愛(ài)麗絲·門羅：從家庭主婦到諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得主

By Neda Ulaby

Melissa Block （Host）： And finally this hour， we celebrate the 110th winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature， Alice Munro. She is the 13th woman to win the award. The Canadian writer was 1）hailed by the Swedish academy as a master of the contemporary short story. Over her career， Munro has written 14 story collections and one novel. Munro began writing as a child in rural Western Ontario， raised in a family of tough Scottish 2）Presbyterians.

Neda Ulaby （Byline）： So much of Alice Munros work is 3）autobiographical， like the short story that begins when a little girl is given some terrible news by her aunt.（Soundbite of Archived CBC Broadcast）

Alice Munro： （Reading） Your mother has had a little stroke. She says not， but Ive seen too many like her. Shes had a little one and she might have another little one and another and another. And someday she might have the big one.

Ulaby： Thats Alice Munro reading her story “The Ottawa Valley” on the CBC—the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—in 1978. The aunt in the story then proceeds to comfort the little girl， if thats what you want to call it， with a story of her own.

（Soundbite of Archived CBC Broadcast）

Munro： （Reading） My mother took sick when I was only 10. She died when I was 15. In between， what a time I had with her. She was all swollen up. What she had was 4）dropsy. They came one time and took it out of her by the 5）pailful. Took what out. Fluid.

Ulaby： Alice Munro hates it when her stories are described as 6）bleak. She told WHYYs “Fresh Air” in 1996 that she finds a range of emotions even in sicknesses or betrayals.（Soundbite of Archived Interview）

Munro： Anything that surprises me， that makes me see anything differently， anything that gives me a gift is 7）entertaining.

Wayson Choy： She startles me when I read her.

Ulaby： Thats fellow Canadian and novelist Wayson Choy.

Choy： Because I think Im settling in for a quiet story that will be well told， and then Im realizing that theres a storm of emotion rising in the background.

Ulaby： Alice Munros first short story was published when she was 37. She was a college dropout squeezing in writing time around her childrens 8）naps. By the time she was in her 60s—and shes now 82—shed become one of the most celebrated short story writers in the world. But as a woman of her generation and modest background， she felt conflicted about taking time to work.

Munro： There tends not to be the feeling that this is what you deserve. I still find it hard to think that I deserve that time to this day. I can be made to feel guilty if a friend phones just to chat， also just about all the things that I could be doing to be a better 9）homemaker as I was trained to be.

Ulaby： Guilt and other submerged feelings 10）simmer through a movie based on one of Munros short stories.“Away from Her” came out in 2006. It starred Julie Christie as a woman in a home for people with 11）Alzheimers. When her husband of many years comes to visit， she doesnt recognize him. She thinks hes a new patient.

（Soundbite of Movie， “Away from Her”）

Julie Christie： （as Fiona Anderson） If you ask that grimlooking lady over there nicely， shell get you a cup of tea. Gordon Pinsent： （as Grant Anderson） Im fine.

Christie： （as Fiona Anderson） I can leave you then？ You can entertain yourself？ Must all seem strange to you. But youll be surprised how soon you get used to it.

Ulaby： Then she introduces her husband to her new 12）nursing home boyfriend. The film was directed and written by Sarah Polley. She told “Fresh Air” she was drawn to Munros exploration of unconditional love.

（Soundbite of Interview）

Sarah Polley： He has not always been a saintly husband that， you know， there have been wounds that hes 13）perpetrated in the past and affairs that hes had. And that theres this strange， almost poetic justice that he perceives in her forgetting him and seemingly falling in love with another man in front of his eyes.

Ulaby： Alice Munro， so 14）adroit in expressing complex emotions， was at a rare loss for words when a CBC interviewer asked her what it meant to win the Nobel Prize in literature.

（Soundbite of Interview）

Munro： It just seems impossible. I cant describe it. Its more than I can say.

Ulaby： Munro said she hopes her win will increase respect for short stories. Only a few months ago， Alice Munro announced plans to retire. Now thanks to the Nobel， she says she just might reconsider.

梅麗莎·布洛克（主持人）：節(jié)目接近尾聲的時(shí)候，我們要祝賀第110位諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得主——愛(ài)麗絲·門羅，她是獲此殊榮的第13位女性。加拿大作家愛(ài)麗絲·門羅被瑞典學(xué)院譽(yù)為“當(dāng)代短篇小說(shuō)大師”。在門羅的職業(yè)生涯中，她共創(chuàng)作了14部短篇小說(shuō)集和一部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)。門羅少女時(shí)代即在西安大略省的鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)開(kāi)始寫小說(shuō)，她成長(zhǎng)于嚴(yán)厲的蘇格蘭長(zhǎng)老會(huì)的家庭。

尼達(dá)·烏拉比（撰稿人）：愛(ài)麗絲·門羅的很多作品都是自傳體小說(shuō)，比如其中有部短篇小說(shuō)以一個(gè)小女孩的姨媽給她講述一些恐怖消息為開(kāi)篇。

（CBC廣播電臺(tái)的錄音檔案）

愛(ài)麗絲·門羅：（朗讀）你媽媽得了輕微中風(fēng)，她說(shuō)沒(méi)有，但我看到她有很多中風(fēng)的病征。她得了一次輕微的，還會(huì)得下一次，下下一次……有一天她就會(huì)得一次大中風(fēng)。

烏拉比：那是愛(ài)麗絲·門羅1978年在加拿大廣播公司（以下簡(jiǎn)稱CBC）朗讀自己的小說(shuō)——《渥太華谷》。故事中的姨媽接下來(lái)安慰小女孩，如果你愿意這樣認(rèn)為，那就是她自己的故事。

（CBC廣播電臺(tái)的錄音檔案）

門羅：（朗讀）我10歲的時(shí)候媽媽得了病，我15歲時(shí)她就去世了。在那段時(shí)間里，我跟她一起的日子是多么難熬。她全身浮腫，到處都水腫。他們來(lái)過(guò)一次，從她身體里抽出滿滿一桶，抽出滿滿一桶液體。

烏拉比：愛(ài)麗絲·門羅不喜歡別人評(píng)價(jià)她的小說(shuō)陰郁。1996年她告訴費(fèi)城公共電臺(tái)的“新鮮空氣”欄目說(shuō)，就算在疾病和背叛中，她也能發(fā)現(xiàn)一系列的情感。（采訪錄音檔案）

門羅：凡是讓我驚奇、讓我從不同角度看

事物、給我特殊感覺(jué)的任何事物都使我感到很愉快。

維森·蔡：拜讀她的作品讓我感到震驚。烏拉比：這是加拿大小說(shuō)家維森·蔡（音譯）。

蔡：因?yàn)槲艺J(rèn)為我在開(kāi)始閱讀一部使人心情平復(fù)的暢銷小說(shuō)，接著我發(fā)現(xiàn)從背景那里升起一陣暴風(fēng)雨般的情感。

烏拉比：愛(ài)麗絲·門羅37歲時(shí)發(fā)表了第一部短篇小說(shuō)集，她是個(gè)大學(xué)輟學(xué)生，只能在孩子小睡的時(shí)候擠出時(shí)間寫作。她60多歲的時(shí)候——她今年82歲——成為了世界上最著名的短篇小說(shuō)家。但是作為那個(gè)年代并且只有普通背景的女人，對(duì)于花時(shí)間工作這件事她感到矛盾。

門羅：我沒(méi)有感覺(jué)到這些都是我應(yīng)得的，迄今為止我仍然很難相信我應(yīng)該擁有那些時(shí)間（去寫作）。如果有個(gè)朋友打電話來(lái)只是為了閑聊，或者是關(guān)于我作為家庭主婦能做得更好的所有事情，而我一直被訓(xùn)練成那樣的人，（那樣的話題）會(huì)讓我覺(jué)得有罪惡感。

烏拉比：罪惡感和其他潛藏的情感通過(guò)一部電影慢慢升騰起來(lái)，這部電影名叫《遠(yuǎn)離她》，在2006年上映，是根據(jù)門羅其中一部短篇小說(shuō)改編。該片由朱莉·克里斯蒂領(lǐng)銜主演，講述一個(gè)患老年癡呆癥的老婦人住在療養(yǎng)院里。當(dāng)與她相依相守多年的丈夫來(lái)探望她的時(shí)候，她沒(méi)認(rèn)出他，以為他是新來(lái)的病人。

（《遠(yuǎn)離她》電影原聲片段）

朱莉·克里斯蒂：（飾演菲奧娜·安德森）如果你有禮貌地問(wèn)那個(gè)一臉嚴(yán)肅的女士，她會(huì)給你沏一杯茶的。

高登·平森特：（飾演格蘭特·安德森）我沒(méi)關(guān)系。

克里斯蒂：（飾演菲奧娜·安德森）那我不陪你了。你自便吧。你一定覺(jué)得一切都很奇怪，但是你會(huì)驚訝于自己那么快就適應(yīng)了。

烏拉比：接著她把丈夫介紹給自己在療養(yǎng)院里的新男朋友。該影片由莎拉·波莉執(zhí)導(dǎo)和改編，她告訴“新鮮空氣”欄目她被門羅對(duì)無(wú)條件的愛(ài)的探究深深吸引。（采訪錄音片段）

莎拉·波莉：影片的男主人公并非一直都是個(gè)忠貞不渝的丈夫，你知道，他過(guò)去曾經(jīng)犯過(guò)錯(cuò)，有過(guò)不忠，讓彼此受傷。就在這種奇怪的、幾乎詩(shī)意般的懲罰中，他眼睜睜看著妻子逐漸遺忘他，并且似乎愛(ài)上了另一名病友。

烏拉比：愛(ài)麗絲·門羅在表達(dá)復(fù)雜情感方面相當(dāng)駕輕就熟，然而，當(dāng)CBC采訪她，問(wèn)她獲得諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)意味著什么的時(shí)候，她出現(xiàn)了少有的一時(shí)語(yǔ)塞。（采訪錄音片段）

門羅：似乎不太可能，我難以言表，不知道說(shuō)什么好。

烏拉比：門羅說(shuō)希望她的獲獎(jiǎng)能夠提高人們對(duì)短篇小說(shuō)的重視。就在幾個(gè)月前，愛(ài)麗絲·門羅宣布了她退休封筆的計(jì)劃。現(xiàn)在多虧諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)，她說(shuō)她會(huì)重新考慮。