maotouzi
毛豆子
Posts: 5686
(8/31/07 8:57 am)
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郭小橹的爱字典
最早看到郭小橹这个名字应该是在早期全盛时期的城市画报,她写关于电
影的小品文,以电影硕士的身份,后来消失,或者只是我失去了阅读这份画
报的耐心.今年当这个名字再次进入视野,就已经是在主流英语媒体了,报道这位进
入Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 决赛的中国留英女作家
Xiaolu Guo...知道这本开始让她以作家身份广受关注的"A Concise
Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers"有些时候,但是一直没有机会
看到内文,这两天总算在诚品网站看到了貌似是开篇的第一章.完全活到了
期望值...佩服她搞出了这样一个如此聪明的呈现方式来体现一次爱在异域
的哀而不伤的旅程.
在culture shock 和language barriers 下的爱的故事,闯荡的故事,在这
个年代已经不是稀罕事，不象八九十代
初，一本曼哈顿的中国女人就可以引得众人趋之若鹜，隔岸观火地
观赏这出文化差异和语言障碍的大戏。现在依然是这个题材，要如何呈现出新意，就
需要形式来帮忙，而既然要讲述语言障碍， 文化差异，就没有比一本字典更有用的
武器了。
这是小橹第一本纯粹的英文原创小说，前面一本Village of Stone虽然是她自己翻
译成英文在英语世界出版，但毕竟是忠实地从中文小说中翻译过来的。她作为创作者的聪明
在于大凡中文母语的写作者第一次用英文写作，即使英文根底再好，其遣词用句依
然会别扭，会让母语读者感觉拗口，比如对严歌苓的第一部英文小说The Banquet
Bug ，Publishers Weekly有评说：“Yan's concept is clever, but wooden dialogue
and some awkward descriptions make it clear that English is not her mother
tongue, though this also leads to some seductively nuanced moments ("He
smells rather than hears her words carried on her smoky breath") that hint
at her enormous potential. ”，而小橹索性就以一个生硬的英语语言世界的闯入
者身份创作了她的第一部英文小说，巧妙地避开语言暗流，而且更是将本来处于防
御状态的盾转为进攻的矛。
同样巧妙的是,这本小说虽然是面向广大西方读者的，但是真的能够100%会心到的，恐怕就只有懂
英文的中文读者了吧？比如试阅的内文里有一句:“I worry. I worry I getting lost and nobody in
China can find me anymore. How I finding important places including Buckingham
Palace, or Big Stupid Clock? ”，也只有中文读者能够理解为何她会把BIG BEN说
成Big Stupid Clock，因为我们将BIG BEN翻译为大苯钟，而西方读者可能以为她之所以叫它为big stupid clock只是在沮丧
状态下对陌生地因敌对而生出的轻视情绪。这也就为这本书增加了几分密码色彩，
你需要完全和她处在同一频道上，才能正确解码。所以这本写给西方读者的书,其实,秘密地,
还是寻找着中文读者的知音.这本书在美国的发行日是九月4日,值得期待。
最后想到,为何就索性不把这本书设计成我们用的那种英汉小词典的样子呢？小小的，
厚厚的，字典体的，配上毛选的那种红塑料皮，烫金字？估计出版商也完全是为了市场考
虑，可别让大多数读者误以为这是一本语言工具书而失去了学习这本优美的幽默小字典的机
会。
(以下内容转自诚品网路书店)
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers 作者／ Guo, Xiaolu
出版社／ CHATTO & WINDUS
出版日期／ 20070327
商品語言／ 英文
媒體推薦
2007年 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 柑橘小說獎決選作品！
本書敘述一名中國女孩於留學英國期間的愛情故事，讀者多臆測是作者本身旅居倫敦時發生的故事
作者郭小櫓（Xiaolu Guo）是留英華人作家，她於1973年生於浙江，於2000年在北京電影學院獲得碩士學位後，赴倫敦進修電影製作，由她執導的電影《Far and Near》在2003年獲得英國Beck's Futures Student Prize電影獎。 她的中文作品《石頭鎮》曾譯為英文發行，並獲得2005年?丢??蟆吠鈬≌f獎?罱K提名獎，確立了作者在西方文壇的地位。
書中的女主人公被父母送到英國學習，舉目無親。她在英國下了飛機之後，就發現別人無論如何也不能正確地發出她中文名字的聲音，於是索性改名為Z。小說以第一人稱的方式，記錄了不會英語的Z來到英國，學習英語，瞭解英國，結識瞭解她的英國情人，思考文化和人生的過程。
Z在倫敦北部一個華人家庭租了房住下，並結識了英國情人，從此 Z進入了一個新世界，發現自由、發現語言不能自由運用的愛情，也開始了以自編愛情字典的生活。但Z發現雖然她的英語進步了，甚至可以流暢使用古典優雅的英語，但她依然很難真正理解她的英國男友，最終還是分手。
本書開頭故意用蹩腳的英語寫成，風格喜劇化，使得這本作者的英文處女小說作品大受好評，故事記錄女主角瞭解另一種語言、另一種文化的過程。因為，Z初到英國時什麼都不懂，英文也很差，因此，在全書的開頭就是一篇非常彆扭的英語。作者在受訪時提到她的創作心情：故事是關於一個小女農民不會講英文，她自己抄了一本字典，實際上是創造了一部字典。用中文是沒法針對那麼多語法的。必須用完全錯誤的語法來寫，要刻意犯錯誤；可以說整本書要呈現的是一個慘痛的喜劇，但必須是種風格，也就是說用什麼時態，必須堅持那種時態；有點像寫恐怖小說，得刻意經營每一個細節。
作者故意書寫「Chinglish 中式英語」，完全沒有英文的語法、時態可言，甚至主詞受詞關係都是根據中文而來。又，本書的書寫體例刻意仿造「辭典體」，不僅依照字母順序、為每個單詞下定義，而每一章節都極短。英國書評認為，書中描繪東西方交流上會隨時出現誤解的情形，寫得很好，特別是涉及感情與文化誤解的部份，更是超越了國籍界線，無論哪一國的讀者都能讀懂作者要傳達的內容，並將這本書和《A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian》並論。
○七年專為女性作家而設立的英國柑橘獎入圍名單中，來自中國作家郭小櫓之筆的A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers令人驚豔。二十三歲的女主角莊（Zhuang）來自中國鄉村，被父母隻身送往英國，抵達Heathrow機場時，她發現沒有人可以正確地唸出她的中文名字，遂自稱Ｚ。Ｚ來此學習英文，小說又以第一人稱進行，作者刻意以蹩腳的英文符合她的角色。Ｚ後來交往了一位英國男友，經歷愛情、自由、性、自覺，使得她的世界改觀了；然而，儘管Ｚ的英文進步了，和大她二十歲的男友的戀情最終還是悵然收場。小說採用字典條目的形式編輯，郭小櫓的書寫既貼近Ｚ的生活與愛情，也以幽默的方式觸及文化衝擊和語言障礙。
一九七三年次的郭小櫓來自浙江，於北京電影學院修業，二○○○年取得碩士學位，後旅居英國，投身電影與紀錄片工作。她的創作涵蓋電影理論、散文和小說，第二部長篇《我心中的石頭鎮》（Village of Stone）入圍二○○五年「獨立報外國小說獎」，《獨立報》並將她選為今年度文壇新秀之一，無疑地是最受西方文壇矚目的中國作家。而她在電影的本業也表現不凡，電影短片《你今天的魚如何？》（How Is Your Fish Today?），獲得法國Cretell女性電影展首獎，也是去年愛丁堡電影節開幕片。
郭小櫓作品
■《夢中或不是夢中的飛行》。陜西人民，二○○○年。
■《電影地圖》。上海文藝，二○○一年。
■《芬芳的三十七度二》。陜西人民，二○○一年。
■《電影理論筆記》。廣西師大，二○○二年
■《我心中的石頭鎮》。上海文藝，二○○三年
■Village of Stone∣ Chatto & Windus.2004.
■A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers∣Chatto & Windus,2007.
内文试阅
《A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers》
文 / Guo, Xiaolu
February
Alien
alien adj foreign; repugnant (to); from another world n foreigner; being from another world Is unbelievable, I arriving London, ‘Heathlow Airport’.
Every single name very difficult remembering, because just not ‘London Airport’ simple way like we simple way call ‘Beijing Airport’. Everything very confuse way here, passengers is separating in two queues.
Sign in front of queue say: ALIEN and NON ALIEN.
I am alien, like Hollywood film Alien, I live in another planet, with funny looking and strange language.
I standing in most longly and slowly queue with all aliens waiting for visa checking. I feel little criminal but I doing nothing wrong so far. My English so bad. How to do?
In my text book I study back China, it says English peoples talk like this:
'How are you?’
‘I am very well. How are you ?’
‘I am very well.’
Question and answer exactly the same!
Old saying in China: ‘Birds have their bird language, beasts have their beast talk’ (...). English they totally another species.
Immigration officer holding my passport behind his accounter, my heart hanging on high sky. Finally he stamping on my visa. My heart touching down like air plane. Ah. Wo. Ho. Ha. Picking up my luggage, now I a legal foreigner. Because legal foreigner from Communism region, I must re-educate, must match this capitalism freedom and Western democracy.
All I know is: I not understanding what people say to me at all. From now on, I go with Concise Chinese–English Dictionary at all times. It isred cover, look just like Little Red Book. I carrying important book, even go to the toilet, in case I not knowing the words for some advanced machine and need checking out in dictionary. Dictionary is most important thing from China. Concise meaning simple and clean.
hostel
hostel n building providing accommodation at a low cost for a specific group of people such as students, travellers, homeless people, etc
First night in ‘hostel’. Little Concise Chinese–English Dictionary hostel explaining: a place for ‘people such as students, travellers and homeless people’ to stay. Sometimes my dictionary absolute right. I am student and I am homeless looking for place to stay. How they knowing my situation precisely?
Thousands of additional words and phrases reflect scientific and technological innovations, as well as changes in politics, culture, and society.
In particular, many new words and expressions as well as new usages and meanings which have entered the Chinese language as a result of China’s open-door policy over the last decade have been included in the Chinese–English section of the dictionary.
That is sentence in Preface. All sentence in preface long like this, very in-understandable. But I must learning this stylish English because it high-standard English from authority.
Is parents’ command on me: studying how speak and write English in England, then coming
ack China, leaving job in government work unit and making lots money for their shoes factory by big international business relations. Parents belief their life is dog’s life, but with money they save from last several years, I make better life through Western education.
Anyway, hostel called ‘Nuttington House’ in Brown Street, nearby Edward Road and Baker Street. I write all the names careful in notebook. No lost. Brown Street seem really brown with brick buildings everywhere.
Prison looking. Sixteen pounds for per bed per day. With sixteen pounds, I live in top hotel in China with private bathroom. Now I must learn counting the money and being mean to myself and others. Gosh.
First night in England is headache.
Pulling large man-made-in-China-suitcase into hostel, second wheel fall off by time I open the door. (First wheel already fall off when I get suitcase from airport’s luggage bell.) Is typical suitcase produced by any factory in Wen Zhou, my hometown. My hometown China’s biggest home-products industry town, our government says.
Coat hangers, plastic washbasins, clothes, leather belts and nearlyleather bags, computer components etc, we make there. Every family in my town is factory. Big factories export their products to everywhere in the world, just like my parents get order from Japan, Singapore and Israel. But anyway, one over-the-sea trip and I lost all the wheels. I swear I never buy any products made from home town again.
Standing middle of the room, I feeling strange. This is The West. By window, there hanging old red curtain with holes. Under feet, old blood-red carpet has suspicions dirty spots. Beddings, they covering by old red blanket too. Everything is dirty blood red.
Room smelling old, rotten. Suddenly my body feeling old too. ‘English people respect history, not like us,’ teachers say to us in schools. Is true. In China now, all buildings is no more than 10 years old and they already old enough to be demolished.
With my enormous curiosity, walking down to the night street. First night I away home in my entirely twenty-three years life, everything scare me. Is cold, late winter. Windy and chilli. I feeling I can die for all kinds of situation in every second. No safety in this country, I think unsafe feeling come from I knowing nothing about this country. I scared I in a big danger.
I scared by cars because they seems coming from any possible directing. I scared by long hair black man passing because I think he beating me up just like in films. I scared by a dog. Actually chained with old lady but I thinking dog maybe have mad-dog-illness and it suddenly bite me and then I in hospital then I have no money to pay and then I sent back to China.
Walking around like a ghost, I see two rough mans in corner suspicionly smoke and exchange something. Illlegal, I have to run – maybe they desperate drug addictors robbing my money.
Even when I see a beggar sleeping in a sleep bag I am sca
red. Eyes wide open in darkness staring at me like angry cat. What he doing here? I am taught everybody in West has social security and medical insurance, so, why he needs begging?
I going back quickly to Nuttington House. Red old carpet, red old curtain, red old blanket. Better switch off light.
Night long and lonely, staying nervously in tacky room. London should be like emperor’s city. But I cannot feel it. Noise coming from other room. Laughing in drunkenly way. Upstairs TV news speaking intensely nonsense. Often the man shouting like mad in the street.
I worry. I worry I getting lost and nobody in China can find me anymore. How I finding important places including Buckingham Palace, or Big Stupid Clock? I looking everywhere but not seeing big posters of David Beckham, Spicy Girls or President Margaret Thatcher. In China we hanging them everywhere. English person not respect their heroes or what?
No sleeping. Switching on the light again. Everything turning red. Bloody new world. I study little red dictionary. English words made only from twenty-six characters? Are English a bit lazy or what? We have fifty thousand characters in Chinese.
Starting at page one:
A
Abacus: (meaning a wooden machine used for counting)
Abandon: (meaning to leave or throw away)
Abashed: (meaning to feel embrassed or regretful),
Abattoir: (meaning a place to kill the animals)
Abbess: (meaning the boss of woman monk’s house)
Abbey: (meaning a temple)
Abbot: (meaning the boss of a temple)
Abbreviate: (meaning to write a word quickly)
Abduct: (meaning to tie somebody up and take away to somewhere)
Words becoming blurred and no meaning. The first night I falling into darkness with the jet-lag tiredness.
Edited by: maotouzi at: 8/31/07 9:01 am
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