傳達嗎?

 進行校譯工作時，腦際浮起愛彌麗．狄瑾蓀(Emily Dickinson)寫於1863年的一首詩：

Much Madness is divinest Sense--

To a discerning Eye--

Much Sense-- the starkest Madness--

“Tis the Majority

In this, as all, prevail—

Assent—and you are sane—

Demur-you’re straightway dangerous—

And handled with a Chain--

十足的瘋狂是最最靈光的─

對有眼力辨識的人而言─

十足的理智─才是徹底的瘋狂─

是多數人的意見

在這檔事上，如同所有的事，當道─

附從─算你腦筋正常─

不以為然─你可是危險人物─

合當以鎖鏈侍候─

顯然，在顛覆父權體制獨尊理性作為正常與異常的判准這件事上，狄瑾蓀是吉爾曼的先行者，其先見更早於二十世紀的解構大師們，包括福寇（Michel Foucault）在內，一百多年。自三十歲起幽居在家，入夜馳筆寫詩，不畏癲狂，狄瑾蓀的原創想像早就掙脫父權鎖鍊，用變化多樣的地景象徵，譬如花園、海潮、地中海、深井、火山、映著紫色夕照的山頭等，書寫女性身體的慾望。吉爾曼小說文本中的敘述者，在心智崩潰的邊緣，一方面將父權宰制內化，成為監視的幫兇，私藏繩索，預備將從壁紙中闖出的女人綑綁起來，一方面又沿著牆腳上緣那條圍繞著房間莫名所以的線條爬行，宛若它是迷途的指引。擺盪在繩索與線條間掙扎著的，正是受困同時也受惠於歇斯底里的女體，要憑藉著越界的想像，將自己的靈魂書寫出來。這一圈圈環繞著房間的線條，是由 “smooches” 連綴成的，根據敘述者的描述，它非常的滑順，像是一再被抹拭過的。“smooch”這個字多義，通常指的是狎吻，在此處，另指污斑或污漬。女性主義批評家瑪麗．雅各卜斯（Mary Jacobus）認為在大書特書黃色的腥味之後，作者採用這隱晦多義的字眼為線條賦形，背後所反映的是：「吉爾曼故事中不可言說的部分─歇斯底里(hysteria)的字源所指涉的女性性器：子宮…同時也反映了1890年代對於女性性慾再現的壓制，特別是對於女性書寫的壓制。」(參閱 “An Unnecessary Maze of Sign-Reading”，輯入The Captive Imagination， 頁288～89。 )慧黠的吉爾曼以聲東擊西的障眼書寫、看似抽象化了的線條，將女性身體無以名之，卻被父權象徵次序污名化了的歇斯底里動能，委婉表述出來。把鎖鍊轉化為成串的女性身體書寫，與狄瑾蓀隔了近三十年和聲宣告「十足的瘋狂是最最靈光的─」。除了校譯之外，且容我為這條 “smooches” 漬線所隱含的前衛寓意略作上述提點。讀者若對更深入閱讀這篇喚醒女性自主意識卓有貢獻的經典短篇小說感興趣，可參考張小虹教授以女性主義批評結合精神分析與解構思維寫就的論文：〈文本中有女人嗎？──閱讀“黃色壁紙”〉（刊載於1994年3月出刊之《中外文學》卷22第10期，頁57～67）。

     譯者劉柏廷愛好寫作，在學期間屢獲東華文學獎。獲得碩士學位之後於技術學院擔任英文講師，授課之餘，致力於創作與文學翻譯，其志可許。在此以精心校譯鼎力相助，願其譯藝經此磨練，更上層樓。

The Yellow Wall-paper Chinese Translation Revision

It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.

  A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of Romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate!

  Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.

  Else, why should it be let so cheaply?  And why have stood so long untenanted?

  John laughed at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.

  John is practical in the extreme.  He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.

  John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)—perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.

對約翰和我這樣的尋常人來說，整個夏天都得緊守著這些古老的廳堂，實在是非常罕見。

這是一棟殖民時期宅院，也是代代相傳的地產，我說這房子鬧鬼，還帶有浪漫安逸的氣質——要是命運肯多多幫忙的話！

但我敢說這棟房子實在是古怪異常。

不然為何會賤價出租？為何一直乏人問津呢？

約翰因此嘲笑我，當然吶，在一段婚姻裡，被嘲笑也不是新鮮事了。 

約翰極端務實，他對於信仰毫無耐心，覺得那是迷信造成的強烈恐懼，要是聽到有人討論關於一些看不到、感覺不到、又沒辦法具體講出來的東西，他也會公然表達他的不屑。

約翰是名內科醫師，而可能就是這樣——（我是沒辦法對活生生的人提起這些事情，但這是張死板板的紙，是我心靈上巨大的慰藉——）或許就是這原因讓我無法快點康復。

對約翰和我這等尋常人家來說，這個夏天得以據享這一間又一間古色古香的廳堂，可說是罕見的機遇。

這是一棟殖民時期的宅邸，祖傳的家產，這房子我說啊有幽魂出沒，引人臻入浪漫奇情的遐思——不過這可是太想入非非了！

但我敢拍胸脯說這棟房子鐵定有毛病。

不然，為何會賤價出租？為何一直乏人問津？

約翰因此嘲笑我，當然吶，既為人妻，被嘲笑也不是什麼新鮮事。 

約翰極端務實，他對信仰毫無耐心，視迷信為洪水猛獸，要是聽到有人談論關於一些看不見、感覺不到、又沒辦法用數字具體表述的東西，他也會公然嗤之以鼻。

約翰是醫生，而可能就是這樣——（這我可不敢對活生生的人提起，但眼前是張無聲無息的紙，容我吐訴心中塊壘——）可能就是這原因讓我無法快快康復。

PBS American Masters-- Novel Reflections on tehAmerican Dream

Visit this website:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/about/dream.html

Visit this website for a review of the PBS video program published on Seattle Times in 2007:

 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2003649643_novels04.html

Another interesting website dedicated to Faulkner: William Faulkner on the Web:

http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/faulkner.html

Claudia Hsu's answers to the Mid-Term Take-home Exam

Midterm Take Home Exam

Simple Questions:

1.     

What distinguishes The Yellow Wallpaper from the popular ghost’s story is that there is no real ghost in the story: it is a psychological horror, and the protagonist “creates” the ghost herself; as opposed to popular ghost story, the house is not actually haunted by spirits and the hallucination is not caused by ghosts. On the other hand, it is the protagonist, who is put to practice “the rest cure”, eventually goes mad after being locked up for a period of time. The horror and all the hallucination are generated by the protagonist herself, which makes everything even more creepy as it is all self-created, and on top of all that, when even one’s mind is out of control, it is nearly impossible to save her/him from her/himself; the situation is hopeless and helpless. (5)

2.

  Tom’s role in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn serves as the “foil” of the protagonist Huck. Tom is from a rather comfortable background compared to Huck, and he believes in rules, is fond of codes of conduct, fanciness and does not care about others’ welfare while Huck is a boy of Tom’s age who constantly questions authority and has his own independent thinking. In one word, Tom’s opposite qualities high-light Huck’s various characteristics, and this enables the author to present Huck’s characteristics even more vividly with Tom’s contrast. At the end of the novel, Tom’s revelation of the fact that he has deceived everyone about the death of Miss Watson and her will of freeing Jim two months ago uncovers that Tom’s cruelty is beyond what is originally expected: he treats Black people no differently than the majority of the grown-ups and he uses Jim as a plaything to his “adventure” game, and it means that all the moral crisis, and the social conventions Huck has broken through the journey have all been part of a game. (5+2=7)

3.

  It is not difficult to understand why The Awakening was criticized as “a sordid novel” by Kate Chopin’s contemporaries, even some of the themes can still be criticized in today’s society as it contains social taboos like adultery, especially when it is the wife who commits such crime in this novel. As the title of the novel is “The Awakening”, the focus of the book is not simply a romance but a deep and struggling process of a woman in search of her true self. This book should be considered seriously despite some of the themes are taboos because Kate Chopin spoke out many truths that many of the women of her era were not aware of or could not voice, which include that maternal love may not be every woman’s innate urge, not all women are domestic and can be happy by just being someone’s wife and that women have the ability to arouse their own awareness of various senses and desires. Therefore, to consider many of the other messages included in The Awakening, I think it is not fair and is too limited to simply judge this book in the negative way. (5+2=7)

4.

 The doctors in The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper are the opposite of each other. In The Awakening, Doctor Mandelet is described as “bore a reputation for wisdom rather than skill...and was much sought for in matters of consultation.” As to give Edna’s husband suggestions, he seems to be more open-minded and considerate of Edna’s condition than his male contemporaries as he advises Mr. Pontellier to “let your wife alone for a while. Don’t bother her and don’t let her bother you.” In The Yellow Wallpaper, the doctor is the narrator’s husband John and her brother, who, on the other hand, are more of the type of man who believe so much of his own authority, and they regard the narrator’s mental problem as “a slight hysterical tendency” which implies that it all has to do with women’s reproductive systems. On top of all that, the doctors of this story put the narrator to practice “rest cure” which is ultimately absurd and devastating. (5)

5.

  One of my favorite poems by Dickinson is “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?”. I am really fond of the playful tone of this poem, and that it playfully expresses Dickinson’s ideal life: she likes the secluded life instead of being famous. The spiritual privacy of nobody is a luxury for Dickinson that is incomprehensible to the dreary somebody. Furthermore,   

How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

Dickinson continues to say that being somebody is being public like a frog, having to keep announcing their names to the crowds like a frog croaking to the swamp. Indeed, Dickinson lived a quiet life when she was alive, having only a few poems published, she was able to live a rather spiritual and private life despite now, after her death, she has long been one of the most time-tested and acclaimed poets of all time. (5)

Essay Question:

1.      Comment on the gender issues in The Awakening:

The Awakening was first published in 1899, and the story reveals many of the Victorian concepts of women’s roles in marriage, motherhood and social expectations to females. Kate Chopin created the heroin Edna as a rebel to the society, instead of condemning her, Chopin on the other hand, let her explore herself and freed her in the end. The gender issues in The Awakening that I am going to mention include women’s role in marriage and motherhood and Edna’s female awakening.

In the very beginning of the novel, the parrot shouts:“Allez vous-en! Allez Vou-en! Sapristi!” which literally in English means: “Go away! Go away! For God’s sake” foreshadows Edna’s desire to break free from the status quo and her marriage. When Edna first appears in the novel, she is described by her husband looking at her “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered from some damage.” And the first thing Edna is reminded of by her husband is her wedding ring. It is obvious that Edna, in this marriage, is regarded as an object that is owned by her husband instead of a human being. In chapter three, the narration shows how Edna is chained by the marriage and how miserable she is: “She could not have told why she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her married life” and she feels “an indescribable oppression” and is filled by “a vague anguish”. Like many women of the past, they were treated as object as if they had no personal desires, and were trapped in their marriages whether they were happy or not.

Another gender issue in The Awakening is motherhood. Maternal love is considered to be natural and right for every woman; yet, is maternal love really an innate urge? Kate Chopin also challenges such idea or to be more precisely, she overturned such idea as she wrote: “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.” Edna’s friend, Madame Ratignolle is a contrast of Edna, who is a “good woman” based on traditional viewpoints. Madame Ratignolle is fond of sewing, children and domestic life while Edna is the complete opposite. These two roles represent two different types of women, and it represents that women do not just belong to one type, and the existence of women like Edna does not contradict or threaten the existence of characters like Madame Ratignolle; these various types of women can co-exist, and they can get along like Edna and Madame Ratignolle.      

The novel continues with the process of Edna’s awakening. First, a twist occurs after Edna learns how to swim; she learns something new which means she experiences being able to do something outside of the household, and the ocean serves as an imaginary of Edna’s desire and revelation. She later has two extra marital relationships with two other men. In the end of the novel, Edna embraces the ocean, which symbolizes her sense of liberation and the full embrace of her true desire.

In conclusion, the main female character in this novel is presented in a very different way back at that age, and it also explores women’s desire and identity as well as challenges the traditional roles of women, and above all has made this novel one of the earliest books dealing with feminist consciousness. (25)

Total: 54

"Crack-Up" by F. Scott Fitzgerald published in Esquire Feb-Apr 1936

See the full text of the essay published in Esquire, Feburary- April, 1936 at the following website:

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-crack-up

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Full Text of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald is available at this website:

http://www.readbookonline.net/read/690/10628/

Hemingway on F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing talent

Quoted from Ernest Hemingway on Writing, ed. by Larry W. Phillips, p. 106:

[ F. Scott Fitzgerald's ] talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings.  At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred.  Later he became conscious of his damaged wings and of their construction and he learned to think and could not fly any more because the love of flight was gone and he could not remember when it had been effortless.  excerpted from Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, p. 147.

An Open Course about The History of New York

Visit this website:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=78E65F2E6C63CD76

The Fall of Icarus, two poems (εκΦρέσις ekphresis), one by W. C. Williams and the other by W. H. Auden, inspired by Pieter Brueghel's painting

William Carlos Williams

 

"A Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring

a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry

of the year was
awake tingling
near

the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself

sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax

unsignificantly
off the coast
there was

a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning

"一幅呈現伊卡魯斯墜海景象的風景畫"

根據畫家布魯奎爾

伊卡魯斯墜海的時節

正是春天

有個農夫正在耕犁

他的田

萬象競榮

新的一年

甦醒了，乙乙撩人

在跟前

在海陸交接之涯

陶然

自樂

汗流涔涔，陽光炙烈

把翅翼黏蠟

燒溶了

沒什麼了不起的

在岸邊之外

但見

有朵毫不起眼的水花濺開

這正是

伊卡魯斯溺水的現場

W. H. Auden
Musee des Beaux Arts

 
About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

美術館

刻劃起苦難，他們從未失誤，

古代的大師們：他們體認深切

對於人類的處境；每當苦難臨到的時候

往往其他的人正在吃飯或者開窗或者只是無聊地散步；

往往，當老一輩的人正敬虔地，熱誠地等待

神蹟式的降生，必然的就會有

一群根本毫不在乎的孩童，溜冰戲耍

在森林邊緣的湖水之上：

大師們未曾遺忘

既使最可怕的殉道受難都會有終了的時候

終了在一個角落，某個骯髒的地方

在那兒犬類照舊過著犬類的生活而行刑的人所騎的馬

屁股無邪的靠在樹幹上磨搓。

譬如，在布魯奎爾的名畫伊卡魯斯中，怎麼近旁的每一樣事物儘都

悠閒地規避著災難的現場；犁田的農夫可能

聽到噗通落水的聲音，臨終絕望的呼喊，

但是對他而言這樁失足的事件微不足道；太陽照著

想當然耳地照著皙白的雙足沒入黛綠的

海水中；造價昂貴的精緻船隻必然已經目睹

這件離奇的事，有個男孩從空中墜落，

它必須趕赴某個地方，因此若無其事地繼續航行。