Why should you read "The Handmaid's Tale"? - Naomi R. Mercer

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Wentao Chian

视而不见不同于无知， 你得劳神费力才能做到视而不见。

——玛格丽特·阿特伍德《使女的故事》

In Margaret Atwood's near-future novel, "The Handmaid's Tale,"

玛格丽特·阿特伍德的小说《使女的故事》

描述了在不久的未来，

a Christian fundamentalist regime called the Republic of Gilead

基督教基要主义政府— 基列共和国

has staged a military coup and established a theocratic government

通过军事政变，

在美国建立了神权政府。

in the United States.

The regime theoretically restricts everyone,

理论上，这个政体约束每个人，

but in practice a few men have structured Gilead so they have all the power,

但事实上，少数男性统治着基列共和国，

因此他们拥有至高的权利，

especially over women.

尤其是在对待女性方面。

The Handmaid's Tale is what Atwood calls speculative fiction,

阿特伍德称《使女的故事》这类小说为 推想小说，

meaning it theorizes about possible futures.

这类小说构想可能的未来。

This is a fundamental characteristic

这种推想性是

shared by both utopian and dystopian texts.

乌托邦和反乌托邦小说共有的基本特点。

The possible futures in Atwood's novels are usually negative, or dystopian,

在阿特伍德的小说里，

未来通常是消极、反乌托邦的。

where the actions of a small group have destroyed society as we know it.

一部分人的行为已毁灭了 我们所熟知的社会。

Utopian and dystopian writing tends to parallel political trends.

乌托邦和反乌托邦的作品

通常会影射时下政治走向

Utopian writing frequently depicts an idealized society

乌托邦作品通常描述理想社会，

that the author puts forth as a blueprint to strive toward.

是作者描绘出的

有朝一日可以实现的未来。

Dystopias, on the other hand,

与之相反，

反乌托邦作品并不一定

are not necessarily predictions of apocalyptic futures,

预言未来发生大灾难，

but rather warnings about the ways in which societies can set themselves

而是警示人们

社会是如何走向灭亡之路的。

on the path to destruction.

The Handmaid's Tale was published in 1985, when many conservative groups

《使女的故事》出版于1985年，

当时很多保守团体

attacked the gains made by the second-wave feminist movement.

抨击第二波女权运动所取得的成就。

This movement had been advocating greater social and legal equality for women

这一运动自1960年代初开始，

一直倡导女性在社会和法律上更加平等。

since the early 1960s.

The Handmaid's Tale imagines a future in which the conservative

在《使女的故事》中，

保守派的反平等运动占了上风，

counter-movement gains the upper hand

and not only demolishes the progress women had made toward equality,

不仅摧毁了女性在平等方面 所取得的成果，

but makes women completely subservient to men.

还使女性彻底沦为了男性的附庸。

Gilead divides women in the regime into distinct social classes

基列共和国将女性分为多个阶层，

依据是她们的职能，

based upon their function as status symbols for men.

她们只是男性地位的象征。

Even their clothing is color-coded.

甚至她们的服装颜色也体现出阶级。

Women are no longer allowed to read

女性不允许读书，

or move about freely in public,

不可以在公共场所自由行动。

and fertile women are subject to state-engineered rape

国家策划侵犯有生育能力的女子，

in order to give birth to children for the regime.

从而令她们为政权生育孩子

Although The Handmaid's Tale is set in the future,

虽然《使女的故事》设定在未来，

one of Atwood's self-imposed rules in writing it

但阿特伍德在撰写此书时，

自定规矩之一是

was that she wouldn't use any event

她使用的事件或行为都有历史依据。

or practice that hadn't already happened in human history.

The book is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts,

故事设定在马萨诸塞州的剑桥市。

a city that during the American colonial period

在美国殖民时期，

had been ruled by the theocratic Puritans.

这个城市曾被清教徒统治。

In many ways, the Republic of Gilead resembles the strict rules

在很多方面，

基列共和国 与规则森严的清教徒社会类似:

that were present in Puritan society:

rigid moral codes,

苛刻的道德准则，

modest clothing,

朴素的服装，

banishment of dissenters,

驱逐异议人士，

and regulation of every aspect of people's lives and relationships.

人民生活和社会关系的 方方面面都受到管制。

For Atwood, the parallels to Massachusett's Puritans

对阿特伍德来说，

将麻省的清教徒作为原型

were personal as well as theoretical.

既包含个人因素也拥有理论依据。

She spent several years studying the Puritans at Harvard

她曾花数年在哈佛大学研究清教徒。

and she's possibly descended from Mary Webster,

她有可能是玛丽·韦伯斯特的后裔

a Puritan woman accused of witchcraft who survived her hanging.

玛丽是一名清教徒女子，

曾被指控使用巫术， 受绞刑却大难不死。

Atwood is a master storyteller.

阿特伍德名故事大师。

The details of Gilead, which we've only skimmed the surface of,

基列共和国的诸多细节我们尚未提及，

slowly come into focus through the eyes of its characters,

但通过人物视角， 更多细节慢慢展现，逐渐清晰。

mainly the novel's protagonist Offred,

小说主要利用主人公 奥芙弗雷德的视角。

a handmaid in the household of a commander.

她是将军家的一名侍女。

Before the coup that established Gilead,

在基列共和国政变夺权之前，

Offred had a husband, a child, a job, and a normal, middle-class American life.

奥芙弗雷德有丈夫、孩子和一份工作 过着普通的美国中产阶级生活。

But when the fundamentalist regime comes into power,

当基要主义者掌权后，

Offred is denied her identity,

奥芙弗雷德被剥夺了自我，

separated from her family,

被迫与家人分离。

and reduced to being, in Offred's words,

用她自己的话说，

她沦为了“长着两条腿的子宫， 为人口稀少的基列共和国添丁”

"a two-legged womb for increasing Gilead's waning population."

She initially accepts the loss of her fundamental human rights

她起初接受了基本人权的丧失

in the name of stabilizing the new government.

为的是稳定新政府

But state control soon extends into attempts to control the language,

但是国家的控制很快延伸到

对语言、行为和思想的掌控，

behavior,

and thoughts of herself and other individuals.

对所有人都如此。

Early on, Offred says,

早先，奥芙弗雷德说：

"I wait. I compose myself.

“我等待着，我要冷静，

此刻，我必须理清自我，

My self is a thing I must compose, as one composes a speech."

恰如理清一篇演讲稿。”

She likens language to the formulation of identity.

她把语言比作自我意识的建立，

Her words also acknowledge the possibility of resistance,

她的话里也包含着抗争的可能性。

and it's resistance, the actions of people who dare to break the political,

这种抗争，

以及人们勇敢地打破政治、

知识

intellectual,

和性方面的条条框框，

and sexual rules,

that drives the plot of the Handmaid's Tale.

推动了《使女的故事》的情节发展。

Ultimately, the novel's exploration of the consequences of complacency,

归根到底，

这部小说探索了傲慢自大的恶果 和权利的滥用，

and how power can be wielded unfairly,

makes Atwood's chilling vision of a dystopian regime ever relevant.

这使得阿特伍德对反乌托邦政权的刻画 意义重大，令人不寒而栗。

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