2015年7月31日 星期五

Juan Gabriel Vásquez: By the Book

Juan Gabriel Vásquez: By the Book


The author, most recently, of “Lovers on All Saints’ Day” says the toughest thing about translating is being unfaithful to the original: “Doing a little violence to a sentence you love is hard, and many sleepless nights can be caused by it.”

What books are currently on your night stand?
Right now I have about 20 feet of books waiting their turn on my bookshelf. Six or seven of those will make it to my reading table — not my night stand, because I don’t usually read at night when I’m home. At this moment, the shortlisted books are Antonio Muñoz Molina’s “Como la Sombra Que Se Va”; Patrick Modiano’s “Pour Que Tu ne Te Perdes Pas Dans le Quartier”; Lorrie Moore’s “Bark”; Héctor Abad’s “La Oculta”; Mark Doty’s “Still Life With Oysters and Lemon”; Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall”; and “The 20th Century in Poetry,” an anthology by Michael Hulse and Simon Rae.
Who is your favorite novelist of all time?
Yes, who indeed? The post of Favorite Novelist has been filled in my world by Flaubert, Joyce, Faulkner, Conrad. . . . Right now it’s probably a creature of my invention called Tolstoyevsky: a great Russian who is able to write battle scenes as well as conflicts of the soul, whose astonishing eye for detail is matched by his great gift for making people talk, and who is second to none in describing the crossroads between the public life (history, politics) and the private existence of individuals.
Whom do you consider the best writers — novelists, essayists, critics, journalists, poets — working today?
I can’t speak about the best writers, but there’s a list of living classics who have shaped my books in such a way that I can’t imagine my writing without them. It’s a kind of dream team that includes Philip Roth, Mario Vargas Llosa, Javier Marías, Milan Kundera (in the essay category), V. S. Naipaul, Alice Munro, Don DeLillo, John Banville. . . .
What is your favorite Colombian novel?
My favorite Colombian novel is still “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” I try changing my mind every year and fail miserably. The silver medal goes to “Chronicle of a Death Foretold.”
You’ve translated the work of John Hersey and Victor Hugo, among others. What’s the most challenging aspect of translation for you? Has translating changed your approach to reading fiction in translation?
The most challenging aspect of translation, particularly when working with a book you love, is learning to be unfaithful to the original. Doing a little violence to a sentence you love is hard, and many sleepless nights can be caused by it. As for the second question, the answer is yes. Knowing firsthand how translation works, I’m unable now to read just any Chekhov or Kafka: I have my favorite translators too. Also, I try to read in languages that are closer to the original. I read German literature in English (Sebald by Michael Hulse) but Italian literature in Spanish (Claudio Magris by J. A. González Sainz).
What genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
I swear, I have really tried to care about genres or categories, but I find myself sadly unable to do so. I will enjoy anything, anything, as long as it comes written in language that is personal to the point of idiosyncratic, euphonious, revealing and precise. I avoid any kind of writing that doesn’t fill these requirements. I don’t care which genre it belongs to.
What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
There are some that might surprise you, but only if you don’t know me that well: books about soccer. Some have been written by novelists I admire, such as “Dios Es Redondo” (“God Is Round”), by Juan Villoro, or “Salvajes y Sentimentales” (“Savages and Sentimentalists”), by Javier Marías; others fulfill one of my reading vices: the relationship between soccer and politics. In this field, no book I know matches “The Ball Is Round,” by David Goldblatt.
How well do you remember what you read? And the circumstances in which you’ve read a book? What do you remember most?
I’m very bad with faces and names, but I do remember words, either spoken or written. (Sometimes, for instance, I recognize people only when they start talking.) So I do remember very well what I read. The books I read give a sense of structure to my life as much as the books I write, so I can look at any one of the volumes in this room and remember the exact circumstances in which I read it for the first time. “Mr. Sammler’s Planet”? While on a trip to Sweden, during a wonderful summer in which it rained in the rest of Europe. “Notes From the Underground”? While recovering from surgery in 2004. I read “Lolita” in the corridors of a Bogotá hospital, while waiting for my daughters to be born. I read Emmanuel Carrère’s “Limonov” in a hammock at a friend’s farm in the middle of Colombia. The farm was called, inscrutably, Alsacia.
If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, what would it be?
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,” which I read (except for some comedies) between the ages of 18 and 21. And no, I really don’t think this is cheating.
If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
It’s one book in three volumes: Bertrand Russell’s “Autobiography.” There are many lessons to be learnt there, but one of them is of great urgency at a time in which the Colombian government tries to negotiate peace with the FARC guerrillas. How to confront warmongers? How to deal with the lies, the calumnies and the disinformation that, coming from the opposition, are right now the biggest threat to a negotiated peace? How to use reason to be a courageous pacifist? Russell knew something about that.
You’re hosting a literary dinner party. Which three writers are invited?
I’m sure Miguel de Cervantes was fun to be around: He had stories to tell and a sense of humor, and must have been one of the most decent, humane people around. I would sit him next to Borges and let them argue about “Pierre Menard.” I think my friend Javier Cercas would kill me if he weren’t invited.
What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?
This one is easy, because I have them right here: I decided some time ago that I would keep those books behind my desk to avoid standing up and leaving the room every time I need (crave) them. Among them are Flaubert’s “Letters”; Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”; Joyce’s “Ulysses” and “Dubliners”; Jorge Luis Borges’s three volumes of complete works; Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”; Orwell’s “Essays”; Milan Kundera’s “The Art of the Novel”; Philip Roth’s “Operation Shylock” and “American Pastoral”; Julio Cortázar’s “Hopscotch”; Mario Vargas Llosa’s “The War of the End of the World”; García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude”; Carlos Fuentes’s “Terra Nostra.” . . .
What do you plan to read next?
I’m writing a novel about two conspiracies, so my desk is covered by books that might help me understand the phenomenon. Not sociology, mind you, but other kinds of truths: moral, emotional, psychological. So I’m looking forward to Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Corneille’s “Cinna” and many others. Whether they will help me write a decent book, that’s another matter entirely.

-----https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gabriel_V%C3%A1squez
Vásquez won the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award, for The Sound of Things Falling. Biblioteca Cosio Daniel Villegas in Mexico City had nominated the book. Vásquez was the first South American writer to emerge victorious from the contest in its history. His translator Anne McLean took some of his money as is customary.[1]

Though he recognizes a debt to Gabriel García Márquez, his work is a reaction against magical realism, saying this with regard to The Secret History of Costaguana: "I want to forget this absurd rhetoric of Latin America as a magical or marvellous continent. In my novel there is a disproportionate reality, but that which is disproportionate in it is the violence and cruelty of our history and of our politics. Let me be clear about this quote, which I suppose refers, in a caringly sarcastic tone, to One Hundred Years of Solitude. I believed that with this novel, and I can say that reading One Hundred Years ... in my adolescence contributed much to my vocation, but I believe that all of the side of magical realism is the least interesting part of this novel. I propose to read One Hundred Years like a distorted version of the Colombian history. That is the interesting part; in what makes One Hundred Years ... with the massacre of the banana workers or the civil wars of the 19th century, not in the yellow butterflies or in the pigs' tails. Like all grand novels, One Hundred Years of Solitude requires us to reinvent the truth. I believe that this reinvention is to make us lose ourselves in the magical realism. And what I have tried to make in my novel is to recount the 19th Century Colombian story in a radically distinct key and I fear to oppose what Colombians have read until now.[3]
Vásquez, who collaborates in diverse reviews and cultural supplements, also writes essays and is a weekly columnist in the Colombian newspaper, El Espectador. He has had critical success including the three cited novels. His stories have appeared in anthologies in different countries and his novels have been translated to various languages. Furthermore, he himself has translated works of John HerseyVictor Hugo, and E. M. Forster, among others. He was part of the jury of 81 Latin American and Spanish writers and critics who in 2007 elected for the Colombian review, Semana, the best 100 books in the Castilian language in the last 25 years.[4]

艾朗諾 Ronald C. Egan答韓晗

韓晗


韓晗對話艾朗諾

艾朗諾(Ronald Egan),男,當代著名漢學家,美國加州大學聖巴巴拉分校(UCSB)東亞系主任、教授,哈佛大學博士。著有《蘇軾的一生:言論、思想和行為》、《歐陽修的文學作品》等學術專著,並譯有錢鍾書的《管錐編》。

























一.關於個人研究



韓晗(下文簡稱韓): 艾朗諾教授您好,之前我曾有在中國媒體上拜讀過關於您治學經歷的介紹,說您接觸到第一首中國的古詩是王維的《鹿柴》 (見於賀莉丹、江家岱《美國漢學家艾朗諾:為什麼要再寫中國文學史?》,載於《新民周刊》2009年6月),事實上是這樣的嗎?



艾朗諾(下文簡稱艾):沒有啊,沒有。



韓:真的沒有嗎?



艾:沒有,那這個是傳說(笑)。



韓:“傳說”也是一種傳播的方式,那麼您怎麼看中國古典文學在世界上的傳播呢?



艾:中國古代文學是非常非常豐富的,也是外國人應該多知道、多理解的一種文學傳統,我在美國講授中國古代文學,希望美國的大學學生多知道一點關於中國文學那麼豐富、悠久的文學傳統。



韓:這裡還有一件事,不知道是否也是傳說,那就是白先勇先生在回憶文章中所寫的,大概在1968年,您跟隨他到台灣來進修中文課程。他專門找了教汪其楣、李元貞、陳真玲三位老師每週輪流替您上課。汪其楣教現代小說,選了康芸薇的《冷冷的月》、《兩記耳光》做賞析文本。您很欣賞康芸薇對小市民人性人情敏銳的觀察,並希望能見到他仰慕的作家,白先生便托汪其楣把康芸薇約了出來,與您一起到藍天咖啡廳見了面,這是事實嗎?



艾:對對,這是事實。



韓:既然是事實,那麼您作為一名古典文學權威專家,又是如何看待康芸薇、白先勇等作家為代表的中國當代文學?



艾:我以前做學生的時候對現代文學很感興趣,後來我的專業是唐宋時代的文學,後來我就沒有時間去注意現代文學,除了白先勇之外(笑)。我也沒有教授過現代文學,也沒有講授過與現代文學有關的課程。對於現代文學的理解,這是我覺得很可惜的。



二.關於中西文化交流



韓:我還注意到,您有一篇論文,叫《北宋都城中的惡棍與乞丐》,這個題目很有意思,您專門分析了北宋政府對乞丐的收容政策,譬如說“居養院”與“安濟坊”,這篇文章很容易讓我想到與孔飛力、史景遷並稱“漢學三傑”之一魏斐德教授的《上海歹土:戰時恐怖活動與城市犯罪》(Frederic Wakeman Jr,Wartime Terrorism and Urban Crime,Cambridge University Press,2002 ),兩本著作不約而同地都關注了城市化進程中底層市民如流浪漢、暴力犯罪等問題,您認為關注都市化的底層是海外漢學研究的一個趨勢嗎?



艾:一直也有人注意到中國社會窮人的問題,就是沒有不像注意到高官、朝廷與高層社會生活那麼重要,但是我們要把整個中國社會史好好理解的話,那麼對於下層人和窮人以及他們所表現出的社會現像是必須要注意且不能忽略的,就像你剛才提到的那樣,宋代朝廷中一些生活在京都:學術翻譯要非常小心的高官比歐洲大都市的官員們已經很注意到並憐憫窮人們,且給予他們福利、經濟補助。



韓:福利政策比較好。



艾:對,對。他們比同時代歐洲的朝廷要做得好的多。其實,我們知道,在十一、十二世紀的巴黎或是倫敦是不可能有養老院與醫院的。



韓:我們不妨談到翻譯,您的同事,加州大學伯克利分校的教授西里爾•白之(Cyril Birch)曾經英譯了《牡丹亭》,而您又英譯了《管錐篇》,您認為文學翻譯是否要更難一些?



艾:兩者差不多,白之希望並嘗試著把兩方面兩種翻譯方法合起來,他做得很成功,但是把《牡丹亭》這樣一個作品翻譯成英語確實是很難的。



韓:既然都很難,是否會出現高力克先生所說的,在翻譯過程中會因為閱讀不正確而導致“誤讀”?或者說,學術翻譯是否出現“誤讀”的可能性要更大還是更小呢?



艾:當然,這是肯定的,做這個(學術翻譯)肯定要付出更多功夫,而且出錯的可能性很大,所以你做學術翻譯要加倍小心,要非常非常努力(笑)。



三.關於當代中國知識分子



韓:我們也了解到您的導師方志彤與錢鍾書先生是同學,並且您和兩位前輩都有過過從,但是現在的您又時常在中國參加學術活動,與大陸的知識分子有過交往,您是如何看待老知識分子與現代知識分子之間的差別?


https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/ 方志彤
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方志彤(早年多寫作“方志浵”,英文名:Achilles Chih-t'ung Fang,本名“金淳謨” ,1910年8月20日-1995年11月22日),朝鮮族,哈佛大學學者,漢學家和比較文學家。

艾:您剛才提到的兩位老一輩知識分子,錢鍾書與方志彤,確實在下一代很難找到外語懂得那麼多種,學問那麼好,知識又那麼豐富的學者,但是我是基本上相信學問是一代又一代有進步的,當然也不排除在發展的過程中偶然會遇到一些天才,譬如錢鍾書,他肯定是天才。



韓:我也曾聞聽過您說過的一句話:倘若這個世界上有天才,那麼天才一定是錢鍾書先生。



艾:對對(笑),但是我們後一代的優點也有很多啊,譬如在材料檢索方面比前一代方便很多,所以也說不定在以後也會出現一些如錢鍾書一般的天才。



韓:您一直認為,文本細讀即closed reading是治學的基本前提,歐美很多大學的漢學系、英語係與法語係都有著文本細讀的傳統,但是國內去留學的學生卻忽視文本細讀這一問題,從這點來看,您認為當下中國留學生在研究方式上有哪些不足的地方?



艾:我先要說清楚,中國學術界現在也有一些學者擅長細讀,他們做的非常好。這也不是國外的專利,你問我留學生是嗎?他們最大的問題是英語程度很難搞好,當然在美國住久一點這個問題就解決了,但是起初他們到美國來,說話是可以說,看書也可以看,唯獨是寫作,這是他們很困難的,他們覺得很麻煩。



韓:應該主要問題是篇章的結構很難把握,是嗎?



艾:對對,是這個問題。



韓:有一個比較私人的問題,您信宗教嗎?



艾:我不信宗教。



韓:和錢鍾書先生一樣?您是無神論者?



艾:對對,我不信。



韓:您在著作裡也提到,西方的文學也離不開宗教,而且近二十年北美漢學界以“問題”為切入點的研究範式也一直關注宗教與文學、社會價值觀之間的關係,無論是唐宋文學,還是當代的文化研究,這個範式都很普遍,您是如何看待文學與宗教的關係呢?



艾:文學與宗教本身有著密切的聯繫,各朝代文學尤其是我所知道的唐宋文學,是和當時的佛教道教分不開的,這也許在一般的文學史尤其是中國國內的文學史上確實看得不夠清楚,學者們也不夠注重這一方面,但是美國漢學界很看重,這是美國漢學家與國內搞文學史的學者的區別所在。

2015年7月26日 星期日

標點和字體都重要。"夾注號"只用半邊 (紐約時報);FT 標點


2015.7.26
家族旅行,周六午後的"奇美博物館"是預約,所以必須去,很有看頭:與繪畫為例,國內唯一地方有許多19世紀二流的歐洲畫家作品,偶爾有精彩之作;20世紀的不多,不過Degas的雕塑、Picasso的陶器、Chagall的、Max Ernst 的"三聯畫".....都夠水準。
26日早上的program是台灣歷史博物館,妻說是簡學易設計的,展覽規劃等都很用心......不過,我因為想看The Impressionists:Painting and Revolution(2011, BBC,Waldemar Januszczak主持),決定守候在小妹家看末集Final Flourish--回來看公視的說明,過份簡單,又有一處標點符號錯誤:

4.【繪畫和革命:最後盛況】本集中探討關於色彩輪和光學的一些複雜技術問題,以秀拉的『大碗島上的星期天下午』(嘉德島的假日午後)為例,在1886年的印象派畫展中出現時,大家都注意到了,印象派在這裡顯然有新東西出現,秀拉製造出現代巴黎的刻板印象,一個正面、一個反面,現代 世界的兩面隔著一條河,互相對峙。
錯誤之處在(嘉德島的假日午後),以其標點浮號系統,應該是秀拉的『大碗島上的星期天下午』vs嘉德島的假日午後為例,這是兩幅畫作標題,塞納河兩岸的後者表示工人階級,前者是腐敗;怕曬陽光的中產階級.......


2008.1.6
標點和字體都重要國

最近讀瑞麟兄翻譯的 Emma by Jane Austen。發現編輯沒注意到:原文採用不同字體表示強調等,都被遺忘。

這些問題,正如 今天的這則:


.....不過在購買力方面,由於美國物價較低,稅率也不高,分析師指出,美國民眾的實際購買力高於英國民眾;不過英國民眾的年休假較多,同時有公立免費醫療保健服務,福利優於美國。


應該是
".....不過在購買力方面,由於美國物價較低,稅率也不高,分析師指出,美國民眾的實際購買力高於英國民眾;不過英國民眾的年休假日多得多,同時有"免費"醫療保健服務,福利(原文無此,  因為休假非福利)優於美國。....."



UK living standards outstrip US


January 6, 2008

UK living standards outstrip US

Living standards outstrip those across the Atlantic for first time in over a century


David Smith, Economics Editor


不過在購買力方面,由於美國物價較低,稅率也不高,分析師指出,美國民眾的實際購買力高於英國民眾;不過英國民眾的年休假較多,同時有公立免費醫療保健服務,福利優於美國。

However, the British typically have significantly longer holidays than Americans as well as access to “free” healthcare.












----
China Slips in Corruption Perceptions Report
By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW December 04, 2014

時報看中國
中國清廉指數國際排名再下滑
狄雨霏2014年12月04日


China's very public campaign against graft has netted thousands of officials both big and small — “tigers” and “flies,” in Communist Party parlance — but the perception of China as a deeply corrupt country is only rising, according to a leading watchdog group.


中國正在進行高調的反腐運動,抓捕了數以千計的大大小小的官員——用共產黨的話說,其中既有“老虎”,也有“蒼蠅”。然而,一家知名的監察組織表示,外界對中國是個嚴重腐敗國家的印象,卻有增無減。

https://nyt3.azurewebsites.net/china/20141204/c04corruption/dual/

這段譯文沒意見,有意思的是"夾注號"只用半邊的改變方式。


 二、在行文中為補充說明而文氣可以聯貫的,多半用── ──。       (一)這種密碼──有人說是人生的密碼──是很難解開的。       (二)寒夜中,不管是誰家的燈光,都讓人──尤其是漂泊的旅          人──有種溫暖的感覺。       (三)元宵節──亦稱上元節、燈節──除了提燈籠外,吃湯圓也          是習俗之一。
http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/hau/h7.htm


英國獨立黨誓言,一旦在大選中獲勝——這幾乎不可想象——就將退出歐盟(EU)。不過二者間還是存在巨大差異。與英國獨立黨不同,民進黨贏得2016年大選的勝算很大。

這是 Financial Time




But Mr Tang said that under current Chinese law Mr Chen was not required to pay tax on his share sales. 「If the government asks us to pay [tax] we will be the first to do so, but there is no such regulation at the moment,」 he said. 「The public should not doubt us.」奇怪標點

Specialist lawyers and accountants said the rules were vague but that Mr Chen would not usually be required to pay tax on a share sale.

中國富豪捐贈惹出的是是非非

人們可能預期,當中國最富有的商業大亨之一成立該國有史以來最大的民間慈善基金時,中國公眾和由政府控制的媒體將會表示歡迎。

UNCHARITABLE QUESTIONS GREET TYCOON'S GIVEAWAY

2015年7月22日 星期三

中國譯者習慣於"拉幫結派"或"拉幫結黨"等語言

  • 拉幫結黨

    • 拉幫結黨 lā bāng jié dǎng
    • 成語解釋組織幫派,搞小集團活動。
    • 常用程度一般
    • 感情色彩貶義詞
    • 成語結構聯合式
    • 語法用法作謂語、賓語;指搞小集團活動。
    • 產生年代現代
    • 典故出處劉斯奮《白門柳·雞鳴風雨》第二章:“至於乘機拉幫結黨,一心報私仇、發橫財的,就更別說了。”

  • 中國譯者習慣於"拉幫結派"或"拉幫結黨"等語言,偶爾很自然地將它們套用,譬如說,談新批評學派:

    ....給人進行控制和拉幫結派的感覺,而具有獨創性的直覺領悟是孤獨的、不確定的。.....
    --Jacques Barzun (雅克·巴爾贊 ) The Culture We Deserve: A Critique of Disenlightenment《我們應有的文化》北京:中信,2014,頁88

    2015年7月17日 星期五

    申命紀Deuteronomy 第三十三章25節;28~29節

    1. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
    2. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

    http://springbible.fhl.net/Bible2/cgic201/read201.cgi?na=%A5%D3&chap=33
    和合本
    1. 以色列安然居住;雅各的本源獨居五穀新酒之地。他的天也滴甘露。
    2. 以色列啊,你是有福的!誰像你這蒙耶和華所拯救的百姓呢?他是你的盾牌,幫助你,是你威榮的刀劍。你的仇敵必投降你;你必踏在他們的高處
    ----
    思高本

    申命紀

    Deuteronomy 共34 章

    梅瑟第一篇演說(1-440)



    第三十三章


    梅瑟的祝福

    1. 因此,以色列能以安居樂業,雅各伯的後裔定居在產糧出酒之地,天也從上降下甘露。
    2. 以色列,你真是有福的;為上主所拯救的人民,有誰相似你﹖他是你護身的盾牌,是使你勝利的刀劍。你的仇敵必將奉承你,而你卻要踐踏他們的背脊

    ****
    Basic English
    1. Your shoes will be iron and brass; and as your days, so may your work be.

    King James Version
    1. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
    和合
    1. 你的門閂(門閂或作:鞋)是銅的,鐵的。你的日子如何,你的力量也必如何。
    思高本:願你有銅鐵的門閂;願你一生獲享安寧! 」

    2015年7月16日 星期四

    Confound the nose, craftsmanship



    答:我最初相信,寫詩和散文乃為最有效的方式,以此確定想法及度量想像。我想,以藝術、或技巧性而言,我從不視散文為一種比詩歌等而下之的文學體裁,在中國文學,這樣的想法特別真切。https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=487711434718705&id=375990842557432

    From the beginning, I believed that writing in both verse and prose would be the most effective way by which I could define my thoughts and gauge my imagination. I suppose I never regarded the essay as a literary form that was necessarily inferior — in terms of art or craftsmanship — to the poem, and this is especially true when the writing is executed in Chinese.

    craftsmanship 技藝




    答:我並非刻意選擇花蓮作為此書背景。孩童的我,花蓮乃為唯一的地方,我從中知道那麼一點台灣歷史的來龍去脈,台灣發生了許多衝突與戰爭,如今我回想,那災禍源於不同的語言。

    I did not choose Hualien to be the backdrop of the book. It was the only place I, as a boy, knew of a little within the context of Taiwan, which happened to be undergoing all those conflicts and wars, the disasters I realized in retrospect carried out in several languages.
    hc:楊牧"不同的語言"中反思各種台灣災難。


    楊牧小的時候,台灣並沒有"原住民"這名詞。

    答:台灣文學經過迂迴之路,才有今天成果,在各方面相對地蓬勃。我認為,「台灣文學」(Taiwanese literature)乃相對於「台灣來的中國文學」(Chinese literature from Taiwan),即便兩種姿態皆以中文來書寫。

    Taiwanese literature went through a tortuous way to come to what it is today, which is relatively thriving in many vivid fashions. It is, as far as I am concerned, “Taiwanese literature” as opposed to “Chinese literature from Taiwan,” while they all use the Chinese language in the making.
    怎麼跑出"姿態"來?

    -----

    Asian Blog 刊載楊牧訪談,小編的翻譯版本如下:
    楊牧乃為台灣著名詩人、散文、批評、翻譯家,並在2013年獲得紐曼華語文學獎。他的著作有二十餘種散文與詩歌集,並在華盛頓大學、與東華大學教書。

    Yang Mu is a prominent Taiwanese poet, essayist, critic, and translator and was winner of the 2013 Newman Prize for Chinese Literature. He is the author of more than two dozen prose and poetry collections and has taught at the University of Washington and National Donghua University.

    年初,楊牧出版了他的自傳散文集《奇萊前書:青年詩人的成長教育》。該書大量關注於作者的兒時回憶——太平洋台灣東海岸的花蓮。這些私人的記述亦廣泛提及台灣二十世紀社會、政治、文化變遷。楊牧在Asian Blog將暢談他的新書。

    Earlier this year, Yang published the English translation of his autobiographical essay collection Memories of Mount Qilai: The Education of a Young Poet. The essays are largely focused on the author’s childhood in Hualien, on the Pacific coast of eastern Taiwan. These personal narratives also tell the story of Taiwan’s extensive social, political, and cultural changes in the twentieth century.
    Yang Mu spoke with Asia Blog about his book.
    --
    問:你先從寫詩中獲得較大的關注?是什麼引導你寫下《奇萊前書》的散文?你的散文以及詩歌如何交互影響?

    You first received attention for your poetry. What inspired you to start writing the essays found in Memories of Mount Qilai? How have your poetry and prose influenced each other?

    答:我最初相信,寫詩和散文乃為最有效的方式,以此確定想法及度量想像。我想,以藝術、或技巧性而言,我從不視散文為一種比詩歌等而下之的文學體裁,在中國文學,這樣的想法特別真切。

    From the beginning, I believed that writing in both verse and prose would be the most effective way by which I could define my thoughts and gauge my imagination. I suppose I never regarded the essay as a literary form that was necessarily inferior — in terms of art or craftsmanship — to the poem, and this is especially true when the writing is executed in Chinese.
    問:《奇萊前書》捕捉了關鍵、又複雜的台灣與更廣泛的東亞歷史。在你的散文中探討歷史命題時,是甚麼使花蓮成為這麼顯著的背景?

    Your writing in Memories of Mount Qilai captures a critical and complex time in the history of Taiwan and of East Asia in general. What made Hualien such an effective backdrop for exploring the historical themes in your essays?

    答:我並非刻意選擇花蓮作為此書背景。孩童的我,花蓮乃為唯一的地方,我從中知道那麼一點台灣歷史的來龍去脈,台灣發生了許多衝突與戰爭,如今我回想,那災禍源於不同的語言。

    I did not choose Hualien to be the backdrop of the book. It was the only place I, as a boy, knew of a little within the context of Taiwan, which happened to be undergoing all those conflicts and wars, the disasters I realized in retrospect carried out in several languages.

    問:在你的寫作,思索了孩時
    和花蓮原住民的交流。這些境遇對你有何意義?

    In your writing, you reflect on your interactions with Hualien’s indigenous people during your childhood. What do those encounters mean to you?

    答:孩時和原住名的經驗難以抹滅,事實上,我時常視那些經驗為珍寶,甚至感到驕傲。就我現在能想起的,那些獻給他們以及其文化的段落,提及了我對他們早期孩童的印象,以及永恆的傾慕。

    The experience I had with the indigenous people during my childhood is indelible, and in fact, I have always taken it as something to cherish and be proud of. The few passages I devote to describing them and their culture, as I can remember now, tell of my impressions of them from early childhood, and my lasting admiration.
    問:能否談英文版《奇萊前書》的出版緣由?

    Could you talk about the story behind how the English translation of Memories of Mount Qilaicame together?

    答:瑞典漢學家馬悅然教授首先讀中文版,並建議John Balcom 以及Yintsih Balcom翻譯成英文。我有機會在哥倫比亞大學出版前讀到譯稿。出版時書以副標題加註「青年詩人的成長教育」(The Education of a Young Poet)。我喜歡這標題,可能源於德國文學的典故。

    Professor Goran Malmqvist, the Swedish Sinologue, read it first in Chinese and suggested to John and Yintsih Balcom to translate it into English. I was given a chance to read through the typescript before it went to the Columbia University Press. The book was published with a subtitle added on, “The Education of a Young Poet.” I like it, perhaps for its German allusion.
    問:在你創作生涯,是否親眼目睹台灣文學的演變?你如今會如何歸結?

    How have you seen the Taiwanese literary landscape evolve during the course of your career? How would you characterize it today?

    答:台灣文學經過迂迴之路,才有今天成果,在各方面相對地蓬勃。我認為,「台灣文學」(Taiwanese literature)乃相對於「台灣來的中國文學」(Chinese literature from Taiwan),即便兩種姿態皆以中文來書寫。

    Taiwanese literature went through a tortuous way to come to what it is today, which is relatively thriving in many vivid fashions. It is, as far as I am concerned, “Taiwanese literature” as opposed to “Chinese literature from Taiwan,” while they all use the Chinese language in the making.
    問:作為詩人、散文家、學者,你有豐富的經驗。回顧當初,哪一時刻為你最值得?

    You’ve had a rich career so far as a poet, essayist, and scholar. Looking back, what have been some of the most rewarding moments?

    答:我猜想,對我的職業最重要的乃為能夠識別、以及確定一種風格,為了各式的文類寫作,給私人或是給大眾的。我教學生古典文,並同時寫當代文學。

    I guess I take it as most important to my career to be able to identify, and in effect, define a style for my writings in different genres, individually and collectively. I teach the classics to college students and write new literature on my own
    Read our Q&A with writer Yang Mu, who tells the story of Taiwan's social,...
    ASIASOCIETY.ORG



    *****
    有的辭典將Confound it (you). 翻譯成"該死的","你混蛋"。


    其實它只是有點被惹惱、稍微火大而已
              http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/confound?q=Confound

    exclamationdated  Used to express anger or annoyance:oh confound it, where is the thing?


    Sarah Siddons was the outstanding tragic actress of her time. Gainsborough is reported to have had difficulties with her nose and to have exclaimed, ‘Confound the nose, there’s no end to it’:http://bit.ly/1Gpi6yb

    2015年7月15日 星期三

    英語訪談Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky on The Brothers Karamazov


    Leonard Lopate interviews Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky on their latest project, a translation of NOTES FROM A DEAD HOUSE.

    Fyodor Dostoyevsky's final novel gave Richard and Larissa their start in...
    WNYC.ORG






    “We had yet another critic, at the very beginning, an old Russian émigré lady. When we first told her we were translating “The Brothers Karamazov,” she said, Oh, Dostoevsky, I hope you correct his awful style. I said, No, that is precisely what we’re going to keep.” —Larissa Volokhonsky

    Credited with starting a “quiet revolution,” Larissa Volokhonsky and...
    THEPARISREVIEW.ORG


    streamlined. expedite. shipments . measure

    記下思考過程
    http://cn.nytimes.com/business/20150709/c09asiatrade/dual/

    Such criticisms have not dissuaded the Obama administration from pushing ahead. One goal of the pact is to set streamlined rules on technical issues like standardizing the online processing of customs documents, a measure that could not only expedite shipments but also reduce the opportunities for bribing customs officials.
    這類批評意見並沒有影響到奧巴馬政府繼續推進此事的決心。TPP的目標之一,是為一些技術問題設定精簡規則比如關稅文件在線處理的標準化,這一措施不僅能加快發貨速度,還能減少海關人員受賄的機會。


    streamlined  有"簡"意、無"精"意。
    goo dictionary
    streamline
    ━━ n., a., vt. 流線, 流線形(の,にする), 簡素化する, 合理化する.
    stream・lined a. 流線型の; 現代[能率]化した.

    measure 當措施時通常採用measures
    expedite
    迅速處理。

    運貨;出貨vs 發貨 (發送貨品。初刻拍案驚奇˙卷一:「眾人多是做過交易的,各有熟識經紀﹑歇家﹑通事人等,各自上岸,找尋發貨去了。」紅樓夢˙第六十七回:「次日,請了四位夥計,俱已到齊,不免說些販賣帳目﹑發貨之事。」)
    shipment
    n.
    1. The act or an instance of shipping goods.

    2015年7月14日 星期二

    a sort of prison 一種毒藥? primary surplus 原始盈餘?......

    http://cn.nytimes.com/world/20150714/c14europe/en-us/

    Deal on Greek Debt Crisis Exposes Europe’s Deepening Fissures

    LONDON — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said about Greece on Sunday that “the most important currency has been lost: that is trust and reliability.” But many Germans think the most important currency that has been lost is the deutsche mark, the symbol of rectitude and confidence that embodied West Germany’s ascent from the ashes of World War II.
    That same sense of solidity is badly lacking in the European Union as it confronts the limits of its ambitions, and Monday morning’s painful deal on Greece seems unlikely to restore it.

    The latest effort to preserve Greek membership in the eurozone has only deepened the fissures within the European Union between north and south, between advanced economies and developing ones, between large countries and smaller ones, between lenders and debtors, and, just as important, between those 19 countries within the eurozone and the nine European Union nations outside it.
    In the name of preserving the “European project” and European “solidarity,” the ultimatum put to Greece required something close to the surrender of the nation’s sovereignty. For all of Greece’s past sins, and for all of the gamesmanship and harsh talk of the governing Syriza party, this outcome arguably had elements of punishment as well as fiscal responsibility.
    Whether this is good or bad for Greece, in the end, the Greeks will decide. But it averted an outcome that could have left Europe even more badly fractured. And it highlighted the willingness of some leaders to make a compelling case for unity over narrow national interest, especially President François Hollande of France, who played an important role in mediating between Germany and Greece.
    Unpopular and yet contemplating another run for the presidency in 2017, Mr. Hollande displayed leadership and distanced himself from Ms. Merkel and German demands, which many in Europe, especially in France, saw as selfishness and even vindictiveness.
    On Monday, Mr. Hollande said that “even if it was long, I think for Europe this was a good night and a good day.” That is true, given the alternatives.
    But it will be even better if the European Union can now, after so many years, lift its head from its euro crisis and begin to concentrate on other critical issues: providing economic growth and jobs for its young people, a rational and unified policy on migration, a response to Russian ambitions in Ukraine and elsewhere, and a British vote on whether to leave the European Union.
    A so-called Brexit — an exit by Britain, which is expected to overtake France as Europe’s second-largest economy and is one of Europe’s main military and diplomatic actors, with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council — would be far more damaging to the European Union than the departure of small, difficult Greece.
    Britain, which never joined the euro currency bloc, plans to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 on whether to remain a member of the European Union, and Prime Minister David Cameron is negotiating now to change Britain’s terms of membership. The mess over Greece has hardly helped the reputation of the European Union inside Britain, but it may also help Mr. Cameron secure a better deal.
    And the challenge to the post-Cold War order in Europe posed by a newly revanchist Russia is a bigger threat to European ideals of peace and stability than Brussels seems to understand.
    Together with the migration crisis and Greece, these represent “the four horsemen” circling around Europe’s future, said Rem Korteweg of the Center for European Reform, a research institution based in London.
    “The four horsemen threaten the E.U. precisely because they raise issues that can only be solved if governments prioritize a European solution over narrow national agendas,” he said. “If a European answer cannot be found, the horsemen will continue to promote chaos, instability and mutual recrimination” within the European Union.
    As for Ms. Merkel, her reputation hangs in the balance, at home and in her role as Europe’s de facto leader. Having rejected a Greek exit from the eurozone three years agoin the name of European solidarity, she has again avoided that outcome. This time, she risked considerable cost to her political standing at home. But what would really damage her legacy is another expensive bailout for Greece that fails.

    Greece was allowed into the eurozone for largely the same reasons, wishful politics, that put ancient Greece, the core of European culture, at the heart of a European ideal built on civilization and peace. The fact that today’s Greece bears little relationship to the country of Socrates or Pericles was simply ignored. And so was clear evidence, well-known at the time in Brussels, that the Greeks were regularly faking their budgetary figures to qualify for the euro.
    The magical thinking involved was that the euro, somehow shorn of politics, would bring all these different economies into closer balance. The last decade has proved that to be illusory. 

    And Monday’s deal — if it is ratified by an angry Greek Parliament, and by an unhappy German Parliament, and not derailed by smaller countries like Finland with coalition governments that depend on the support of euroskeptic parties — will avert the debacle of a country leaving the common currency for the first time. But by itself, it will do little to strengthen the future of the euro, and it might simply prolong the agony and deepen the divisions.

    For many in Europe, the euro’s economic benefits have been offset by the constraints it imposes. For the weaker economies in particular, it has become a sort of prison, limiting the ability of elected governments to use budgetary policy to smooth out the ups and downs of the economic cycle and eliminating their use of currency fluctuations to help manage national economies.

    For Greece, the crisis five years ago was a chance to create a modern democratic capitalist state, which was one of the reasons to join the European Union in the first place. Many Greeks suffered, the debt mountain grew, and finally, as long predicted, the economic squeeze produced a political revolt — and just as Greece finally seemed to have turned an important corner and was running a primary surplus, in other words, financing its current budget and having something left over to pay its debts.
    The victory in January of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza party led to the reversal of some critical economic overhauls demanded by creditors, threw the Greek economy backward and raised even higher the requirement for further loans. Mr. Tsipras bet big but lost. But so have the Greeks.



    希臘救助協議無益於裂痕漸深的歐洲

    在周一凌晨落幕的會議中,法國總統奧朗德,左,發揮了重要作用,在德國和希臘之間調節。
    Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
    在周一凌晨落幕的會議中,法國總統奧朗德,左,發揮了重要作用,在德國和希臘之間調節。
    倫敦——德國總理安格拉·默克爾周日說起希臘時稱,「最重要的貨幣已經不存在了,那就是信任和可靠」。但很多德國人認為,失去的最重要的貨幣其實是德國馬克。作為正直和信心的符號,它象徵著西德從二戰灰燼中的崛起。
    面對雄心壯志受到的限制,歐盟也非常缺乏這種穩固感,而周一早上就希臘問題達成的令人痛苦的協議,似乎不太可能恢復這種感覺。
    為保留希臘的歐元區成員身份而採取的最新行動,只是加深了歐盟內部北方和南方、先進經濟體和發展中國家、大國和較小的國家、債主和債務人的裂痕,而歐元區的19個成員國和未加入歐元區的九個歐盟國家之間的分歧,也同樣嚴重。
    以維持「歐洲計劃」和歐洲「團結」之名,最後通牒對希臘提出的要求近似於讓其交出主權。鑒於希臘此前的錯誤,以及執政黨激進左翼聯盟(Syriza)的花招和粗魯言辭,這個結果可以說兼有財政責任和懲罰的成分。
    不管這對希臘是有利還是有害,最後都將由希臘民眾決定。但它避免了一個可能會讓歐洲更加四分五裂的結果,並且突顯出一些領導人願意提出令人信服的理由支持統一,反對狹隘的國家利益,特別是在德國和希臘的調解中發揮了重要作用的法國總統弗朗索瓦·奧朗德(François Hollande)。
    不受歡迎但卻打算在2017年謀求連任的奧朗德展現出了領導能力,他跟默克爾和德國的要求保持了距離。在歐洲,特別是法國,很多人視那些要求為自私,甚至是報復。
    周一當天,奧朗德稱「儘管漫長,但我認為對歐洲而言,這是美好的一夜和一天。」從備選方案來看,的確如此。
    但在這麼多年後,如果歐盟現在能抬起頭,將視線從歐元危機移開,開始把精力集中在其他關鍵問題上,也許會更美好,比如為年輕人提供經濟增長和就業崗位、合理而統一的移民政策、對俄羅斯在烏克蘭和其他地方的野心做出回應,以及英國就是否退出歐盟舉行的投票。
    人們口中的「英國退出」對歐盟的破壞,遠比面積小、經濟困難的希臘大。英國有望取代法國,成為歐洲的第二大經濟體。身為聯合國安理會常任理事國的英國,也是歐洲主要的軍事和外交參與者之一。
    從未加入歐元區的英國,計劃在2017年年底之前就是否繼續留在歐盟舉行公投。英國首相戴維·卡梅倫(David Cameron)目前正在為更改英國的成員國條款進行談判。在英國國內,希臘問題引發的混亂對歐盟的名聲沒什麼好處,但卻可能有助於卡梅倫獲得一份更好的協議。
    此外,新近顯露出收復失地打算的俄羅斯,對冷戰後的歐洲秩序構成的挑戰,對歐洲的和平和穩定理念的威脅,歐盟似乎沒有充分認識到。
    總部位於倫敦的研究機構歐洲改革中心(Center for European Reform)的雷姆·科特韋格(Rem Korteweg)說,它們和移民危機及希臘問題一起,將是未來圍着歐洲轉的「啟示錄四騎士」。
    「這四騎士之所以威脅到歐盟,恰恰是因為它們提出的問題,只有各國政府着眼歐洲,把狹隘的本國議題暫置一旁,才能得到解決,」他說。「如果找不到着眼於歐洲的答案,這些騎士就會繼續」在歐盟內部「增加混亂、動蕩和相互指責」。
    對默克爾來說,她的聲望有賴於其國內和歐洲事實領導人這雙重角色之間的平衡。三年前就以歐洲團結的名義拒絕希臘退出歐元區的默克爾,再次避免了這個結果。這一次,她是冒着在國內的政治地位會遭受很大損失的風險。但真正會有損她政績的,是又一次耗費重資但以失敗告終的希臘救援。
    希臘獲許進入歐元區,和作為歐洲文化核心的古希臘,成為以文明與和平為基礎的歐洲理念的核心,在很大程度上是出於同樣的理由,一種表達意願的政治。今天的希臘與蘇格拉底或伯里克利時代的那個國家幾乎沒有關係這個事實,完全被忽略了。希臘為確保歐元資格頻頻偽造預算數據,這是有明確證據的,而且在布魯塞爾人盡皆知,但也被忽略了。
    其中涉及的神奇思維是,歐元不知怎麼就擺脫了政治的牽制,讓所有這些不同的經濟體更接近平衡。過去十年證明,那是錯覺。如果得到憤怒的希臘議會和感到不快的德國議會的批准,並且不會因芬蘭等由聯合政府——它們需要對歐元持懷疑態度的政黨的支持——執政的較小國家而破產,周一的協議將首次避免一個國家因為放棄歐元而崩潰。但協議本身幾乎無助於鞏固歐元的未來,而且可能還會延長痛苦,加深分歧。
    對很多歐洲人來說,歐元的經濟效益已經被它產生的制約抵消了。特別是對更脆弱的經濟體而言,它已經成了一種毒藥,限制了當選政府用財政預算政策應對經濟周期起伏的能力,使其無法利用匯率波動來幫助管理國民經濟。
    對於希臘而言,五年前的危機是一個機會,讓它建立起現代化的民主資本主義國家,這也是它加入歐盟的首要原因之一。很多希臘人在債務累積如山的境況中煎熬,終於,就像一些人早就預測的那樣,經濟緊縮導致了政治反抗——而這正是希臘似乎最終看到了一些曙光,擁有了原始盈餘的時候,換句話說,也就是能夠負擔起目前的預算,並留存一些資金來償還債務的時候。
    亞歷克西斯·齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)總理及其激進左翼聯盟今年1月在選舉中獲勝,導致債權人要求的一些重要經濟改革發生了逆轉,也令希臘經濟倒退,並且需要獲得甚至更多的進一步貸款。齊普拉斯壓下了重注,但失敗了。希臘人也是一樣。

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    For many in Europe, the euro’s economic benefits have been offset by the constraints it imposes. For the weaker economies in particular, it has become a sort of prison, limiting the ability of elected governments to use budgetary policy to smooth out the ups and downs of the economic cycle and eliminating their use of currency fluctuations to help manage national economies.

    對很多歐洲人來說,歐元的經濟效益已經被它產生的制約抵消了。特別是對更脆弱的經濟體而言,它已經成了一種毒藥,限制了當選政府用財政預算政策應對經濟周期起伏的能力,使其無法利用匯率波動來幫助管理國民經濟。

    a sort of prison "一種毒藥"應該是誤譯。
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    Greece was allowed into the eurozone for largely the same reasons, wishful politics, that put ancient Greece, the core of European culture, at the heart of a European ideal built on civilization and peace.
    希臘獲許進入歐元區,和作為歐洲文化核心的古希臘,成為以文明與和平為基礎的歐洲理念的核心,在很大程度上是出於同樣的理由,一種表達意願的政治。今天的希臘與蘇格拉底或伯里克利時代的那個國家幾乎沒有關係這個事實,完全被忽略了。希臘為確保歐元資格頻頻偽造預算數據,這是有明確證據的,而且在布魯塞爾人盡皆知,但也被忽略了。

    黑體字該句錯誤,改成:希臘之所以獲許進入歐元區,多屬政治上的妄想,原以為將歐洲文化核心的古希臘,置於以文明與和平為基礎的歐洲理想之中,乃是天造之合

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     primary surplus的意思, 在上下文已說明。也可查:
    1. Countries' primary surplus (deficit) refers to the component of the fiscalsurplus (deficit) that is comprised of current government spending less current income from taxes, and excludes interest paid on government debt.
    至於翻譯成"原始盈餘",我覺得有點怪。待查。
    或可考慮"直接/初步盈餘'。