鲁院演讲Literature: Chinese Voice and World Expression

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第二场研讨会 题目：文学：中国的声音和世界的表达

（希腊）克里斯多斯 克里斯普洛斯 黄少政译

Dear friends and colleagues,

I believe that I speak in the name of all of us, the foreign writers in this gathering -who have the honor and the pleasure to be your guests- if I say that our visit to Beijing is a journey of exploration and knowledge. This is a journey of questions. I myself feel, that since I arrived, I am utterly fascinated by the uniqueness and the variety of the chinese cultural landscape (the language, the people, the urban landscape, the way of life...). I am also aware of -and somehow intimidated by- the depth and the width of a culture that spans so far in space and time beyond my knowledge. But at the same time, as I am looking around with a curious mind, I am also questioning the opinions, the presuppositions and the understanding I have of my own native culture, of myself, and of my understanding of others.

我相信，今天在这里代表第三届国际写作计划的外国作家发言，我们都有幸成为你们的客人 - 进驻鲁迅文学院，我们都把这次北京之行视为探索和知识的旅程。 有一连串的问题需要求索。 就我个人而言，下车伊始，我就为中国文化的宏观面貌（语言，人民，城市景观，生活方式......）--其独特性和多样性--深深着迷。 我也意识到 -面对这种跨越如此久远时空博大精深的文化传统，足令一个初来乍到的外国人心生敬畏。 但与此同时，当我以一种求知好奇的心态环顾四周时，我开始质疑我对自己的本土文化，对自己以及对他人的理解的看法，预设和理解。

I feel that this is also the way literature acts as a fundamental form of questioning. Literature makes us question ourselves and our understanding of the world around us, whilst at the same it has the power to reveal to us all those things that constitute our own identity and the identity of others.

我觉得这也是文学之所以存在的基本方式--对迷惑不解周遭的世界进行发问。 文学让我们质疑自己，质疑我们对周围世界的现存的理解，同时文学也具有一种能力，即向我们揭示构成我们自己的身份和他人身份的那些事物。

So, when I first started thinking about the title of our seminar "Literature: Chinese Voice and World Expression", I asked myself: What does this Chinese Voice mean for me? What do I know about it? How is this voice sounding in my ears, and what is it telling me? And this is when I realized that in reality I know so little about contemporary China. Or I should rather say that I know very little beyond a general knowledge of the Chinese political history, traditions, and what forms our current political and economic newsfeed. Likewise, I know very little about contemporary Chinese literature.

所以，一看到本次研讨会的题目-"文学：中国声音与世界表达"，我就问自己：这个中国之声对我来说意味着什么？ 我对此又了解多少？ 而一旦中国声音在我耳畔响起，它要对我说什么？ 此时此刻，我才意识到，实际上我对当代中国知之甚少。 或者我应该说，除了对中国政治历史，传统以及我们当前政治和经济新闻的形式的一般了解之外，我知之甚少。 同样，我对当代中国文学知之甚少。

How can I think, then, about the contribution of Chinese Literature today in a world of reading? What can the Chinese voice add in the choir of world literature? The answer is very obvious. By contemplating on their own dilemmas, questions, aspirations, fears and challenges, chinese writers can contribute to the understanding of our own dilemmas, questions, aspirations, fears and challenges.

那么，我如何回答这个问题，即当今中国文学对世界文学有什么贡献呢？ 中国声音在世界文学大合唱中，带来了什么益处？ 答案非常明显。 通过思考中国人自己的困境，问题，愿望，恐惧和挑战，中国作家可以帮助中国以外的人群理解他们自己的困境，问题，愿望，恐惧和挑战。值得中外作家审视的共同问题如下：

The problems of societies in a state of perpetual and fundamental change.

The political challenges facing our states in an inter-related world.

The contradictions and the clashing interests in our many layered societies.

The exclusions and the hierarchies according to several identities: ethnic, gender, national, economic, class, social, sexual... etc.

The struggle of the individual as a unit within different notions of the collective.

The growing power of the economy as a force in our societies.

The challenges of technology and the environment.

Our relationship with time, memory, tradition.

The contemplation on how we write and re-write our history.

The question of how art can express, explore, understand and discuss our sense and place in reality.

世界的本质就是变动不居，那些置人类社会永远处于应对不暇的境地的根本问题是什么？

•世界各国在一个相互关联的世界中，面临那些共同的政治挑战？

•在人类众多分层社会中，那些矛盾和利益冲突更尖锐？

•基于种族，性别，国家，经济，阶级，社会，性别种种因素，人类形成了那些排除性的安排和等级制度？

•个人作为社会之人，为争取个性和集体观念发生怎样的冲突？

•经济作为社会的一股力量，如何愈来愈一家独大？

•技术给我们的环境带来了怎样的挑战？

•我们如何理解时间，记忆和传统？

•我们如何编写和重写历史？

•艺术如何表达，探索，理解和讨论我们在现实中的感觉和地位？

All the above -together with the inner, human condition that binds us to existential issues: relationships, parenthood, love, violence, aging, death- are concerns that we have in common. Literature can provide us with one tool among others (not the only one, not even the most sensitive one, but a very particular tool) in order to construct a temporary territory where we can reside. This will be a temporary place. A rented home. Soon it will need to be changed. Soon we will feel, again, out-of-place in it. And a new place will need to be found. And so it goes...

所有这些 - 以及将我们与生存问题联系在一起的内在的人类状况：关系，父母身份，爱情，暴力，老龄化，死亡 - 都是全世界作家共同关注的问题。 文学可以为我们提供一种工具（不是唯一的，甚至不是最敏感的工具，而是一种非常特殊的工具），用以构建某种可供人类暂时栖居的场所。 这个场所也就是一个权宜之计。 一个租来的房子。 很快还得迁移。 不久，我们将再次感受到它的不合时宜。 需要找到一个新的地方。 它就是.....

In this constant search for a world that will accommodate our dilemmas, questions, aspirations and fears, chinese writers can be valuable together with their fellow writers across the world. Our meeting in this room -and the first seminar we had already some days ago- both prove that no matter in what language, and from what part of the world, writers can share a common ground. It is this ground in which words are struggling to become tangible elements of life. Being a writer -in my mind- means to appreciate and honor this responsibility.

在不断寻找能够适应我们的困境，回答问题，满足愿望和平复恐惧的世界的过程中，中国作家可以与世界各地的作家一起，做出自己的贡献。 我们在这个会议室的研讨 - 以及我们几天前已经举办的第一次研讨会 - 都证明，无论用什么语言，从世界的哪个角落，作家都可以找到共同的议题各抒己见。 正是在这个基础上，语言正在努力成为生活的有形元素。 作为一名作家 - 我以为 - 我们应该明白作家这两个字意味着什么，以及作家应该承担的责任。

Thank you.