Finding the True Poetry in Ordinary Days

⊙ By Rebecca Front ⊙ 翻譯：思葦

文學(xué)不是空中樓閣，不是鏡花水月。哪怕是最天馬行空的故事，其本質(zhì)依舊深深植根于作者所處的時(shí)代背景。作為現(xiàn)代主義文學(xué)的重要分支，意識(shí)流（stream of consciousness）文學(xué)的興盛，正是以伍爾夫?yàn)槭椎囊槐娮骷覍?duì)那個(gè)獨(dú)特年代的思考與感悟……

寫(xiě)作指南針

本文的主題是“意識(shí)流”，看似高深，但是通過(guò)多位作家生動(dòng)的舉例與描述，大家可以一下子抓住這個(gè)流派的基本特點(diǎn)——而這種強(qiáng)調(diào)細(xì)節(jié)的觀察，在我們的寫(xiě)作中也有很大的參考意義哦。

Throughout the 1920s, Virginia Woolf published a string of1）groundbreaking [?ɡra?nd?bre?k??] adj. 開(kāi)創(chuàng)性的groundbreaking works, in which she set out to2）reinvent [?ri??n?vent] v. 重新使用，徹底改造reinvent the novel to suit this age of doubt.

Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925, is set over the course of one day in London, describing the thoughts of two unconnected characters—a wealthy-society hostess and a suicidal war3）veteran [?vet?r?n] n. 老兵veteran—as they pass through the city. For Woolf, the novel as a form couldn’t save the world,but it might be able to show the true poetry of the ordinary mind on an ordinary day—a technique known as “stream of consciousness.”

Quentin Bell （Woolf’s Nephew）: She wanted to know about what was happening in one’s life, and the most4）commonplace [?k?m?nple?s] adj. 普通的，平凡的commonplace things seemed to surprise her.

Elizabeth Bowen（Novelist）: You walked down the street. Why did you walk down the street? Who were you with? What did you see? Did you see a cat? Did you see a dog?

Nigel Nicolson（Writer）: She said to me,“Now, tell me what happened today?” And I said, “Well, nothing. I just…I’ve just come home from school and here I am.” And she said, “No, no, no, no, no, that’s no good.Start at the beginning. What woke you up?”And I thought, and I said, “Well, it was the sun coming through the window at school.”And then she5）lean [li?n] v. 傾向，傾身；在英式英語(yǔ)中，其過(guò)去式為leant。leant forward and she said,“What sort of sun? Was it a gentle sun or an angry sun?”

Mark Haddon（Novelist）: I loveMrs.Dalloway. It does what it sets out to do fantastically well. For me, it reads like a kind of…a piece of6）chamber music 室內(nèi)樂(lè)chamber music. It’s like a7）string quartet 弦樂(lè)四重奏string quartet. There’s the same theme running through, and different instruments—different characters—take up these themes at different times. Her point of view8）shift [??ft] v. 移動(dòng)，改變（方向等）shifts constantly. We’re in someone’s mind. We’re suddenly outside their mind, looking at them from a great height. We can see the future. Suddenly we can see the past. Her consciousness in the novel is like this9）will-o’-the-wisp 鬼火，磷火，幻想willo’-the-wisp which can go absolutely anywhere it wants.

When Woolf went to10）Broadcasting House 演播大廳，此處特指BBC錄制節(jié)目的演播室。Broadcasting House to speak to the nation, she chose to touch on a subject close to her heart: How the English language, after the11）Great War 第一次世界大戰(zhàn)，與World War I同義。Great War, could be freed from the12）burden [?bз?d（?）n] n. 擔(dān)子，重負(fù)burden of the past, to live again and create new art.

Virginia: Words, English words, are full of13）echo [?ek??] n. 回聲，回響echoes, memories, associations, naturally.They’ve been14）out and about 外出走動(dòng)out and about on people’s lips, in their houses, in the streets, in the fields,for so many centuries. And that is one of the chief difficulties in writing today. They’re stored with other meanings, with other memories. Our business is to see what we can do with the old English language as it is. How can we combine the old words in new orders so that they survive, and so that they create beauty, so that they tell the truth? That is the question.

相關(guān)鏈接

伍爾夫主要作品

? The Mark on the Wall 墻上的斑點(diǎn)（1919年）

? Modern Fiction 論現(xiàn)代小說(shuō)（1919年）

? Jacob’s Room 雅各的房間（1920年）

? Mrs. Dalloway 達(dá)洛維夫人（1925年）

? To the Lighthouse 到燈塔去（1927年）

? Orlando: A Biography 奧蘭多（1928年）

? A Room of One’s Own 一間自己的房間（1929年）

? The Waves 海浪（1931年）

? Between the Acts 幕間（1941年）

參考譯文

在20世紀(jì)20年代，弗吉尼亞·伍爾夫出版了一系列極具開(kāi)創(chuàng)性的作品。在這些作品里，她對(duì)小說(shuō)這種體裁進(jìn)行了重新打造，以適應(yīng)這個(gè)充滿懷疑的時(shí)代。

小說(shuō)《達(dá)洛維夫人》出版于1925年，故事的背景是倫敦的一天，講述了兩個(gè)毫無(wú)關(guān)聯(lián)的人物（一個(gè)是上流社會(huì)的女主人，另一個(gè)則是準(zhǔn)備自殺的退伍老兵）在城中穿行時(shí)的各種思緒。對(duì)伍爾夫來(lái)說(shuō)，小說(shuō)這種文學(xué)形式并不能拯救世界于水火，但它也許可以展現(xiàn)出普通人的平常一日中蘊(yùn)含著的無(wú)限詩(shī)意——這種寫(xiě)作技法就是“意識(shí)流”。

昆汀·貝爾（伍爾夫的外甥）：她很想知道別人的生活中發(fā)生了什么事情，就連最為平常的瑣事都能讓她大吃一驚。

伊麗莎白·鮑恩（小說(shuō)家）：你沿著街道散步。你為什么會(huì)去散步？你和誰(shuí)一起散步？你沿途都看見(jiàn)什么？你看到了一只貓？還是一條狗？

奈杰爾·尼科爾森（作家）：她對(duì)我說(shuō)：“告訴我，今天發(fā)生了什么事情？”我說(shuō)：“呃，沒(méi)什么事情。就是……我放學(xué)回家，就來(lái)你這兒了?！彼f(shuō)：“不不不，不是這樣，從頭開(kāi)始講——你是怎么醒的？”我回想了一下，然后說(shuō)：“哦，陽(yáng)光透過(guò)學(xué)校的玻璃窗照進(jìn)來(lái)，我便醒了。”她身子前傾，問(wèn)道：“怎樣的陽(yáng)光？是柔和，還是刺眼的？”

馬克·哈登（小說(shuō)家）：我很喜歡《達(dá)洛維夫人》，這本小說(shuō)完美地實(shí)現(xiàn)了它的創(chuàng)作初衷。它讀起來(lái)就像一首室內(nèi)樂(lè)、一段弦樂(lè)四重奏，相同的主題貫穿其中，而各個(gè)人物就是不同的樂(lè)器，一時(shí)是你在表現(xiàn)主題，一時(shí)是他在表現(xiàn)主題。她的視角不斷變換，我們時(shí)而在某人的意識(shí)里，突然就離開(kāi)他的意識(shí)，到了另外一個(gè)高度俯瞰他的生活。我們可以預(yù)見(jiàn)未來(lái)，突然又回到了過(guò)去。她的意識(shí)就像鬼火一樣飄忽，在小說(shuō)中四處游走，肆意而行。

當(dāng)伍爾夫走進(jìn)英國(guó)廣播公司的演播廳，準(zhǔn)備向整個(gè)英國(guó)發(fā)表講話時(shí)，她選擇了一個(gè)最貼近其內(nèi)心所思的話題：一戰(zhàn)過(guò)后，英語(yǔ)該如何卸下歷史的重?fù)?dān)，重獲新生，創(chuàng)造新的輝煌。

弗吉尼亞：語(yǔ)言——英語(yǔ)詞匯中充斥著各種回聲、記憶與聯(lián)系，這是再自然不過(guò)的事情了。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，語(yǔ)言隨處游走，活躍在唇舌之間，回蕩在屋里屋外，傳遍大街小巷，越過(guò)田間野外。而這正是今天我們?cè)趯?xiě)作中遇到的棘手難題之一。語(yǔ)言中滿載著其他的含義與記憶。我們所要做的，就是看看我們?cè)撊绾翁幚砉爬系挠⒄Z(yǔ)，還其本色。我們?cè)撊绾螌⒐爬系脑~匯融入全新的語(yǔ)序，從而讓英語(yǔ)得以存續(xù)下去，創(chuàng)造文學(xué)之美，不斷揭示真相？此乃問(wèn)題所在。