翻譯 讓文學走出單行道 Found in Translation

In college in the 1990s, I happened upon a Brazilian writer so sensational that I was sure she must be a household name. And she was — in Curitiba or Maranhão. Outside Brazil, it seemed, nobody knew of Clarice Lispector.

1990年代就讀大學期間，我偶然讀到一位令我驚爲天人的作家，我以爲她的名字肯定家喻戶曉。的確如此——但只是在巴西的庫裏蒂巴或馬拉尼昂。出了巴西，似乎就沒人認得克拉麗賽‧利斯佩克託(Clarice Lispector)了。

My freshman year, I’d abandoned studying Chinese when our professor said it’d be 10 years before we’d be able to decipher a newspaper. I switched to Portuguese, despite zero knowledge of the language or culture.

由於教授說我們得花上十年功夫學習才能解讀中文報紙，我在大學一年級便放棄學習中文，轉到了葡萄牙語專業，雖然我對這門語言和文化一無所知。

Eventually we started reading short Brazilian works. One of these, a 1977 novella by Lispector called “The Hour of the Star,” changed my life. Though its nuances were lost on me, I sensed the strange beauty in the story of a poor girl in Rio de Janeiro. The author was the book’s most forceful presence, and I wanted to learn everything about her. Who was the woman who peered from the back cover like an exiled empress?

後來我們開始閱讀巴西的短篇作品。在這當中，利斯佩克託的《星辰時刻》(The Hour of the Star)改變了我一生。雖然我想不起詳細內容，但我從這位里約熱內盧貧苦女孩的故事中，感受到奇異的美。作家本人是這本書中最有力的存在，我想要了解她的一切。這個如同被流放的女王一般在封底凝視一切的女人，究竟是誰？

As I later learned, Lispector’s first name was enough to identify her to most Brazilians. But two decades after her death in 1977, she remained virtually untranslated; among English speakers, she was unknown outside some academic circles. One pleasure of discovering a great writer is the ability to share her work, and I was stymied. Lispector’s obscurity reinforced itself. People couldn’t care about someone they couldn’t read. And if they couldn’t read her, they couldn’t become interested.

後來我知道，就算不提利斯佩克託的姓氏，許多巴西人也認得出她的名字。但在她在1977年去世後20年間，她的作品基本上沒有被翻譯過；英語世界對她有了解的僅限於學術圈內的一些人。發現一個偉大作家的樂趣之一，就是可以分享她的作品，但我遇到了障礙。利斯佩克託晦澀的文風提高了門檻。人們不會關心自己無法閱讀的作品，而讀者若不去讀，更不可能對作者有興趣。

It took me years to realize that this vicious cycle would not magically be broken. I started writing Lispector’s biography, a project that took five years. The result, “Why This World,” generated interest in a series of English translations of her novels. So far, these have taken another five years. In retrospect, Chinese would have been quicker.

我花了好幾年才明白，沒有什麼魔法可以打破這個惡性循環。我花了五年寫作利斯佩克託的傳記。過了五年以後，這本傳記作品《爲何生於此世》(Why This World)讓人有興趣將她的作品譯成英文。回想起來，學中文可能更快。

The past decade has given me time to reflect on the main cause of Lispector’s obscurity: the increasing global dominance of English. An international tongue may help tourists, but it is turning literature into a one-way street. Not only does this make life harder for contemporary writers, the situation is even worse for those, like Lispector, who can no longer speak for themselves.

這十年來我得以思考出利斯佩克託作品艱澀難懂的原因：在全球日漸取得主導權的英文。這個國際語言可以讓旅客獲益良多，卻也將文學導向單行道。這不僅讓現代作家生活更加困苦，對於像利斯佩克託這類無法發聲的已逝作家，更是一個窘境。

Writers who work in English can’t be faulted for profiting from a situation that has developed over centuries. But since we do profit from it, it’s partly up to us to try to remedy it.

在這個進行了幾個世紀的過程中，英文作家無疑大爲受益。但既然我們是獲利的一方，一定程度上就有責任去補救。

In the United States and Britain, translations represent just 3 percent of the book market. In Russia, in contrast, translated titles accounted for 10.5 percent of the market in 2013; in China, they make up around 7 percent. In the Netherlands, some 75 percent of all books produced are translations, according to 2013 statistics — and about 10 percent of all general interest books sold are original, English-language versions. Not only do foreign writers face obstacles to being read abroad, then, they are being crowded out of bookstores in their own countries. The English language, like rats or kudzu, has become an invasive species.

在美國與英國，書市中只有3%的譯著。而在2013年的俄羅斯，譯著佔市場的10.5%。至於中國的比例，則在7%左右。而根據荷蘭在2013年的統計，他們有75%的書是翻譯作品，又有10%的一般圖書是直接販售英文原版的。外文作家不僅在廣泛閱讀上困難重重，也被自己國家的書店所排擠。英文就像老鼠與野葛一樣，成爲侵略性的物種。

Some prominent English-language writers are already fighting this trend. Jonathan Franzen has translated “Spring Awakening,” by the fin-de-siècle German dramatist Frank Wedekind, and the essays of Viennese satirist Karl Kraus. Lydia Davis alternates between French translation and her own writing. Elizabeth Kostova, an American novelist, started a foundation in 2007 to bring Bulgarian writers into English.

許多著名的英文作家已經挺身抵抗這個趨勢。喬納森‧弗蘭岑(Jonathan Franzen)翻譯了十九世紀末德國劇作家弗蘭克‧魏德凱(Frank Wedekind)的《春之甦醒》(Spring Awakening)，以及維也納諷刺作家卡爾‧克勞斯(Karl Kraus)的散文。莉迪亞‧戴維斯(Lydia Davis)輪番進行法文譯作與自身寫作的工作。美國小說家伊莉莎白‧柯斯托娃(Elizabeth Kostova)也在2007年成立基金會，將保加利亞作家的作品翻成英文。

Because there are so many English-language readers, reaching this market has a powerful effect. Thanks to Ms. Kostova, contemporary Bulgarian writers have a chance at being known internationally. Once Lispector was translated into English, she could be read in other countries, including by editors from China to Ukraine who are trying to get her published locally.

由於英文市場讀者衆多，與這個市場接軌後自然有龐大的效應。在柯斯托娃的努力下，當代保加利亞作家有了爲全球所知的機會。利斯佩克託的作品譯成英文後，其他國家也得以閱讀她的作品，這其中也包括嘗試在中國、烏克蘭等地推廣作品的當地編輯。

It shouldn’t be assumed, as I long did, that all great foreign writers will eventually reach English-language bookstores. As publication in English becomes more important, even editors open to translations are overwhelmed. (And few read Norwegian.) For every Karl Ove Knausgaard or Elena Ferrante, who are translated almost as soon as they appear in Norwegian or Italian, there are many Lispectors.

我們不能只是想當然地以爲，所有偉大的外文作家最終都進入英文書店，我有很長一段時間就是這麼想的。隨着英文出版的重要性與日俱增，就算是歡迎譯作的編輯都會喘不過氣。文壇上總會出現一位卡爾‧奧韋‧諾斯加德(Karl Ove Knausgaard)或是埃琳娜‧費蘭特(Elena Ferrante)這種母語作品一推出就被翻成其他語言的作家。但在此同時，也有許多作家像利斯佩克託一樣，湮沒於書海之中。

Taking them on, after all, is an act of faith. At my first publishing job, in New York, I tried to convince my boss that a manuscript that seemed to blend sci-fi with bad porn was the work of an important new writer causing a stir in France. Though unable to read French, one editor took my word for it. The manuscript was “Elementary Particles,” by Michel Houellebecq. Every translation represents a similar leap.

說到底，承擔這個任務是出於一種信念。我在紐約做第一份出版工作時，曾試圖說服老闆相信，一份似乎將科幻與色情融合在一起的手稿，出自一名在法國引起轟動的重要新作家之手。雖然不懂法語，一名編輯相信了我的話。這份手稿就是米歇爾·維勒貝克(Michel Houellebecq)的《基本粒子》(Elementary Particles)。每部譯作都是一個類似的跨越。

The dream of a global literary community is not new. But as globalization has not meant greater political or economic equality, cultural cosmopolitanism has not been guaranteed by instant communication and inexpensive travel. These do, however, present significant new opportunities for literary activism.

形成全球文學社區的夢想並不新鮮。但正如全球化並不意味着更多的政治及經濟平等，即時通訊和廉價旅行並沒有爲文化世界主義提供保障。然而這些確實爲文學行動主義帶來了重要的新機會。

Writers working in English who know another language can help make connections and advocate for their foreign colleagues. Contacts are perhaps writers’ most valuable assets. Only a few people know everybody, but most of us know somebody. Just one or two contacts — an editor, an agent — can make a difference for a foreign writer. This includes links to fellowships, writing programs, and retreats that non-English-language writers haven’t heard about.

那些用英語寫作並掌握另一門語言的作家可以幫助建立聯繫，支持他們的外國同行。人脈或許是作家們最具價值的資產。左右逢源的人是很少的，但我們當中的大多數人都認識某人。只要一兩個熟人——一名編輯，一名經紀人——就能讓一名外國作家大爲不同。比如與協會、寫作項目及非英語作家從未聽說過的隱居處的關係。

Even writers who beat the odds and are published in English face difficulty finding an audience, largely because they don’t have the networks they do at home. Since translations are less frequently reviewed, people who might be interested are less likely to hear about them. English-language writers can help by reviewing foreign works that make it into English, or interviewing their authors, taking advantage of the amplifying effects of social media.

甚至連那些克服困難，出版英語作品的作家也很難找到讀者，這在很大程度上是因爲他們沒有像國內那樣的關係網。由於有關翻譯作品的書評越來越少，那些或許會感興趣的人都不太可能聽說這些作品。英語作家可以通過爲翻譯成英語的外國作品寫書評、或採訪作者、利用社交媒體放大效果的優勢來提供幫助。

Few things are lonelier than the solitary task of confronting the blank page for years on end. Literature, on the other hand, is made by a community: present and past, dead and alive. Everyone loses when books become yet another commodity, produced by a few big names. It’s one thing if everyone wears the same shoes or drinks the same soda. But the world of literature is the last place in which globalization should mean homogeneity.

年復一年地面對一張白紙，寫作的清苦是世間鮮有能及的。另一方面，文學是由一個社羣造就的：現在與過去，死亡與生存。如果書成爲由一種由大品牌生產的商品，對每個人都是不利的。就跟每個人都穿同樣的鞋子或喝同樣的汽水一樣。但文學世界是全球化過程中最不應該同質化的領域。