第一篇:2011韩素英翻译大赛全文翻译
“美利坚,你的路在何方?” 半个世纪前,“垮掉的一代”的代表作家杰克•凯鲁雅克就曾发出这样的疑问,现在这个问题成为困扰世界经济的最大不确定性因素,同时也反应了美国选民最大的担忧,11月2日国会中期选举在即,而美国10%的失业率还是居高不下。人们要有所准备,前路漫漫,充满坎坷。
The most wrenching recession since the 1930s ended a year ago.But the recovery—none too powerful to begin with—slowed sharply earlier this year.GDP grew by a feeble 1.6% at an annual pace in the second quarter, and seems to have been stuck somewhere similar since.The housing market slumped after temporary tax incentives to buy a home expired.So few private jobs were being created that unemployment looked likelier to rise than fall.Fears grew over the summer that if this deceleration continued, America’s economy would slip back into recession.自上世纪30年代以来最严重的经济衰退在一年前结束。但是复苏的起步步伐不够强劲,并且势头在今年早些时候突然放缓。GDP在第二季度的年增长速度只有区区1.6%,并且自那以后就再无起色。政府对购买过期未还贷的住房给予短期的税收鼓励政策,但是之后房地长市场行情一路下跌。私营领域几乎没有创造出新的工作岗位,失业率有明显上升趋势。整个夏天人们都在担心,如果复苏继续放缓,美国经济可能再次滑向衰退的深渊。
Fortunately, those worries now seem exaggerated.Part of the weakness of second-quarter GDP was probably because of a temporary surge in imports from China.The latest statistics, from reasonably good retail sales in August to falling claims for unemployment benefits, point to an economy that, though still weak, is not slumping further.And history suggests that although nascent recoveries often wobble for a quarter or two, they rarely relapse into recession.For now, it is most likely that America’s economy will crawl along with growth at perhaps 2.5%: above stall speed, but far too slow to make much difference to the jobless rate(see article).幸运的是,现在看来这些担心似乎被夸大。第二季度GDP疲软的部分原因可能是因为从中国的进口暂时性上涨。从八月份相当好的销售业绩到失业津贴的需求下降,最新的统计数据无不显示,经济虽然仍旧疲软,但是已经止住了下滑的趋势。而历史告诉我们,虽然复苏初期的脚步虽然会在一或两个季度内摇摆不稳,但是很少会再次步入衰退。对于现在而言,最大的可能是美国经济会以大约2.5%的增长速度缓慢爬行,但是这一速度太过缓慢,无法大幅改变失业率。
Why, given that America usually rebounds from recession, are the prospects so bleak? Because most past recessions have been caused by tight monetary policy.When policy is loosened, demand rebounds.This recession was the result of a financial crisis.Recoveries after financial crises are normally weak and slow as banking systems are repaired and balance-sheets rebuilt.Typically, this period of debt reduction lasts around seven years, which means America would emerge from it in 2014.By some measures, households are reducing their debt burdens unusually fast, but even optimistic seers do not think the process is much more than half over.如果说美国经济通常在衰退后会有反弹,那么为什么此次复苏的前景如此暗淡?原因是之前发生的衰退大多数是由紧缩的货币政策造成的。当政策放松,经济就会反弹。衰退是金融危机造成的结果。经济危机后的复苏通常疲软缓慢,因为银行系统需要修复,资产负债表需要重建。通常,债务减持会持续7个月左右,这就意味着美国在2014年才能从中抽身。美国家庭正在通过一些手段以超常的速度减少债务负担,但是即使是最乐观的估计也认为债务减持的过程才刚刚过半。
Battling on the bus
前行路上的较量
America’s biggest problem is that its politicians have yet to acknowledge that the economy is in for such a long, slow haul, let alone prepare for the consequences.A few brave officials are beginning to sound warnings that the jobless rate is likely to “stay high”.But the political debate is more about assigning blame for the recession than about suggesting imaginative ways to give more oomph to the recovery.美国的最大问题是,政治家仍然不得不承认美国经济注定要经受如此漫长的拉锯战,更不必说为随后的结果做准备了。少数勇敢的官员开始敲响警钟,失业率很可能会“居高不下”。但是政治辩论关注更多的是谁来承担衰退的责任,而不是提出有想象力的办法来给复苏提供更多的动力。
Republicans argue that Barack Obama’s shift towards “big government” explains the
economy’s weakness, and that high unemployment is proof that fiscal stimulus was a bad idea.In fact, most of the growth in government to date has been temporary and unavoidable;the longer-run growth in government is more modest, and reflects the policies of both Mr Obama and his predecessor(see article).And the notion that high joblessness “proves” that stimulus failed is simply wrong.The mechanics of a financial bust suggest that without a fiscal boost the recession would have been much worse.共和党人认为巴拉克•奥巴马转而走向“大政府”解释了为什么经济会疲软,而高失业率证明经济刺激是个坏主意。事实上,迄今为止,大多数政府规模的扩大都是暂时性的和不可避免的;长远的政府规模扩大要更加适度,并且能够反应奥巴马和他前任的政策。而简单地说高失业率证明经济刺激失败的说法是错误的。而根据经济萧条的规律,如果没有财政刺激,经济衰退的情况会比现在更糟。
Democrats have their own class-warfare version of the blame game, in which Wall
Street’s excesses caused the problem and higher taxes on high-earners are part of the solution.That is why Mr Obama’s legislative priority before the mid-terms is to ensure that the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year for households earning more than $250,000 but are extended for everyone else.民主党人对于谁是谁非有自己的一套评判标准,他们认为是华尔街的胡作非为才导致了今天的问题,而向高收入者征收更高的税赋是解决方案的一部分。这就是为什么奥巴马在中期选举前在立法上要优先确保将布什政府制定的减税政策的受益范围扩大到其他每个人,布什政府的减税政策原先受益的只是收入超过25万美元的家庭,该政策在年底到期。
This takes an unnecessary risk with the short-term recovery.America’s experience in 1937 and Japan’s in 1997 are powerful evidence that ill-timed tax rises can tip weak economies back into recession.Higher taxes at the top, along with the waning of fiscal stimulus and belt-tightening by the states, will make a weak growth rate weaker still.Less noticed is that Mr Obama’s fiscal plan will also worsen the medium-term budget mess, by making tax cuts for the middle class permanent.这种做法对于短期的复苏来说是一个不必要的风险。美国1937年和日本1997年的经验有力地证明了不合时宜的增加税收可能使疲软的经济重蹈衰退的覆辙。更高的税赋加上减弱的财政刺激和政府的紧缩政策将使本已疲软的经济更加无力增长。很少有人注意到,奥巴马针对中产阶级的永久性减税的财政计划还将使中期的预算更加糟糕。
Ways to overhaul the engine
如何检修经济发动机
In an ideal world America would commit itself now to the medium-term tax reforms and spending cuts needed to get a grip on the budget, while leaving room to keep fiscal policy loose for the moment.But in febrile, partisan Washington that is a pipe-dream.Today’s goals can only be more modest: to nurture the weak economy, minimise uncertainty and prepare the ground for
tomorrow’s fiscal debate.To that end, Congress ought to extend all the Bush tax cuts until 2013.Then they should all expire—prompting a serious fiscal overhaul, at a time when the economy is stronger.在理想状态下,美国现在会承诺在中期进行税收改革,并且减少开支以控制预算,同时留有空间保持宽松的财政政策。但是这只是盲目的华盛顿头脑发热的空想罢了。现在的目只有更加保守:给虚弱的经济补充营养,最大程度减小不确定性,并且准备好明天财政辩论的依据。为此,国会应该将所有的布什减税政策延期到2013年。然后当所有的减税政策到期---在经济情况好转时进行认真的财政大检查。
A broader set of policies could help to work off the hangover faster.One priority is to encourage more write-downs of mortgage debt.Almost a quarter of all Americans with mortgages owe more than their houses are worth.Until that changes the vicious cycle of rising foreclosures and falling prices will continue.There are plenty of ideas on offer, from changing the bankruptcy law so that judges can restructure mortgage debt to empowering special trustees to write down loans.They all have drawbacks, but a fetid pool of underwater mortgages will, much like Japan’s loans to zombie firms, corrode the financial system and harm the recovery.一套更广泛的政策可以更快地帮助解决这种头重脚轻的局面。应该优先考虑鼓励更多的抵押债务进行资产减值。几乎四分之一担负抵押贷款债务的美国人拥有比他们的房屋价值更高的财产。在资产减值改变取消抵押品赎回权案例不断上升的恶性循环之前,房产价格会继续下跌。有很多方案可供选择,可以更改破产法让法官重组抵押债务,也可以授权特别委托人减低贷款账面价值,等等。这些方案都有缺点,但是与日本给僵死的公司提供的贷款的作法极其相似,放任抵押贷款泡在一潭腐臭的死水里会腐蚀金融系统,对经济复苏产生危害。
Cleaning up the housing market would help cut America’s unemployment rate, by making it easier for people to move to where jobs are.But more must be done to stop high joblessness becoming entrenched.Payroll-tax cuts and credits to reduce the cost of hiring would help.(The health-care reform, alas, does the opposite, at least for small businesses.)Politicians will also have to think harder about training schemes, because some workers lack the skills that new jobs require.清理房地产市场可以让人们更容易搬到有工作的地方去,从而有助于削减美国的失业率。但是还需要做更多的工作来打破失业率居高不下的态势。削减工资税和降低雇佣成本可以起到作用。(医疗改革起的作用正好相反,至少对于小企业是如此。)政治家还要想更多的办法提供就业培训,因为一些工人缺少信工作所需要的劳动技能。
Americans are used to great distances.The sooner they, and their politicians, accept that the road to recovery will be a long one, the faster they will get there.美国人民习惯于长途跋涉。美国人民和美国的政治家越早承认复苏是一条漫长的道路,他们就会越快到达目的地
第二篇:韩素音翻译大赛试题
It’s Time to Rethink ‘Temporary’
We tend to view architecture as permanent, as aspiring to the status of monuments.And that kind of architecture has its place.But so does architecture of a different sort.For most of the first decade of the 2000s, architecture was about the statement building.Whether it was a controversial memorial or an impossibly luxurious condo tower, architecture’s raison d’être was to make a lasting impression.Architecture has always been synonymous with permanence, but should it be? In the last few years, the opposite may be true.Architectural billings are at an all-time low.Major commissions are few and far between.The architecture that’s been making news is fast and fleeting: pop-up shops, food carts, marketplaces, performance spaces.And while many manifestations of the genre have jumped the shark(i.e., a Toys R Us pop-up shop), there is undeniable opportunity in the temporary: it is an apt response to a civilization in flux.And like many prevailing trends — collaborative consumption(a.k.a., “sharing”), community gardens, barter and trade — “temporary” is so retro that it’s become radical.In November, I had the pleasure of moderating Motopia, a panel at University of Southern California’s School of Architecture, with Robert Kronenburg, an architect, professor at University of Liverpool and portable/temporary/mobile guru.Author of a shelf full of books on the topic, including “Flexible: Architecture that Responds to Change,” “Portable Architecture: Design and Technology” and “Houses in Motion: The Genesis,” Kronenburg is a man obsessed.Mobility has an innate potency, Kronenburg believes.Movable environments are more dynamic than static ones, so why should architecture be so static? The idea that perhaps all buildings shouldn’t aspire to permanence represents a huge shift for architecture.Without that burden, architects, designers, builders and developers can take advantage of and implement current technologies faster.Architecture could be reusable, recyclable and sustainable.Recast in this way, it could better solve seemingly unsolvable problems.And still succeed in creating a sense of place.In his presentation, Kronenburg offered examples of how portable, temporary architecture has been used in every aspect of human activity, including health care(from Florence Nightingale’s redesigned hospitals to the Airstream trailers used as mobile medical clinics during the Kennedy Administration), housing(from yurts to tents to architect Shigeru Ban’s post-earthquake paper houses), culture and commerce(stage sets and Great Exhibition buildings, centuries-old Bouqinistes along the Seine, mobile food, art and music venues offering everything from the recording of stories to tasty crème brulees.)Kronenburg made a compelling argument that the experimentation inherent in such structures challenges preconceived notions about what buildings can and should be.The strategy of temporality, he explained, “adapts to unpredictable demands, provides more for less, and encourages innovation.” And he stressed that it’s time for end-users, designers, architects, manufacturers and construction firms to rethink their attitude toward temporary, portable and mobile architecture.This is as true for development and city planning as it is for architecture.City-making may have happened all at once at the desks of master planners like Daniel Burnham or Robert Moses, but that’s really not the way things happen today.No single master plan can anticipate the evolving and varied needs of an increasingly diverse population or achieve the resiliency, responsiveness and flexibility that shorter-term, experimental endeavors can.Which is not to say long-term planning doesn’t have its place.The two work well hand in hand.Mike Lydon, founding principal of The Street Plans Collaborative, argues for injecting spontaneity into urban development, and sees these temporary interventions(what he calls “tactical urbanism”)as short-term actions to effect long-term change.Though there’s been tremendous media attention given to quick and cheap projects like San Francisco’s Pavement to Parks and New York’s “gutter cafes,” Lydon sees something bigger than fodder for the style section.“A lot of these things were not just fun and cool,” he says.“It was not just a bottom-up effort.It’s not D.I.Y.urbanism.It’s a continuum of ideas, techniques and tactics being employed at all different scales.”
“We’re seeing a lot of these things emerge for three reasons,” Lydon continues.“One, the economy.People have to be more creative about getting things done.Two, the Internet.Even four or five years ago we couldn’t share tactics and techniques via YouTube or Facebook.Something can happen randomly in Dallas and now we can hear about it right away.This is feeding into this idea of growth, of bi-coastal competition between New York and San Francisco, say, about who does the cooler, better things.And three, demographic shifts.Urban neighborhoods are gentrifying, changing.They’re bringing in people looking to improve neighborhoods themselves.People are smart and engaged and working a 40-hour week.But they have enough spare time to get involved and this seems like a natural step.”
Lydon isn’t advocating an end to planning but encourages more short-term doing, experimenting, testing(which can be a far more satisfying alternative to waiting for projects to pass).While this may not directly change existing codes or zoning regulations, that’s O.K.because, as Lydon explains, the practices employed “shine a direct light on old ways of thinking, old policies that are in place.”
The Dallas group Build a Better Block — which quickly leapt from a tiny grass-roots collective to an active partner in city endeavors — has demonstrated that when you expose weaknesses, change happens.If their temporary interventions violate existing codes, Build a Better Block just paints a sign informing passers-by of that fact.They have altered regulations in this fashion.Sometimes — not always — bureaucracy gets out of the way and allows for real change to happen.Testing things out can also help developers chart the right course for their projects.Says Lydon, “A developer can really learn what’s working in the neighborhood from a marketplace perspective — it could really inform or change their plans.Hopefully they can ingratiate themselves with the neighborhood and build community.There is real potential if the developers are really looking to do that.”
And they are.Brooklyn’s De Kalb Market, for example, was supposed to be in place for just three years, but became a neighborhood center where there hadn’t been much of one before.“People gravitated towards it,” says Lydon.“People like going there.You run the risk of people lamenting the loss of that.The developer would be smart to integrate things like the community garden — [giving residents an] opportunity to keep growing food on the site.The radio station could get a permanent space.The beer garden could be kept.”
San Francisco’s PROXY project is similar.Retail, restaurants and cultural spaces housed within an artful configuration of shipping containers, designed by Envelope Architecture and Design, were given a five-year temporary home on government-owned vacant lots in the city’s HayesValley neighborhood while developers opted to sit tight during the recession.Affordable housing is promised for the site;the developers will now be able to create it in a neighborhood that has become increasingly vibrant and pedestrian-friendly.On an even larger scale, the major developer Forest City has been testing these ideas of trial and error in the 5M Project in downtown San Francisco.While waiting out the downturn, the folks behind 5M have been beta-testing tenants and uses at their 5th & Mission location, which was(and still is)home to the San Francisco Chronicle and now also to organizations like TechShop, the co-working space HubSoma, the art gallery Intersection for the Arts, the tech company Square and a smattering of food carts to feed those hungry, hardworking tenants.A few years earlier, Forest City would have been more likely to throw up an office tower with some luxury condos on top and call it a day: according to a company vice president, Alexa Arena, the recession allowed Forest City to spend time “re-imagining places for our emerging economy and what kind of environment helps facilitate that.”
In “The Interventionist’s Toolkit,” the critic Mimi Zeiger wrote that the real success for D.I.Y.urbanist interventions won’t be based on any one project but will “happen when we can evaluate the movement based on outreach, economic impact, community empowerment, entrepreneurship, sustainability and design.We’re not quite there yet.”
She’s right.And one doesn’t have to search for examples of temporary projects that not only failed but did so catastrophically(see: Hurricane Katrina trailers, for example).A huge reason for tactical urbanism’s appeal relates to politics.As one practitioner put it, “We’re doing these things to combat the slowness of government.”
But all of this is more than a response to bureaucracy;at its best it’s a bold expression of unfettered thinking and creativity … and there’s certainly not enough of that going around these days.An embrace of the temporary and tactical may not be perfect, but it could be one of the strongest tools in the arsenal of city-building we’ve got.汉译英:
语言与社会身份
一个人的语言与其在社会中的身份其实密不可分。记得我在澳大利亚生活时,一位邻居要竞选议员,他便每天早上起来练习发音,以令自己的讲话让人听起来悦耳、有身份。的确,语言是一个人社会身份的标志,特别是在多民族、多元文化的社会里。所谓“身份”,也是一种知识结构,表明你来自那个社会群体的文化背景、知识程度甚至地理位置等。
语言会影响对于相应文化的认知。例如,有人调查发现,对于讲双语的中国人,在用中文问到其关于文化观念等问题时,他们的回答显然比用英文问他们此类问题时显示出更多的中国人的做派。有意思的是,当讲广东话的港澳人被用普通话问到关于中国的文化、信仰等问题时,他们的回答往往比听到用广东话问到此类问题时的回答更接近西方人的表达方式。
其实,对于学习外语的华人来讲,大部分的还不是真正意义上的所谓“双语人”,而是“双语使用者”;后者是在语言与表达层次,而前者则是思维与生活习性。但是,这个过程并不是静止的,而是可以转换的。
所以,语言学习者所学习的实际上是一种社会关系,一种他所理解的跨越时空所形成的关系。因而,他所面对的不仅仅是语言学的,而更是多重、变换着的社会身份问题。
研究还表明,一个人的讲话风格并非是固定不变的,而是随着社会环境和讲话对象而变化的。一般来讲,个人讲话有一种趋同的倾向(即随大流),但有时也会有趋异倾向(即显示自己的特征)。譬如,我回到北京时,我的“北京腔”自觉就浓了很多;而我的英国朋友在澳大利亚时,其“英国腔”保持得更为明显,不知是否有意显出其身份。人们在适应异国文化的过程中,对于自己母语的态度,也会有积极或消极两种选择。有的人,在积极投入其他主流文化的同时,有意消弱自己的母语能力;有的人,反而更加强、突出了这方面,认为是一种优势。
一般来讲,若某一社会群体所讲、所用的语言是为社会所尊敬的那一种(如在英国,以女王为代表的贵族所讲的语言),会有更高的社会优越感,而其成员也会有意显示出与众不同,以保持其正面的群体特性。当然,也难免会有他人向这一群体的讲话方式靠拢。
一个人的语言,还可成为他人对其进行评判的对象。据研究,可以从中判断出其社会地位、教育程度、善良与否、智力、能力甚至财富等。
可见,语言对个人之意义。如果说服装是人的形体修饰,那么语言便是人的综合价值的外在体现。所以,语言就不应当被视为仅仅是一种工具,而应是一种素质。
第三篇:韩素音翻译大赛作品
隐匿在科技帝国中的文学界
当我还是一个“追求文学”的青年时,我常常会想,如果街上的每个人都熟知普鲁斯特,乔伊斯,T.E劳伦斯或者帕斯捷尔纳克和卡夫卡,那该有多好啊!后来我才意识到让那些普通大众了解这些高雅文化是多么一厢情愿的想法啊!当林肯还是一个居住在边远地区的年轻人时,他就已经读过了普鲁塔克和莎士比亚的作品,还有圣经。但他后来毕竟成了大名鼎鼎的林肯啊!
当我开着车,搭着公车抑或是乘火车在中西部穿梭之际,我常常会去小镇上的一些图书馆,我发现在基奥卡克,卢瓦或者密歇根的本顿港这些地方的读者们都在查阅普鲁斯特,乔伊斯甚至斯维沃和安德烈.别雷的作品。D.H劳伦斯也是他们最喜爱的作家之一。有时我在想上帝会为了十个正直的人而宽恕了所多玛城。基奥卡克并不像所多玛一样的邪恶,否则普鲁斯特书中的“查尔斯”就会在密歇根州的本顿港定居了。似乎我一直在锲而不舍的寻找一些证据来证明高雅的文化也会存在于那些被认为最不可能出现的地方。
如今几十年过去了,我现在是一名小说作家。从一开始我就清楚我的职业是最不可靠的职业。19世纪30年代时,一个芝加哥的老邻居告诉我他正在为那些低俗杂志写小说。而周围的人都在想我为什么不去找个工作,因为他们常常看见我四处闲逛,修剪树枝或是粉刷篱笆,却不去工厂里工作。“但我是一个作家,我把我的作品卖给阿尔格西和萨维奇”,他带着一种忧愁说道,“他们并不认为那好是一种行业。”也许他注意到我只是一个书生气的青年,想去同情他;也许他试图警告我不要特立独行,但一切都太迟了。
也是从一开始就有人告诫我小说其实已经行将朽木了,就如同城墙和弩一样,它是一个属于过去的东西。没有人愿意与历史相抗衡。30年代最著名的作家之一,奥斯瓦德.斯宾格勒,他曾说过我们那垂老力竭的文明就要结束了,他告诫年轻人不要去接触文学和艺术去拥抱机械学,当一名工程师吧!
如果不想被淘汰,你就要去挑战和否定历史进化论者。我年轻时十分崇拜斯宾格勒,但即使那时我也无法接受他的观点,(带着敬意和钦佩)我在思想上渐渐离他远去。
60年后的今天,我在最近一期的《华尔街日报》上又偶然遇到一篇用当代形式论述的旧的斯宾格勒式的论点。和斯宾格勒不同的是,泰利.迪奇奥特并没有将那历史理论那座死气沉沉的大山压在我们身上,但有迹象表明他已经衡量,区分和思索过那些论据。
他谈论了我们的“原子文化”,他的观点是负责,时新而且经过深思熟虑的观点。他还谈论了“作为科技的艺术形式”.他告诉我们电影很快就可以下载了----也就是说,电影可以从一台电脑传输到另一个设备的存储器中----而且他还预测电影很快就可以像书一样在市场上售卖。他还预测,近似魔法的科技力量正在把我们带向一个新时代和新结局的起始点。“一旦这一切发生了,我想独立的电影将会在21世纪代替小说成为讲述故事最重要的方式。
为了支撑这一论点,泰利.迪奇奥特引用了图书销售量的急剧下降和电影上座率的快速上升这一现实。“对于30岁以下的美国人来说,电影已经取代小说成为艺术表现形式最重要的模式”。为了证明这一点,迪奇奥特补充说道“像汤姆和史蒂芬.金这样著名的小说家,他们每本小说能买到100万本就算达到顶峰了”,而相比之下,“共有4200万观众观看了美国全国广播公司制作的《欢呼》最后一集”。
从多数主义人的观点上来看,电影胜出了。“小说塑造民族交流的能力已经下降了,”迪奇奥特说道,“但我不能完全肯定,在他们的时代,《白鲸记》或者《红字》会对民族交流产生巨大的影响。”在19世纪中叶时,一部《汤姆叔叔的小屋》让普通大众印象深刻,而知道《白鲸记》的人却为数不多。
20世纪文学巨著的创作者中,绝大部分并没有期望他们的作品有大批的读者,普鲁斯特和乔伊斯的小说都是在文学垂暮之时写就的,他们并不认为这些作品会光芒四射,受到大众的欢迎。
迪奇奥特在报刊上的文章基本上沿袭了一条被那些观察家所认可的路子,他们想从中找到一种趋势。“最近的一项研究表明,55%的美国人只花了不到30分钟去读一些东西,电影取代了小说并不是因为美国人变得更麻木了,而是因为小说已经成了一种过时的艺术科技。
“我们不习惯于将艺术形式看成科技,”他说,“但它的的确确就是科技,也就是说,在新科技发展的冲击之下,他们已经行将灭亡。”
除了强调那些吸引了有科学头脑的年轻人的科技,可以很容易看出还有其他一些偏好。融入一个大群体一起做你们现代人做的事情会更好,成为数百万观看电影的观众之一总比成为仅仅上千读书的人之一要好。除此之外,读书的人需要独处,而观众可以融入一个大群体。他不仅拥有大多数人的力量还拥有机械化的力量。加上这一点之后,避免被科技所淘汰的重要性以及科技将为我们决定问题这种感觉的吸引力将会比个人主义的想法更加可靠,无论他是多么的与众不同。
约翰.契弗很久以前告诉过我正是他的读者一直激励着他继续前行,来自全国各地的人都在写信给他。当他工作时,他便会想起那些远离城市住在偏远地区的读者,“如果我不去描绘他们的生活,那我就完蛋啦!”他说。小说家,瑞特.莫里斯一直催我买一台电子打印机,他说他很少会把机器关闭。“当我不写作时,我便听着电流的声音,”他说。“它陪伴着我,我们在一起交流。
我在想迪奇奥特是如何使他这种性格与他的“作为科技的艺术形式”相一致的。也许他会争辩道,这两个作家将他们自己与有广泛基础的文化影响隔绝了。迪奇奥特至少有一个值得称赞的目的:他认为他找到了一个方法将观看电影这个大群体和自认为高文化素养的小群体拉到了一起。然而,他对那些成千上万的东西感兴趣:成百万的美元,成百万的读者或是成百万的观众。
“每个人都在做的一件事就是去看电影”。迪奇奥特说道。他的确是正确的啊!
我们回过头来看看20世纪那些8到12岁的孩子们,他们每周六都会排队买5分钱一张的电影票为了看上周六电影中的那场危机是如何和收尾的。女主角在机车就要撞上她前几秒钟挣脱了。接下来又是新的一集,而在那之后便是新闻短片和《小顽童》,最后会是一个西部地区的人和汤姆.麦克斯一起或者是珍妮.格娅勒的画,画中是在阁楼上一个开心的新娘和她的丈夫,亦或是歌莉娅,或是希袒,或是华莱士,或是阿多普,或是玛丽惠,当然还有卓别林表演的《淘金热》。而《淘金热》只是关于杰克.伦敦故事的一步而已。
观众和读者之间并没有对立。没有人监督我们的阅读。我们一切都是独自完成。我们使自己变得更加文明。我们发现或者说我们造就了一个充满感情和想象力的生活。因为我们会阅读,我们也学会了书写。我看了《金银岛》这部电影,也读了这本书,但这并没有让我产生疑惑。我们所关注的东西之间也是没有竞争而言的。美国更吸引人的怪事之一便是我们口中的少数在他们那里是如此之多,如此巨大。成百万的数目也算是少数,这绝对不正常。但实际上的的确确是有成百万会读写的美国人与其他人相隔离。可以这样理解,它们是契弗的读者,它们实在太拥挤了没法隐藏在树林之中。全国各地的文化部门还没有成功的将它们与书本或是新老作品隔离开来。我的朋友凯斯和我都强烈的感觉到,如果这个森林里满是迷路的读者,那么在这些读者中可能也会有作家。
为了更细致的了解它们的存在,你只要出版一本如同《文坛》这样的杂志。只要稍加鼓励,那些之前以丧失希望的不知名的作家也会突然出现.一个早期的读者写道,我们的文章,“内容如此的新鲜面对面的感觉如此的真实,不矫揉做作,明了清晰。”他还提到我们的文章没有广告。她问道:“它会继续办下去吗?”而且她将它称为“每一个道德沦丧的人类的解毒剂”。在信的末尾,我们的回复人写道:“这就要求我们的父辈提出一些暗示,让我们明白我们曾经是谁,以及我们要成为谁。”
这正是我和凯斯希望我们为那些会读写的读者而办的小报所获得的结果。两年来它一直都是那样。“我们就是一对乌托邦式的老家伙,总是认为我们对文学有一种义务。我希望我们不是那些仁慈却不现实的慈善家,它们只会在马已经不在的情况下,还向市政厅捐赠水槽去喂养那些饥渴的巫婆。
我无法预测有多少独立的,自学的专家和文学爱好者在全国各个偏僻的角落幸存。从我们仅有的一点点证据看得出它们很高兴找到我们,它们心怀感激。它们不满足于它们所得到的。发达的科技却么能给他们如此急需的东西。
外国语学院07级8班
傅 诚
第四篇:2015年韩素音翻译大赛原文
2015年韩素音翻译大赛原文
中国译协《中国翻译》编辑部、中国外文局翻译专业资格考评中心、宁波大学联合举办 “CATTI杯”第二十七届韩素音青年翻译奖竞赛 来源: 中国译协网
中国译协《中国翻译》编辑部、中国外文局翻译专业资格考评中心、宁波大学联合举办的“CATTI杯”第二十七届韩素音青年翻译奖竞赛已正式启动,欢迎海内外广大翻译工作者和翻译爱好者参赛。具体参赛规则如下:
本届竞赛分别设立英译汉和汉译英两个奖项,参赛者可任选一项或同时参加两项竞赛。
《中国翻译》2015年第1期、中国译协网(www.xiexiebang.com)和全国翻译专业资格(水平)考试网(www.xiexiebang.com)和全国翻译专业资格(水平)考试网(www.xiexiebang.com.It is in the rapidly developing ability to communicate ideas and frustration in chatrooms instead of on the streets, and channel them into nationwide projects striving earnestly for moderate and peaceful change: we are the generation of Students Taking Action Now Darfur;we are the Rock the Vote generation;the generation of letter-writing campaigns and public interest lobbies;the alternative energy generation.College as America once knew it – as an incubator of radical social change – is coming to an end.To our generation the word “radicalism” evokes images of al Qaeda, not the Weathermen.“Campus takeover” sounds more like Virginia Tech in 2007 than Columbia University in 1968.Such phrases are a dead language to us.They are vocabulary from another era that does not reflect the realities of today.However, the technological revolution, the moveon.org revolution, the revolution of the organization kid, is just as real and just as profound as the revolution of the 1960’s – it is just not as visible.It is a work in progress, but it is there.Perhaps when our parents finally stop pointing out the things that we are not, the stories that we do not write, they will see the threads of our narrative begin to come together;they will see that behind our pastiche, the post generation speaks in a language that does make sense.We are writing a revolution.We are just putting it in our own words.
第五篇:第22届韩素音翻译大赛 英译汉 参考译文
隐藏在科技王国后的文学世界
当我还是一个“探索文学”的男孩,我曾想如果大街上每个人都熟知普鲁斯特、乔伊斯、T·E·劳伦斯、帕斯捷尔纳克和卡夫卡,那该多好。稍后我才明白平民大众对高雅文化有多么抵触。作为一个年轻的拓荒者,林肯读过普鲁塔克、莎士比亚和《圣经》,但是那时他是林肯。
后来,在中西部驾车、乘巴士或火车游历的时候,我经常去参观一些小城镇的图书馆。在爱阿华州基奥卡克县和密歇根州本顿港的图书馆里,我发现读者们都借阅普鲁斯特和乔伊斯的著作,甚至是斯威沃和安德烈·别雷的作品,D·H·劳伦斯也是他们的最爱之一。有时我会联想到上帝愿意放弃毁灭罪恶深重的索多玛城,只为了城里有十个义人。并不是说基奥卡克县和邪恶的索多玛城有任何相似之处,也不是说普鲁斯特笔下的夏吕斯男爵被引诱到密歇根本顿港定居。而是我似乎有种持久的民主的渴望——在最不可能的地方寻找高雅文化存在的证据。
我做小说作家已经有十几年了,而从一开始我就意识到这是个不太可取的职业。在二十世纪三十年代,一个芝加哥的旧邻居告诉我他写小说给通俗大众阅读。“邻居们都好奇为什么我不去找一份职业。他们看我总是到处闲逛,修剪树丛或者漆刷篱笆,而不是在工厂里工作。但我是一个作家,我的文章是卖给《商船队》小说期刊和《勇士骑兵》杂志的。”他十分愁闷地说,“他们不会认为那是一种职业。”他向我诉苦也许因为注意到我是个书呆子气的孩子,比较可能会同情他;又或者他是在告诫我不要特立独行。但那时候已经为时晚矣。
也是在一开始的时候,我就被警告小说已经接近了衰落阶段,就像城壁城市或者十字弓那样都是过时的事物。没有人喜欢和历史有分歧。奥尔斯瓦尔德·斯宾格勒是三十年代初最受广泛阅读的作家之一。他教育世人:我们疲倦老旧的文明已经非常接近终结,年轻人们应该避开文学和艺术,去拥抱机械化并成为工程师。
为了避免被淘汰,你挑战并蔑视那些进化论历史家们。我年轻的时候对斯宾格勒是非常尊重的,但即使是那时我也无法接受他的结论——带着尊重和仰慕,我在思想上让他别来烦我。
六十年后,在最近一期《华尔街日报》上我又看到了以当代形式出现的旧斯宾格勒理论之争。泰瑞·蒂乔特,不同于斯宾格勒,并没有把大量的使人崩溃的历史理论扔到我们身上。但还是有迹象可以看出他对那些证据做出了权衡、筛选和斟酌。
他提出“分裂的文化”的理论,还说他的观点是非常有责任感和与时俱进的,并且经过深思熟虑。他提出“作为技术的艺术形式”的说法。他告诉我们电影很快就可以被下载——意味着可以从一部电脑转移到另一个装置的记忆储存里——并预言电影很快会像书本那样出售。他还预言科学技术那近似魔术般的力量会把我们带到新时代的起点,并总结:“一旦这发生以后,我猜想独立的电影将取代小说,成为讲述故事的最重要手段。
为了支持他的论证,蒂乔特先生还提及了书本销售量预兆性的下跌和观看电影人数的剧增:“对于30岁以下的美国人来说,电影已经取代小说成为艺术表达的首要形式。”对此,蒂乔特先生还补充,像汤姆·克兰西和史蒂芬·金这样的流行小说家“每本书达到100万册的销量最高点”,还特别提到:“美国全国广播公司的电视剧《欢乐酒店》大结局那一集,相对比,有4200万的观众收看。”
在大范围上,电影是赢了。“小说塑造民族谈话的力量已经变弱”,蒂乔特先生如是说。不过我一点都不确定当年《白鲸》或《红字》是否曾经对“民族谈话”有过相当大的影响。在19世纪中期,给大众留下深刻印象的是《汤姆叔叔的小屋》。《白鲸》是一本不那么流行的小说。
20世纪的文学杰作大多数都是由脑中没有大众概念的小说家所创作。普鲁斯特和乔伊斯的小说都是在文化衰退期所写的,并没有打算要获得荣耀和光辉的声望。
蒂乔特先生在《华尔街日报》发表的文章沿袭了那些企图发现新潮流的观察者们所走的路径。“根据一个最近的调查,数据显示55%的美国人花在阅读上的时间少于30分钟„„甚至有可能电影已经取代了小说,不是因为美国人变笨了,而是因为小说是一种过时的艺术技术。”
“我们并不习惯把艺术形式看成是一种技术,”他说,“但是那就是它们本来的真面目,这意味着在技术的新发展下它们已经处于日趋消亡的状况。”
与技术的重要性一同吸引头脑科学的年轻人的,可以看得出还有其他优先的理由:你最好去做你大部分的同龄人正在做的事。成为百万个电影观众中的一员,总强于成为区区几千名读者里的一个。此外,读者在孤独中阅读,而观众则归属于一个庞大的群体。观众拥有人多势众的优势和机械化的力量。作为补充的还有避免技术上被淘汰的重要性,以及相比个人的思考(无论他有多么出众)科学技术能够更可靠地为我们解决问题——这种感觉非常具有吸引力。
约翰·契弗很久以前曾告诉过我,让他坚持下去的,正是他的读者们,以及全国各地写信支持他的人。他在工作的时候,总会觉得他的读者和通信者们,就藏在草坪后面的小树林里默默关注着他。他说:“如果我不在脑海中想象着他们,我就会懈怠。” 小说家莱特·莫里斯也力劝我去买一个电动打字机,并说他从不关掉他的机器。“不写字的时候,我就听电流的声音,”他说,“那让我感觉自己是有陪伴的,我们就像是在谈天。”
我很想知道蒂乔特先生会如何使他那个“作为技术的艺术形式”理论与这样的癖好相一致。也许他会争辩,这两位作家在某种程度上已将他们自己从“大众文化的影响”中孤立出来。蒂乔特先生至少有一个值得称赞的地方:他认为自己找到了将电影这种大众文化与少数人欣赏的高雅文化结合起来的方法。然而,他却对“百万”的事物很感兴趣:百万的钞票,百万的读者,百万的观众。
看电影是“每个人”都要做的事情,蒂乔特先生如是说。他说得何其正确啊。回到20世纪,年龄在8至12岁之间的孩子在每个星期六都排长队买五分钱的电影票,为了看上周六未播完的前半段故事里那个危机如何得到解决。女主人公就在火车头撞上她的几秒之前获得了解救。然后是下一集,然后是新闻短片和《小顽童》。最后还有一部汤姆·米克斯主演的西部影片,或者是珍妮·盖诺主演的关于一位年轻新娘和她丈夫在阁楼里的幸福故事,又或者是格洛丽亚·施旺森、蒂达·巴拉、华莱士·比里、阿道夫·门吉欧和玛丽·德雷斯勒等明星的作品。当然还有卓别林的《淘金记》,而《淘金记》和杰克·伦敦笔下的故事仅差一步之遥。
那时观众和读者之间是没有冲突的。没有人来指导我们阅读,我们全靠自己。我们教育自己,让自己变得有文化。我们发现或创造富有想象的精神生活。因为我们可以阅读,我们也从中学会了写作。看电影版的《金银岛》后再去阅读小说版,并不会让我觉得混淆。在吸引我们的注意力这一点上,电影和小说并不存在竞争。
美国还有一个更引人注目的反常之处就是我们的少数民族是如此的众多,数目庞大。说我们有百万个少数民族也不足为奇。不过倒是有一个事实,那就是百万个有修养的美国人正处于一种与其他有文化的人相分隔的状态。如果你喜欢,他们是奇弗的读者,他们是那么庞大而无法隐藏的一个群体。这个国家的文学部门没能让他们远离书本——无论是新还是旧的著作。我和我的朋友基斯·波茨弗德都强烈地认为:如果有很多读者“误入歧途”,那么这些读者中可能就存在着作家。
你只需出版一本类似《文学界》的杂志,就可以了解更多关于他们的细节。只要给予鼓励,过去默默无闻、没有希望的作家就会浮出水面。对于我们的报纸,一位早期读者曾经这样写过:“它的内容是如此的新颖,注重人与人之间关系的互动,天然真实而没有丝毫矫揉做作,让人读得全神贯注。”她注意到报纸上没有广告,问道:“这是可能的吗?可以维持吗?”她称它为“一剂消除我们萎缩的人性的良药”。在信的最后,我们这位读者还补充说:“对较老的一代人来说,我们应当想起我们原来是怎样的人,我们应该怎样做。”
这就是我和基斯·波茨弗德对我们的“文学小报”的期望,而且这两年来它都如我们所期待地运行着。我们就像一对乌托邦式的伙伴,觉得自己对文学有着一份责任。我希望我们不要像那些好心却帮倒忙的人——在这个路上已经没有马匹的年代,还给市政厅广场捐赠饮马的水槽。
我们无法猜测在这个国家各个遥远的角落里生活着多少个自发的文学鉴赏家和文学爱好者。但我们所掌握的少量事实可以表明,他们见到我们出版的报纸时很高兴,心怀感激。他们想得到比既得的更多,新颖的科学技术无法满足他们的迫切需求。