Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler? - Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey
420,758 views ・ 2019-02-25
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翻译人员: Lipeng Chen
校对人员: Tianji (Homer) Li
00:07
Following a devastating nuclear war,
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在一场摧毁性的核战之后,
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Lilith Iyapo awakens
after 250 years of stasis
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莉莉丝·里亚波在两百五十年的
休眠沉睡之后醒来,
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to find herself surrounded by a group
of aliens called the Oankali.
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发现她自己被一群叫做
欧万卡利的外星人包围。
00:18
These highly evolved beings
want to trade DNA
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这些高度进化的生物
想要交易DNA,
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by breeding with humans
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通过和人类繁殖,
00:23
so that each species’ genes
can diversify and fortify the other.
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来让每一种基因都能
更多样化、更强化。
00:27
The only alternative they offer is
sterilization of the entire human race.
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如果不照做,
他们就会消灭全人类。
00:32
Should humanity take the leap into
the biological unknown,
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人类应该要放手一搏,
进入生物的未知领域?
00:35
or hold on to its identity and perish?
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还是为了坚持自己的身份到死?
00:38
Questions like this haunt
Octavia Butler’s "Dawn,"
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类似这样的问题萦绕在
奥克塔维娅·巴特勒的《黎明》中,
00:41
the first in her trilogy "Lilith’s Brood."
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该作是她的三部曲
《莉莉丝的后代》中的第一部。
00:44
A visionary storyteller who
upended science fiction,
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巴特勒是位有远见的小说家,
她颠覆了科幻小说界。
00:47
Butler built stunning worlds
throughout her work–
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她在她的作品中建立起了
惊人的世界——
00:50
and explored dilemmas that keep
us awake at night.
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并探究那些让我们
难以入眠的两难问题。
00:53
Born in 1947,
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生于1947年,
00:54
Butler grew up shy and introverted in
Pasadena, California.
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巴特勒在加州的帕萨迪纳
以害羞和内向的性格长大。
00:59
She dreamt up stories from an early age,
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她从很小的时候就会幻想故事,
01:01
and was soon scribbling these
scenarios on paper.
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很快就开始将这些情境写在纸上。
01:04
At twelve, she begged her mother
for a typewriter
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十二岁时,她在看了一部很奇怪的
科幻电影《来自火星的恶魔女孩》之后,
01:07
after enduring a campy science fiction
film called "Devil Girl From Mars."
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她恳求妈妈给她一台打字机。
01:12
Unimpressed with what she saw,
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她为这部电影毫不所动,
01:14
Butler knew she could tell a better story.
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因为她知道她能讲出更好的故事。
01:16
Much science fiction features
white male heroes
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大部分的科幻小说
都用白人男性来当主角,
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who blast aliens or become
saviors of brown people.
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他们打败外星人
或成为原住民的救星。
01:22
Butler wanted to write diverse characters
for diverse audiences.
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巴特勒想要写多元化的角色,
给多元化的读者看。
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She brought nuance and depth to the
representation of their experiences.
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她把主人公的经验呈现得
更加细致、更有深度。
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For Butler,
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对巴特勒来说,
01:32
imagination was not only for planting
the seeds of science fiction–
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想像不只是
为科幻小说种下种子——
01:35
but also a strategy for surviving an
unjust world on one’s own terms.
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也是在不公平的世界中用自己
喜好的方式求得生存的一种策略。
01:40
Her work often takes troubling
features of the world
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她的作品通常会谈到
世界上让人不安的特征,
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such as discrimination on the basis of
race, gender, class, or ability,
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比如根据种族、性别、阶级
或能力来进行歧视,
01:48
and invites the reader to contemplate
them in new contexts.
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她也启发读者在新的
情境中思考这些问题。
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One of her most beloved novels,
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她最被人喜爱的小说之一
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the "Parable of the Sower,"
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《播种者的寓言》
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follows this pattern.
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就是依循这个模式。
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It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina
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它讲述的是劳伦·欧亚·欧拉米亚的故事,
01:59
as she makes her way through a near-future
California, ruined by corporate greed,
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时间是不远的将来,
她在加州求生存,
02:03
inequality, and environmental destruction.
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那里已经被企业的贪婪、
不平等以及环境毁灭给摧毁。
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As she struggles with hyperempathy,
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她饱受超级同理心所苦,
02:08
or a condition in the novel that
causes her to feel others’ pain,
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在该书中,这是一种病症,
会让她感受到他人的痛苦,
02:11
and less often, their pleasure.
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但很少感受到他们的愉悦。
02:13
Lauren embarks on a quest with a group
of refugees to find a place to thrive.
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劳伦和一群难民展开了
一段追寻之旅。
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There, they seek to live in accordance
with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed,
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他们寻找能生存的场所,
在那里,他们遵循劳伦成立的
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which is based on the principle
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宗教“地球种子”来求生存,
02:24
that humans must adapt to an
ever-changing world.
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其信条是人类必须要
适应不断改变的世界。
02:28
Lauren’s quest had roots
in a real life event–
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劳伦的追寻之旅其实
源自真实的事件——
02:30
California Prop 187,
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《加州187提案》,
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which attempted to deny undocumented
immigrants fundamental human rights,
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它试图拒绝无证移民的
基本人权,
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before it was deemed unconstitutional.
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后来才被认为违宪。
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Butler frequently incorporated
contemporary news into her writing.
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巴特勒常常会把时事
整合到她的作品中。
02:42
In her 1998 sequel to "The Parable of the
Sower," "Parable of the Talents,"
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她1998年的作品《天赋者的寓言》
是《播种者的寓言》的续集,
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she wrote of a presidential candidate
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内容是一位总统候选人
02:49
who controls Americans with virtual
reality and “shock collars.”
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利用虚拟实境和“电击衣领”
来控制美国人。
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His slogan? “Make America great again.”
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他的口号是“让美国再次伟大”。
02:56
While people have noted her prescience,
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虽然大家已经注意到
她的先见之明,
02:58
Butler was also interested in
re-examining history.
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巴特勒也对于重新
检视历史很感兴趣。
03:01
For instance,
"Kindred" tells the story of
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比如,《亲属》谈的故事就是
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a woman who is repeatedly
pulled back in time
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一位女子不断被拉回到过去,
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to the Maryland plantation
of her ancestors.
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回到她祖先的马里兰州农场
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Early on, she learns that her mission
is to save the life of the white man
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早些时候,她得知她的任务
是要拯救一个白人的性命,
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who will rape her great grandmother.
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而这个白人将来会
强奸她的曾祖母。
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If she doesn’t save him,
she herself will cease to exist.
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如果她不救他,
她自己也不会存在。
03:19
This grim dilemma forces Dana to
confront the ongoing trauma
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这无情的两难局面
强迫戴娜去正视
03:23
of slavery and sexual violence
against Black women.
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黑人女性因为奴役制度
和性暴力正在受到的创伤。
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With her stories of women
founding new societies,
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通过这些女性找到新社会的故事,
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time travelers overcoming
historical strife,
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时空旅人克服历史冲突的故事,
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and interspecies bonding,
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以及物种间结合的故事,
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Butler had a profound influence on
the growing popularity of Afrofuturism.
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巴特勒带来了深远的影响,
让非洲未来主义越来越受欢迎。
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That’s a cultural movement
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那是一项文化运动,
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where Black writers and artists who are
inspired by the past, present and future,
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灵感来自过去、现在,
及未来的黑人作家和艺术家
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produce works that incorporate magic,
history, technology and much more.
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产出整合了魔法、历史、科技
及许多其他元素的作品。
03:50
As Lauren comes to learn in
"Parable of the Sower,"
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如同劳伦在《播种者的寓言》中领悟到的:
03:53
"All that you touch you Change.
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“你触碰的一切被你改变。
03:55
All that you Change Changes you.
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你改变的一切会改变你。
03:57
The only lasting truth is Change.”
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唯一永恒的真相就是改变。”
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