評論
打印
The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people,
巴勒斯坦詩人Mourid Barghouti曾經寫到：如果你想剝奪一群人的權利，
the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, "secondly."
最簡單的辦法就是講述一個關于他們的故事，并且從“第二點”開始講起。
Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans,
從印第安土著人的弓箭講起，
and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story.
而不是英國人的侵占，整個故事將變得完全不同。
Start the story with the failure of the African state,
講述一個故事，從非洲國家的失敗談起，
and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story.
而不是殖民者瓜分創建這些非洲國家的過程，整個故事將變得完全不同。
I recently spoke at a university where a student told me that
我最近剛剛在一個大學做了一篇講座，一個學生對我說：
it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers like the father character in my novel.
非常可悲，尼日利亞的男人都和我書中的父親角色一樣，都是施暴者。
I told him that I had just read a novel called "American Psycho"
我告訴他我最近剛剛讀了一本小說，叫做《美國精神狂魔》，
and that it was such a shame that young Americans were serial murderers.
對此我也感到很惋惜，美國青年都是連環殺手。
Now, obviously I said this in a fit of mild irritation.
當然了，那是我一時的氣話。
But it would never have occurred to me to think that just because I had read a novel
我絕不會認為，僅僅因為我讀了一本
in which a character was a serial killer that he was somehow representative of all Americans.
以連環殺手為主角的小說，他便可以代表所有的美國人。
This is not because I am a better person than that student,
這并不是因為我比那位學生出色，
but because of America's cultural and economic power, I had many stories of America.
而是因為，美國的文化以及經濟雄厚實力，使得我有機會掌握了關于美國的多重故事。
I had read Tyler and Updike and Steinbeck and Gaitskill. I did not have a single story of America.
我讀過泰勒、厄普代克、斯坦貝克以及蓋茨克爾。因此，我對美國的了解并不是來自單一的故事。
