日本人的“恥感”文化

∷林巍 文／譯

原 文

[1] 據(jù)說，日本人最善于從別人的角度考慮問題，因而也最在意別人對自己怎樣看。我在日本生活時(shí)，有位朋友，下了班還不回家，在我們這里耗著，聊天，我問他為什么，他說回去早了怕鄰居笑話，因?yàn)槟钦f明他在公司沒事干了，或者不夠賣力氣。

[2] 日本社會(huì)自古以來，便有“惜名”和“知恥”的行為規(guī)范，是用以維系主從關(guān)系的“體面”或“臉面”。在受了侮辱或被冤枉，或被喜歡的女人拋棄后， 就會(huì)覺得“沒面子”，便要不惜一切去“爭面子”。

[3] 這種“名”和“恥”的意識，構(gòu)成了日本人思維方式的一大特色。較之個(gè)人的自覺意識，日本人更重視現(xiàn)實(shí)周圍的人倫關(guān)系，由此又形成了他們對于“名”和“恥”的格外敏感性。

[4] 如果說，西方的基督教文化是一種“罪感文化”，那么日本的集體主義文化便是一種“恥感文化”。罪感的基礎(chǔ)，建立在人的內(nèi)在道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)上；恥感的制約，則來自外部的強(qiáng)大壓力。然而，一旦沒有了這種壓力（如出外旅行等），他們的表現(xiàn)又會(huì)判若兩人。

[5] 罪責(zé)可以通過懺悔來贖過，而恥辱只會(huì)一層層更加蒙羞，即日語所說的“ の上り”——坦白了便更加恥辱。因而，在日本常常見到這樣一種現(xiàn)象，就是日本人在沒有過錯(cuò)時(shí)（如并沒有踩到你的腳）會(huì)口口聲聲地道歉，而一旦犯了錯(cuò)誤，反而不道歉了。

[6] 日本人的害羞也是有名的，如女人的廁所間通常有似流水的音樂伴隨，以避免讓人聽到后尷尬（因在同一廁所間的外邊通常是男人的小便池）。然而， 讓人吊詭的是，日本人可以一家人男女老少三代人一起洗澡，這在中國人（或其他國家的人）看來很是難為情，但日本人卻對此不但毫無恥感，反而覺得非常親近，“赤誠相見”。

[7] 當(dāng)然，將世界上的文化劃分為“恥感文化”和“罪感文化”未免過于簡單化了；兩種文化的存在并不是絕對而孤立的，不過是以哪一種為主罷了。

譯 文

[1] It is said that the Japanese are good at putting themselves in others’ shoes, caring very much about how other people view them. When I was in Japan, a friend of mine came to us after work, chatting and dawdling away his time. When asked why he was reluctant to go home earlier, he said he didn’t want rumoring by his neighbors that he was an early home-comer or a lazy worker.

[2] Since ancient times, “name” and “shame”have been stable rules of behavior in Japanese society,regulating principal-subordinate relations in terms of maintaining “face”. After losing face from humiliation,mistreatment or being dumped by a lover, one should fight to regain it at all costs.

[3] The super-sensibility of “name” and “shame”characterizes Japanese thinking, with Japanese culture paying far more attention to peripheral human relations than self-consciousness. In this sense, it is a sensitive culture.

總而言之，課堂提問是促使小學(xué)生實(shí)現(xiàn)素質(zhì)成長與數(shù)學(xué)進(jìn)步的基本方式，教師應(yīng)該根據(jù)小學(xué)生的認(rèn)知規(guī)律與數(shù)學(xué)學(xué)科特點(diǎn)重新設(shè)計(jì)出易于引起小學(xué)生積極思考與主動(dòng)探究的數(shù)學(xué)問題，以問題引導(dǎo)小學(xué)生摸索出學(xué)好數(shù)學(xué)的客觀規(guī)律。

[4] Christian culture in the West is deemed to be a guilt culture based on a person’s internal moral standard; while collectivist culture in Japan is a shame culture which relies on external sanction. Once the pressure of this sanction is gone, such as during a journey, a Japanese may behave like a totally different person.

[5] While guilt may be redeemed by repentance,shame can only be increased by admission, as a Japanese saying goes, “haji no uwanuri” (confession increases shame). It is therefore not surprising to see a phenomenon in Japan where a Japanese may constantly apologize to you when nothing happens(such as he didn’t step on your toe), but once he did make a mistake, he might just quietly turn away due to shame.

[6] Japanese are usually considered to be

highly sensitive to shame, such as in ladies toilets where a piece of river- flowing music is gently played to avoid embarrassment since male’s urinals are normally nearby in the same toilet. However, in contrast,Japanese family members of three generations, including males and females, can bath together. The practice that the Japanese take for granted as an intimate family routine may embarrass Chinese and other nations’ families.

[7] However, dividing cultures of the world into a dichotomy of “shame culture” and “guilt culture” is a bit over-simpli fied. In fact, the two cultures overlap, but each has its dominant feature.

譯 注

在 [1]中，“善于從別人的角度考慮問題”，通俗的譯法可為 good at putting themselves in others’shoes， 或 are sensible to others’ view。 “耗著，聊天”，實(shí)則為“以聊天的形式消磨時(shí)間”，故用了dawdling away his time，同時(shí)加以chatting?！芭锣従有υ挕保瓶勺g成：he was worried about being laughed by his neighbors, 但從實(shí)際出發(fā)，他當(dāng)時(shí)怕的是被人說閑話，故he didn’t want rumoring by his neighbors 更為確切?！霸诠緵]事干了，或者不夠賣力氣”， 要根據(jù)在日本社會(huì)的實(shí)情，靈活譯出：那里的公司職員下班后不是馬上回家，而是要做一些聯(lián)絡(luò)顧客感情的事，那也被視為其職責(zé)的一部分，而過早回家便多少有些不光彩，故該句不妨變通為： ... that he was an early home-comer or a lazy worker.

在[2]中，“惜名”和“知恥”是動(dòng)名詞組，而英文的 name, shame 可同時(shí)為名詞和動(dòng)詞；“行為規(guī)范”，這里沒有譯成一般意義上的 behavioral standards, 而是依其語境的具體所指，變通為 stable rules of behavior; “日本社會(huì)自古以來”, 拆散為：Since ancient times, ...in Japanese society?！霸谑芰宋耆杌虮辉┩鳎虮幌矚g的女人拋棄后，就會(huì)覺得‘沒面子’，便要不惜一切去‘爭面子’”：這里當(dāng)然主要是從男性角度而言的，但“被女人拋棄”則又不需特指， 僅以dumped by a lover即可；“不惜一切去‘爭面子’”是指去挽回面子，故應(yīng)譯為 fight to regain it at all costs。

在 [3]中，“構(gòu)成了……一大特色”，這里用了動(dòng)詞 characterize (object)，以求簡煉；而“思維方式”可為thinking pattern，但這里僅用thinking亦可；“周圍的人倫關(guān)系”，不妨為peripheral human relations；“格外敏感性”，在該句的開頭已有表示，即super-sensibility；而這里的“他們”看似指人，實(shí)則是指文化，故不妨譯為：In this sense, it is a sensitive culture.

[4] 中的前兩句，要從整體把握，重組結(jié)果，即將“罪感文化”與“內(nèi)在道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”，將“恥感文化”與“外部強(qiáng)大壓力”相糅合，發(fā)揮英文“形合”的特點(diǎn)?！芭腥魞扇恕?，有多種譯法，如 one’s behavior is different, as if he were not the same person; become quite a different person;no longer one's old self; totally changed;judge a person to be two different persons等，而此處根據(jù)上下文，不妨加上 behave,即為 behave like a totally different person.

在[5]中，“罪責(zé)可以通過懺悔來贖過……坦白了便更加恥辱”，為顯示前后二者的關(guān)聯(lián)，可用While..., can...的句式， 譯為：While guilt may be redeemed by repentance, shame can only be increased by admission；而對于其中的日語可采取音譯和意譯相結(jié)合的方式，即將日語的原文先以羅馬字寫出，再在之后注明其意，而其英譯亦可相對濃縮。同時(shí)，對“一旦犯了錯(cuò)誤，反而不道歉了”，其中有“錯(cuò)而溜之”的味道，故可加quietly, 變通處理為：... once he did make a mistake,he might just quietly turn away due to shame.

在[6]中，這里的“害羞”沒有用shy，bashful， 而是 highly sensitive to shame，以期更貼切?！埃ㄒ蛟谕粠g的外邊通常是男人的小便池）”，在英譯文中則可去掉括號以平實(shí)而連貫地?cái)⑹觯簊ince male’s urinals are normally nearby in the same toilet. 而“吊詭”是一俗語，可用的詞有odd, strange, bizarre,eerie, weird等，但這里主要想表現(xiàn)與前面所述現(xiàn)象的對比，故用了 in contrast； “毫無恥感”，不宜用shameless，而是理所當(dāng)然、習(xí)以為常之意，故用了take...for granted；而這里的“赤誠相見”，并非是一般意義上的treat people with absolute sincerity, 而是家人間的 intimacy。

在[7]中，關(guān)于兩種文化的劃分，用了 divide ... into dichotomy of ... , 其中的 dichotomy 意為 division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions, 這里雖非如此對立，卻也各有特色?！啊⒉皇墙^對而孤立的”，似不必刻板地譯成 are absolutely isolated, 而可較籠統(tǒng)地正面概括為overlap；“以哪一種為主”，則是具有哪一方面的特性更多，故可為each has its dominant feature。