評論
打印
Mr. Yu is concerned that his critics are no more independent thinkers than their counterparts in the Cultural Revolution, which ran from 1966 to 1976 -- while Mr. Yu was growing up. In those days, China turned into a totalitarian madhouse focused on the personality cult of leader Mao Zedong. Now, over the past three decades, China has embraced capitalism with the same level of fervor. 'China has these huge bubbles,' he says. 'The Cultural Revolution was the world's biggest revolutionary bubble and now we have the world's biggest capitalist bubble.'
余華擔心，這些年輕人和文革時的那些年輕人一樣，也缺少獨立思考的能力。余華正是成長在1966年至1976年的文革時期。那時候，中國的極權統治登峰造極，對毛澤東大搞個人崇拜。而在過去的這三十年里，中國以同樣的熱情擁抱了資本主義。余華說，中國有這些巨大的泡沫，文化大革命是世界上最大的革命泡沫，而現在我們有世界上最大的資本主義泡沫。
The problem with writing about today's China, he says, is that change is so rapid it's almost impossible to do it justice. 'China's changes are like hundreds of years of European history compressed together,' he says 'The Cultural Revolution was like our dark ages. Now we're in the 21st century, just like the West. From one era to the other, it's almost too fast.'
他說，描寫當代中國的困難在于，中國的變化太快了，人們難以做出公正的評判。中國的變化就好像是把歐洲幾百年的歷史濃縮到了一起，文化大革命就像是我們的黑暗時代。現在我們和西方一樣進入了21世紀。我們從一個時代跳到了另一個時代，變化太快了。
Western critics have been surprised that 'Brothers' was not banned. But Mr. Yu notes that pointing out the country's impoverished countryside or corruption are themes that the state-run press harps on daily. Mr. Yu thinks that some of the West's surprise at the topics in 'Brothers' is because so much of contemporary Chinese fiction sold in the West is written by exiles. That's led to an assumption that current-day topics are out of bounds.
西方的批評家一直對《兄弟》未遭禁感到驚訝。余華表示，指出中國農村的貧困和腐敗問題也是官方媒體每天喋喋不休的話題。余華認為，一些西方人之所以對《兄弟》一書的主題感到奇怪，是因為在西方，很多關于當代中國的小說都是流亡海外的作家創作的。這就促使人們認為當代的主題都是不可觸碰的禁區。
Whether this is true or not, it is remarkable how much Chinese living abroad have shaped Westerners' perceptions of China. Indeed, almost all Chinese authors who are famous in the West also live in the West, among them: Gao Xingjian (2000 Nobel Prize for Literature), Ha Jin (1999 National Book Award), Ma Jian, Li Yiyun and Dai Sijie. Most deal with China in the 1960s, '70s or '80s.
不論這是不是事實，居住在海外的中國人都在十分明顯地影響著西方人對中國的看法。事實上，幾乎所有在西方知名的中國作家都生活在西方，其中包括：高行健（2000年諾貝爾文學獎得主）、哈金（1999年美國國家圖書獎得主）、馬建、李翊云和戴思杰。他們中的大多數描寫的都是60、70或80年代的中國。
'I think it's hard for them to write about China nowadays,' Mr. Yu says carefully. He doesn't believe in bashing exiled writers for pandering to Western tastes -- an accusation that some have made about him as well. But he does feel almost left alone; only the author Mo Yan has a serious body of work published in the West. 'Western critics don't realize something: The most critical authors are in China, not overseas. Look, there's me, there's Mo Yan -- we criticize a lot. Anyone can criticize the Cultural Revolution nowadays. We criticize the current society.'
余華小心翼翼地說，我想，讓這些作家描寫當代中國有些困難。余華不想抨擊流亡作家，說他們是在迎合西方趣味──有些人已經對他做出了這樣的指責。但是，他的確覺得自己是只身一人。除他以外，只有作家莫言在西方出版過嚴肅作品。余華說，西方批評家沒有意識到：最具批判眼光的作家在中國，不在海外。他說，你瞧，有我，還有莫言──我們經常批評。現在任何人都可以批評文化大革命。而我們批評當代社會。
Since Mr. Yu wrote his book, China's economy has joined the rest of the world in slowing down dramatically. That might make 'Brothers' seem like a description of a past era -- the go-go years of the early 21st century. But in other ways, China's slowdown has brought to the surface issues that Mr. Yu dealt with in 'Brothers,' such as corruption and rootlessness.
自從余華的這部小說問世以后，中國的經濟增長就和其他國家一樣急劇放緩。這可能會讓《兄弟》看起來像是在描述一個過去的時代──21世紀初的那個奔騰年代。但是從另外的角度看，中國經濟的放緩讓余華在《兄弟》中描寫的問題浮出了水面，比如腐敗和無所寄托的狀態。
But what bothers Mr. Yu more about these obvious problems is a lack of trust in society. The book trade itself is good example of this, he says. 'It's really hard for a young author to break in because there are few reputable critics. It's corrupt. People pay critics to write all sorts of nonsense.' He says reviewers charge 3,000 to 5,000 yuan for a review. The accusation is impossible to prove but it is true that China has a weak scene of literary criticism. He contrasts the situation to a western publication like France's Le Monde. He says that newspaper gave him a two-page spread, resulting in a huge spike in sales -- because French people could trust the newspaper's judgment, not as infallible but as an honest effort at reviewing a book.
然而，在這些凸顯的問題中，最讓余華感到困擾的是社會缺乏信任。他說，圖書貿易本身就是一個很好的例子。因為幾乎沒有知名的文學批評家，所以年輕作家想要躋身文學圈非常困難。這就是腐敗。人們花錢雇批評家寫出各種毫無價值的東西。他說，批評家寫一篇評論要收3,000至5,000元不等。余華的這種評論不可能得到證實，但中國的文學批評的確盡顯頹象。他將這種情形和西方的出版物，比如法國的《世界報》(Le Monde)來做比較。他說，《世界報》用兩個版面的篇幅為他做宣傳，結果圖書銷量大幅增加──因為法國民眾可以相信報紙上的判斷，不是因為它一貫正確，而是因為它誠實地評論了這本書。
This is why, he says, literature in China is so troubled. Young talented writers have a hard time finding readers and there is almost no serious criticism to help guide readers and writers. At the heart of the issue is a dysfunctional civil society -- which takes Mr. Yu back to his favorite topic of society as a patient. 'What China lacks is public trust,' he says. 'It's what is missing the most in China right now.'
他說，這就是為什么文學在中國會面臨如此多的問題。有才華的年輕作家難以找到讀者，而中國幾乎沒有嚴肅的文學批評去引導讀者和作家。問題的癥結是一個功能紊亂的市民社會──這再次把余華帶回到他喜愛的命題：一個疾病纏身的社會。他說，中國缺乏的是公眾信任，這是中國當下最缺失的東西。
