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Orhan Pamuk: Bridging East and West 走进帕慕克的文学世界

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

A young architecture student named Orhan Pamuk sat in his family’s upscale apartment in Istanbul, Turkey. The design of great building was his field of study. However, art was his passion, much to his mother’s disdain. She warned him that such pursuits would lead him to one of two places: the bottom of a bottle, or the asylum. Pamuk considered her words as he stepped out of the apartment. “I don’t want to be an artist,” came his reply, “I’m going to be a writer.” This scene is from his novel, Istanbul: Memories of a City.

一位名奥罕．帕慕克的年轻建筑系学生，坐在家族位于土耳其伊斯坦堡的高级公寓中。伟大建筑的设计是他的研究领域，但艺术才是他的热情所在，这点令他母亲相当瞧不起。她警告帕慕克，这种艺术追求将会使他落得以下两种下场之一：不是沉溺于酒精中，就是进疯人院。帕慕克边离开公寓边思索母亲的话。「我不想当艺术家，」他如此回答，「我要成为一个作家。」这一幕出现在帕慕克的小说《伊斯坦堡：一座城市的记忆》中。

At the time of this exchange, over 30 years ago, Pamuk had no idea that he would become both his nation’s most well-known and controversial author, not to mention a Nobel Prize winner. He was just about to abandon his architectural studies permanently in favor of writing. At the age of 22, he would lock himself in his room for eight years straight, trying to capture the essence of his turbulent and ever-changing homeland.

在这段对话发生当时（三十多年前），帕慕克并不晓得自己会成为国内最知名以及最具争议性的作家，更别提赢得诺贝尔文学奖了。他那时只是想要永远放弃建筑研究，转而投向写作领域。廿二岁时，他将自己锁在房内整整八年，试着捕捉动荡不安、时时变迁的祖国之精髓。

In 1952, the year Pamuk was born, Turkey was in the grip of modernist reforms. Old religious customs and traditional languages were banned, because they were considered backward by the government. It was a transition from a religious to a secular society. A process of Westernization was begun, and Pamuk’s city of Istanbul underwent great change. The entire country was torn between past and present, East and West.

1952年（帕慕克诞生的那年），土耳其正进行现代化改革。当时政府认为旧的宗教习俗和传统语言落伍，因此下令禁止使用。这是从信仰虔诚的社会到世俗化社会的转变。西化过程开始进行，帕慕克所居住的伊斯坦堡经历极大改变。整个国家在过去与现在、东方与西方文化间挣扎。

Vocabulary

单词发音

disdain [dɪsˋden] n. 轻蔑，鄙视

pursuit [pɚˋsut] n. 追求

asylum [əˋsaɪləm] n. 收容所；精神病院

not to mention 更不必说

abandon [əˋbændən] v. 放弃

in favor of 有利于,便于

essence [ˋɛsns] n. 本质; 精髓

turbulent [ˋtɝbjələnt] adj. 动荡的

be in the grip of 受…的控制; 遭遇 controlled by something

ban [bæn] v. 禁止

transition [trænˋzɪʃən] n. 过渡; 转变

undergo [͵ʌndɚˋgo] v. 经历

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单词发音

upscale [ˋʌp͵skel] adj. 适合高消费阶层的﹐ 高档的

bottom of a bottle (or bottom of the barrel) 最低质量的人或物 the location of persons or things of the very lowest quality

straight [stret] adj. 连续的，无间断的

ever-changing 一直在变的

backward [ˋbækwɚd] adj. 落后的

secular [ˋsɛkjəlɚ] adj. 世俗的；非宗教的

westernization [͵wɛstɚnaɪˋzeʃən] n. 西洋化，欧化

课文讲解

The process of Westernization has a great effect on Pamuk. He devoured European and American literature, adopting the style into his own unique form of prose. While his own country struggled to find its identity, Pamuk did the same in his writing. The East-West clash became his central theme, which he examined in his first novel, Cevdet Bey and His Sons. It is a three-generational tale of an upper-class Istanbul family.

西化过程对帕慕克影响深远。他大量吸收欧洲及美国文学，将各种风格融入他独一无二的散文写作中。当他的祖国努力想找到自己身份定位的同时，帕慕克的写作亦是如此。东西方文化的冲突成了他写作的核心主题。他的第一本小说《杰夫德贝伊与其子》，便是省视这个问题。这本小说是关于一个伊斯坦堡上流阶层一家三代的故事。

Another recurring theme in Pamuk’s stories is the city of Istanbul itself. The city is the backdrop for Pamuk’s third book, The White Castle. In his story, the East-West juxtaposition is personified in two look-alikes: an aristocrat from Venice and a Turkish inventor. Kidnapped by pirates, the aristocrat is sold to the inventor, who is anxious to learn all about the West from him. Later on, they accompany the Sultan’s army on the siege of a white castle in Poland. The two swap identities and lives, paralleling Turkey’s modern transition.

伊斯坦堡是帕慕克写作中另一个一再出现的主题。这城市是帕慕克第三本小说《白色城堡》的背景。故事中，帕慕克用两个外表相似的主角分别代表东西方文化。其中一位是威尼斯贵族，另一位则是土耳其发明家。贵族被海盗绑架，卖给了发明家。发明家急切想从贵族身上获知西方的一切。后来，二人都跟随苏丹国王的军队围攻波兰的一座白色城堡。这两个人交换身份及生活，如同土耳其现代化过程中的社会变迁。

Pamuk also writes of Turkey’s struggle to choose between tradition and modernity. Such is the theme of My Name is Red. Set in the late 16^th century, it tells of the murder of two of the Sultan’s court artists. Both artists had violated the cultural traditions of Islam, and were caught between longing to break with tradition, and fear of being branded traitors to their homeland. Reflecting the feelings of Turks everywhere, these internal and external conflicts are themes which Pamuk himself has struggled with as well.

帕慕克同时也描述土耳其在传统与现代间抉择的挣扎情况。《我的名字是红》便以此为主题。故事背景设于十六世纪晚期，叙述两名苏丹宫廷艺术家被谋杀的事件。两位艺术家都违反了伊斯兰教的文化传统，并在渴望破除传统与害怕背负叛徒的罪名间进退两难。这些内、外在的冲突反映所有土耳其人民的感受，同时也是帕慕克自己所经历的问题。

Vocabulary

单词发音

devour [dɪˋvaʊr] v. 贪婪地看（或听，读等）

literature [ˋlɪtərətʃɚ] n. 文学

prose [proz] n. 散文

clash [klæʃ] n. 冲突；不协调

kidnap [ˋkɪdnæp] v. 绑架

accompany [əˋkʌmpənɪ] v. 陪同

siege [sidʒ] n. 围攻；包围

swap [swɑp] v. 【口】交换

violate [ˋvaɪə͵let] v. 违反

break with 与…绝交, 结束

traitor [ˋtretɚ] n. 叛徒

external [ɪkˋstɝnəl] adj. 外部的

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单词发音

adopt [əˋdɑpt] v. 采取；采纳；吸收

examine [ɪgˋzæmɪn] v. 检查；细查

recurring [rɪˋkɝɪŋ] adj. 再次发生的

backdrop [ˋbæk͵drɑp] n. 背景; 背景幕

juxtaposition [͵dʒʌkstəpəˋzɪʃən] n. 并置，并列

personify [pɚˋsɑnə͵faɪ] v. 赋予……人性

look-alike [ˋlʊkə͵laɪk] n.【口】外形酷似之人（或物）

aristocrat [æˋrɪstə͵kræt] n. 贵族

Sultan [ˋsʌltn] n. 苏丹（某些回教国家统治者的称号）

parallel [ˋpærə͵lɛl] v. 与……相似

caught between A and B 夹在 A and B 中间 having only two very unpleasant choices

brand [brænd] v. 加上不公的污名; 给〔某物〕打上烙印

课文讲解

Today, Pamuk is becoming just as well known for his outspoken views as he is for his writing. In 1988, the Turkish government honored Pamuk with the title of “State Artist.” It was ironic because Pamuk had been one of the government’s most vocal critics. Naturally, he declined to accept the honor. In 2005, Pamuk found himself on trial in his own homeland, after it was decided that he had damaged his country’s image. His crime was denouncing the killing of large numbers of Armenians and Kurds by Turkish forces at the end of WWI. The act has been described as genocide, a term the Turkish government adamantly rejects.

如今，帕慕克除了在写作上享有盛名外，也以直言不讳、勇于表达政治看法而闻名。1998年，土耳其政府打算颁发「国家艺术家」的荣耀给帕慕克。讽刺的是，帕慕克长久以来都严厉批评政府政策，因此他自然回绝了这个奖项2005年，土耳其政府以帕慕克破坏国家形象为由而予以起诉。罪名是他谴责土耳其军队在第一次世界大战末期，大举屠杀许多亚美尼亚人和库德族人。这种行为一直被认为是集体屠杀，但土耳其政府坚决否认这项指控。

The greatest tribute to Pamuk came this October when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In his novelIstanbul: Memories of a City, the story is part memoir and part ode to the city in which he grew up. It shows the contrast of East and West and that of Christianity and Islam, in Istanbul. It is a city confused about its own identity.

帕慕克于今年十月获得最大的荣耀－诺贝尔文学奖。在小说《伊斯坦堡：一座城市的记忆》中，一部份是回忆录，一部份是歌颂帕慕克从小生长的城市。这个故事显示伊斯坦堡在东西方文化间、基督教和伊斯兰教冲突中所碰到的矛盾情况。这是个有身份认同问题的城市。

As the Swedish Academy of Nobel Prize said, Pamuk’s “quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.” Pamuk’s writing stands alone as he continues his lifelong search for the heart and soul of his country. It is a search that has led him to an extraordinary understanding of the conflict between overlapping cultures and traditions.

如诺贝尔奖瑞典学院所说，帕慕克「在追寻故乡忧郁灵魂的过程中，他发现了文化冲突与交迭的新表征。」在帕慕克继续终生致力追求国家的心与灵魂的同时，他的写作凸显而出。这种追寻让他深刻了解文化重迭和传统间的冲突。

−by Joe Henley

Vocabulary

单词发音

outspoken [aʊtˋspokən] adj. 坦率的；直言不讳的

ironic [aɪˋrɑnɪk] adj. 具有讽刺意味的〔尤指出于开玩笑或表示不快〕﹐讽刺的

on trial 受审

denounce [dɪˋnaʊns] v. 指责，谴责

memoir [ˋmɛmwɑr] n.（本人写的）回忆录，自传

quest [kwɛst] n. 追求；探索

stand alone 独一无二; 显著 to be in a position or place where there are no other people or things

lifelong [ˋlaɪf͵lɔŋ] adj. 终身的，一辈子的

extraordinary [ɪkˋstrɔrdn͵ɛrɪ] adj. 特别的

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单词发音

vocal [ˋvok!] adj. 畅所欲言的，直言不讳的

Armenian [ɑrˋminɪən] n. 亚美尼亚人

Kurd [kɚd] n. 库德人（西亚的游牧民族）

genocide [ˋdʒɛnə͵saɪd] n. 种族灭绝；集体屠杀

adamantly [ˋædəməntlɪ] adv. 固执地；顽固地

tribute [ˋtrɪbjut] n. 尊崇，称颂

ode [od] n. 颂歌；赋

melancholic [͵mɛlənˋkɑlɪk] adj. 忧郁的；患忧郁症的

interlace [͵ɪntɚˋles] v. 交错