Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler? - Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey

翻译人员: Lipeng Chen 校对人员: Tianji (Homer) Li

Following a devastating nuclear war,

在一场摧毁性的核战之后，

Lilith Iyapo awakens after 250 years of stasis

莉莉丝·里亚波在两百五十年的 休眠沉睡之后醒来，

to find herself surrounded by a group of aliens called the Oankali.

发现她自己被一群叫做 欧万卡利的外星人包围。

These highly evolved beings want to trade DNA

这些高度进化的生物 想要交易DNA，

by breeding with humans

通过和人类繁殖，

so that each species’ genes can diversify and fortify the other.

来让每一种基因都能 更多样化、更强化。

The only alternative they offer is sterilization of the entire human race.

如果不照做， 他们就会消灭全人类。

Should humanity take the leap into the biological unknown,

人类应该要放手一搏， 进入生物的未知领域？

or hold on to its identity and perish?

还是为了坚持自己的身份到死？

Questions like this haunt Octavia Butler’s "Dawn,"

类似这样的问题萦绕在 奥克塔维娅·巴特勒的《黎明》中，

the first in her trilogy "Lilith’s Brood."

该作是她的三部曲 《莉莉丝的后代》中的第一部。

A visionary storyteller who upended science fiction,

巴特勒是位有远见的小说家， 她颠覆了科幻小说界。

Butler built stunning worlds throughout her work–

她在她的作品中建立起了 惊人的世界——

and explored dilemmas that keep us awake at night.

并探究那些让我们 难以入眠的两难问题。

Born in 1947,

生于1947年，

Butler grew up shy and introverted in Pasadena, California.

巴特勒在加州的帕萨迪纳 以害羞和内向的性格长大。

She dreamt up stories from an early age,

她从很小的时候就会幻想故事，

and was soon scribbling these scenarios on paper.

很快就开始将这些情境写在纸上。

At twelve, she begged her mother for a typewriter

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，

after enduring a campy science fiction film called "Devil Girl From Mars."

她恳求妈妈给她一台打字机。

Unimpressed with what she saw,

她为这部电影毫不所动，

Butler knew she could tell a better story.

因为她知道她能讲出更好的故事。

Much science fiction features white male heroes

大部分的科幻小说 都用白人男性来当主角，

who blast aliens or become saviors of brown people.

他们打败外星人 或成为原住民的救星。

Butler wanted to write diverse characters for diverse audiences.

巴特勒想要写多元化的角色， 给多元化的读者看。

She brought nuance and depth to the representation of their experiences.

她把主人公的经验呈现得 更加细致、更有深度。

For Butler,

对巴特勒来说，

imagination was not only for planting the seeds of science fiction–

想像不只是 为科幻小说种下种子——

but also a strategy for surviving an unjust world on one’s own terms.

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。

Her work often takes troubling features of the world

她的作品通常会谈到 世界上让人不安的特征，

such as discrimination on the basis of race, gender, class, or ability,

比如根据种族、性别、阶级 或能力来进行歧视，

and invites the reader to contemplate them in new contexts.

她也启发读者在新的 情境中思考这些问题。

One of her most beloved novels,

她最被人喜爱的小说之一

the "Parable of the Sower,"

《播种者的寓言》

follows this pattern.

就是依循这个模式。

It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina

它讲述的是劳伦·欧亚·欧拉米亚的故事，

as she makes her way through a near-future California, ruined by corporate greed,

时间是不远的将来， 她在加州求生存，

inequality, and environmental destruction.

那里已经被企业的贪婪、 不平等以及环境毁灭给摧毁。

As she struggles with hyperempathy,

她饱受超级同理心所苦，

or a condition in the novel that causes her to feel others’ pain,

在该书中，这是一种病症， 会让她感受到他人的痛苦，

and less often, their pleasure.

但很少感受到他们的愉悦。

Lauren embarks on a quest with a group of refugees to find a place to thrive.

劳伦和一群难民展开了 一段追寻之旅。

There, they seek to live in accordance with Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed,

他们寻找能生存的场所， 在那里，他们遵循劳伦成立的

which is based on the principle

宗教“地球种子”来求生存，

that humans must adapt to an ever-changing world.

其信条是人类必须要 适应不断改变的世界。

Lauren’s quest had roots in a real life event–

劳伦的追寻之旅其实 源自真实的事件——

California Prop 187,

《加州187提案》，

which attempted to deny undocumented immigrants fundamental human rights,

它试图拒绝无证移民的 基本人权，

before it was deemed unconstitutional.

后来才被认为违宪。

Butler frequently incorporated contemporary news into her writing.

巴特勒常常会把时事 整合到她的作品中。

In her 1998 sequel to "The Parable of the Sower," "Parable of the Talents,"

她1998年的作品《天赋者的寓言》 是《播种者的寓言》的续集，

she wrote of a presidential candidate

内容是一位总统候选人

who controls Americans with virtual reality and “shock collars.”

利用虚拟实境和“电击衣领” 来控制美国人。

His slogan? “Make America great again.”

他的口号是“让美国再次伟大”。

While people have noted her prescience,

虽然大家已经注意到 她的先见之明，

Butler was also interested in re-examining history.

巴特勒也对于重新 检视历史很感兴趣。

For instance, "Kindred" tells the story of

比如，《亲属》谈的故事就是

a woman who is repeatedly pulled back in time

一位女子不断被拉回到过去，

to the Maryland plantation of her ancestors.

回到她祖先的马里兰州农场

Early on, she learns that her mission is to save the life of the white man

早些时候，她得知她的任务 是要拯救一个白人的性命，

who will rape her great grandmother.

而这个白人将来会 强奸她的曾祖母。

If she doesn’t save him, she herself will cease to exist.

如果她不救他， 她自己也不会存在。

This grim dilemma forces Dana to confront the ongoing trauma

这无情的两难局面 强迫戴娜去正视

of slavery and sexual violence against Black women.

黑人女性因为奴役制度 和性暴力正在受到的创伤。

With her stories of women founding new societies,

通过这些女性找到新社会的故事，

time travelers overcoming historical strife,

时空旅人克服历史冲突的故事，

and interspecies bonding,

以及物种间结合的故事，

Butler had a profound influence on the growing popularity of Afrofuturism.

巴特勒带来了深远的影响， 让非洲未来主义越来越受欢迎。

That’s a cultural movement

那是一项文化运动，

where Black writers and artists who are inspired by the past, present and future,

灵感来自过去、现在， 及未来的黑人作家和艺术家

produce works that incorporate magic, history, technology and much more.

产出整合了魔法、历史、科技 及许多其他元素的作品。

As Lauren comes to learn in "Parable of the Sower,"

如同劳伦在《播种者的寓言》中领悟到的：

"All that you touch you Change.

“你触碰的一切被你改变。

All that you Change Changes you.

你改变的一切会改变你。

The only lasting truth is Change.”

唯一永恒的真相就是改变。”