Why should you read “Fahrenheit 451”? - Iseult Gillespie

Prevoditelj: Iva Vukalović Recezent: Sanda Liker

“It was a pleasure to burn.

"Bio je užitak paliti.

It was a special pleasure to see things eaten,

Bio je poseban užitak gledati kako su stvari poždrijete,

to see things blackened and changed.”

vidjeti stvari pocrnjene i promijenjene."

Fahrenheit 451 opens in a blissful blaze - and before long,

Fahrenheit 451 počinje u blaženom ognju - a vrlo brzo

we learn what’s going up in flames.

i saznajemo što gori u plamenu.

Ray Bradbury’s novel imagines a world

Roman Raya Bradburyja zamišlja svijet

where books are banned from all areas of life -

u kojem su knjige zabranjene iz svih dijelova života

and possessing, let alone reading them, is forbidden.

te je njihovo posjedovanje, a kamoli čitanje, zabranjeno.

The protagonist, Montag, is a fireman responsible for destroying what remains.

Glavni lik, Montag, vatrogasac je zadužen za uništavanje svega što preostaje.

But as his pleasure gives way to doubt,

No kako je njegov užitak zamijenjen sumnjom,

the story raises critical questions of how to preserve one’s mind in a society

priča postavlja kritička pitanja o tome kako očuvati svoj um u društvu

where free will, self-expression, and curiosity are under fire.

gdje su slobodna volja, samoizražavanje i znatiželja ugroženi.

In Montag’s world, mass media has a monopoly on information,

U Montagovom svijetu, masovni mediji imaju monopol nad informacijama

erasing almost all ability for independent thought.

kradući skoro svaku mogućnost samostalnih misli.

On the subway, ads blast out of the walls.

U podzemnoj željeznici reklame iskaču sa zidova.

At home, Montag’s wife Mildred listens to the radio around the clock,

Kod kuće Montagova žena sluša radio bez prestanka,

and three of their parlor walls are plastered with screens.

a tri su zida dnevne sobe prekrivena ekranima.

At work, the smell of kerosene hangs over Montag’s colleagues,

Na poslu miris kerozina visi nad Montagovim kolegama

who smoke and set their mechanical hound after rats to pass the time.

koji puše i puštaju svog mehaničkog lovačkog psa na štakore da skrate vrijeme.

When the alarm sounds they surge out in salamander-shaped vehicles,

Kad se alarm oglasi, izjure van u gušterolikim vozilima

sometimes to burn whole libraries to the ground.

da svako malo spale kompletne knjižnice do temelja.

But as he sets tomes ablaze day after day like “black butterflies,”

Ali dok pali svitke iz dana u dan poput "Crnih leptira", Montagove misli

Montag’s mind occasionally wanders to the contraband that lies hidden in his home.

ponekad odlutaju do prokrijumčarenih materijala skrivenih u njegovu domu.

Gradually, he begins to question the basis of his work.

On postupno započinje propitkivati temelje svog posla.

Montag realizes he’s always felt uneasy -

Montag shvaća da je oduvijek osjećao nelagodu -

but has lacked the descriptive words to express his feelings in a society

ali su mu nedostajale opisne riječi kojima bi izrazio svoje osjećaje u društvu

where even uttering the phrase “once upon a time” can be fatal.

u kojem čak i pomisao na frazu "nekoć davno" može biti kobno.

Fahrenheit 451 depicts a world governed

Fahrenheit 451 opisuje svijet vođen

by surveillance, robotics, and virtual reality-

nadzorom, robotikom i virutalnom stvarnošću -

a vision that proved remarkably prescient, but also spoke to the concerns of the time.

viziju koja se pokazala izuzetno nagovještajnom i svjesnom ondašnjih briga.

The novel was published in 1953, at the height of the Cold War.

Roman je objavljen 1953. na vrhuncu Hladnog rata.

This era kindled widespread paranoia and fear

Ovo je doba poticalo rasprostranjenu paranoju i strah

throughout Bradbury’s home country of the United States,

u Bradburyjevoj domovini: Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama,

amplified by the suppression of information and brutal government investigations.

pojačane supresijom informacija i okrutnim državnim istragama.

In particular, this witch hunt mentality

Posebice se isticao mentalitet lova na vještice

targeted artists and writers who were suspected of Communist sympathies.

usmjeren na umjetnike i pisce za koje se sumnjalo da su naklonjeni komunizmu.

Bradbury was alarmed at this cultural crackdown.

Bradbury je bio uznemiren ovim ograničavanjem kulture.

He believed it set a dangerous precedent for further censorship,

Vjerovao je da je ono stvorilo opasne temelje za buduću cenzuru

and was reminded of the destruction of the Library of Alexandria

te ga je podsjećalo na uništenje Aleksandrijske knjižnice

and the book-burning of Fascist regimes.

i spaljivanja knjiga od strane fašističkih režima.

He explored these chilling connections in Fahrenheit 451,

Istražio je te zastrašujuće poveznice u Fahrenheitu 451,

titled after the temperature at which paper burns.

naslovivši knjigu po temperaturi potrebnoj da papir počne gorjeti.

The accuracy of that temperature has been called into question,

Točnost te temperature je kasnije postala upitna,

but that doesn’t diminish the novel’s standing

no to ne umanjuje vrijednost ovog romana

as a masterpiece of dystopian fiction.

kao remek-djela distopijske fikcije.

Dystopian fiction as a genre amplifies troubling features of the world around us

Distopijska fikcija kao žanr pojačava uznemirujuće dijelove svijeta oko nas

and imagines the consequences of taking them to an extreme.

i zamišlja posljedice njihovog dovođenja do krajnosti.

In many dystopian stories,

U mnogim distopijskim pričama

the government imposes constrictions onto unwilling subjects.

vlada nameće ograničenja prema neposlušnim pojedincima.

But in Fahrenheit 451,

No u Fahrenheitu 451

Montag learns that it was the apathy of the masses

Montag saznaje da je apatija javnosti

that gave rise to the current regime.

bila ta koja je omogućila trenutni režim.

The government merely capitalized on short attention spans

Vlada je samo iskoristila kratak raspon pažnje

and the appetite for mindless entertainment,

i apetit za bezumnu zabavu,

reducing the circulation of ideas to ash.

pretvarajući razmjenu ideja u pepeo.

As culture disappears, imagination and self-expression follow.

Kako kultura nestaje, mašta i samoizražavanje su sljedeći.

Even the way people talk is short-circuited

Skraćen je čak i način na koji ljudi govore -

- such as when Montag’s boss Captain Beatty describes the acceleration of mass culture:

primjerice kad Montagov šef Kapetan Beatty opisuje ubrzanje masovne kulture:

"Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here,

"Ubrzaj film, Montag, smjesta. Klikni? Fotka? Gledaj, Oko, Sad, Flip, Tu,

There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh!

Tamo, Brzo, Tempo, Gore, Dolje, Unutra, Van, Zašto, Kako, Tko, Što, Gdje, Ha? Oh!

Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests.

Bam! Pljus! Slap! Bing, Bong, Bum! Skrati-skraćuje, skrati-skrati-skraćuje,

Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes!"

Politika? Jedan stupac, dvije rečenice, naslov! Zatim, u zraku, sve nestaje!"

In this barren world, Montag learns how difficult it is to resist when

O ovom pustom svijetu, Montag nauči kako je teško pružiti otpor

there's nothing left to hold on to.

kad ne postoji ništa vrijedno čuvanja.

Altogether, Fahrenheit 451 is a portrait of independent thought

Sve u svemu, Fahrenheit 451 jest portret samostalnih misli

on the brink of extinction -

na rubu izumiranja -

and a parable about a society which is complicit

prikaz društva koje je suučesnik

in its own combustion.

svom vlastitom izgaranju.