How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise

翻译人员: Tianchang Luo 校对人员: Tianshu Wang

Emily Dickinson said over a century ago

一个多世纪以前， 艾米丽·狄金森说，

that "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away ..."

没有舰艇能像书一样载我们到远方。

And it's true.

说得很对。

When we pick up a book, turn on the TV, or watch a movie,

当我们拿起书、打开电视、或着看电影时，

we're carried away down the currents of story into a world of imagination.

我们随着故事的洪流进入一块想象之地。

And when we land, on a shore that is both new and familiar,

着陆后，我们看到的海岸上既新奇又熟悉，

something strange happens.

奇怪的事情发生了。

Stepping onto the shore, we're changed.

一上岸，我们就变了。

We don't retrace the footsteps of the authors

我们不再追随带我们到此的 作者或人物的足迹，

or characters we followed here.

No; instead, we walk a mile in their shoes.

不。相反，我们会穿着他们的鞋子走一程

Researchers in psychology, neuroscience, child development and biology

心理学、神经学、儿童发展及生物学的研究人员

are finally starting to gain quantifiable scientific evidence,

终于开始取得可量化的科学证据

showing what writers and readers have always known:

来证明作家和读者一直都知道的一点：

that stories have a unique ability to change a person's point of view.

故事有一种使人改变观点的独特力量。

Scholars are discovering evidence that stories shape culture,

学者们发现的证据表明故事塑造文化，

and that much of what we believe about life comes not from fact,

而且我们的人生观大部分都来自于小说

but from fiction -

而非事实。

that our ideas of class, marriage and even gender are relatively new,

关于阶级、婚姻甚至性别的观点

相对比较新，还有很多 存在了几百年的意识形态

and that many ideologies which held fast for centuries

were revised within the 18th century,

都在18世纪被修正、 且在早期小说中被重写了。

and redrafted in the pages of the early novel.

Imagine a world where class, and not hard work,

想象一个人的价值由阶级， 而非努力工作决定的世界。

decides a person's worth;

a world where women are simply men's more untamed copy;

一个女性只是男性的 未驯服的复制品的世界。

一个为爱而结婚 是异想天开的世界。

a world where marriage for love is a novel notion.

Well, that was the world in which Samuel Richardson's "Pamela"

对，这正是塞缪尔·理查森的帕梅拉 第一次出现时的世界。

first appeared.

Richardson's love story starred a poor, serving-class heroine,

理查森的爱情故事围绕一个 贫穷的底层女主角展开。

who is both more superior and smarter than her upper-class suitor.

比起来自上流社会的追求者 她更有道德、更聪明。

The book, challenging a slew of traditions,

这本书挑战了一系列的传统，

caused quite a ruckus.

引起了很大骚动。

There was more press for "Pamela" than for Parliament.

关于帕梅拉的新闻 比关于议会的还多。

It spawned intense debate and several counter-novels.

它引起了激烈的争论 和一些与它针锋相对的作品。

Still, for all those who couldn't accept "Pamela,"

虽然有人不能接受《帕梅拉》，

others were eager for this new fictional world.

其他人仍然对这个 新颖的虚构世界充满期待。

This best seller and all its literary heirs -

这本畅销书 和所有继承它思想的作品，

"Pride and Prejudice," "Jane Eyre," and yes, even "Twilight" -

《傲慢与偏见》《简爱》， 没错，甚至还有《暮光之城》，

have continuously shared the same tale and taught similar lessons,

不断地分享同样的故事、 传递同样的观点，

which are now conventional and commonplace.

现在这些观点已经是常识了。

Similarly, novels have helped shape the minds of thought leaders

同样，小说也帮助了

across history.

历史中的思想家形成观点。

Some scholars say that Darwin's theory of evolution

一些学者说，达尔文的《进化论》

is highly indebted to the plots he read and loved.

很大程度上就得益于 他所阅读和喜爱的情节。

His theory privileges intelligence, swiftness, and adaptability to change -

他的理论偏爱智力、

迅捷和对于变化的适应能力： 这些都是英雄的核心品质。

all core characteristics in a hero.

Whether you're reading "Harry Potter" or "Great Expectations,"

无论你是在读《哈利波特》 还是《远大前程》，

you're reading the kind of plot that inspired Darwin.

你读的，都是启迪 达尔文的那种情节。

Yet, recent studies show that his theory might not be the whole story.

但是最新研究表明， 他的理论可能有局限性，

Our sense of being a hero - one man or one woman

我们认为的英雄，无论是 男人、女人，抑或另一个物种

or even one species taking on the challenges of the world -

都在为世界面对挑战。 而这种观念可能是错的。

might be wrong.

Instead of being hardwired for competition

比起为竞争而生、

for being the solitary heroes in our own story,

在自己的故事中 当一个孤独的主角，

we might instead be members of a shared quest.

我们更可能有共同的诉求。

More Hobbit than Harry.

更像霍比特，而非哈利。

Sometimes, of course, the shoes we've been walking in

当然，我们在岸边走时穿的鞋 有时可能会磨脚。

can get plain worn out.

After all, we haven't walked just one mile

毕竟，穿着简·奥斯汀或马克·吐温的鞋 我们可不只走一公里，

in Jane Austen's or Mark Twain's shoes -

we've walked about 100 trillion miles in them.

我们已经走了百万亿公里。

This isn't to say that we can't read and enjoy the classics;

这不是说，我们不能阅读古典文学 并得到享受，

we should travel with Dickens,

我们应该追随狄更斯的脚步，

let Pip teach us what to expect from ourselves,

让皮普教我们， 对自己应该有什么期待，

have a talk with Austen and Elizabeth about our prides and prejudices.

通过奥斯丁和伊丽莎白 了解我们的“傲慢与偏见”

We should float with Twain down the Mississippi,

我们应该与吐温 在密西西比河顺流而下，

and have Jim show us what it means to be good.

让吉姆告诉我们 什么才是做个好人。

But on our journey, we should also keep in mind

但在旅途中，我们要牢记

that the terrain has changed.

地形变了，我们要买到靴子

We'll start shopping around for boots

来走进新时代。

that were made for walking into a new era.

Take, for instance, Katniss Everdeen and her battle with the Capitol.

比如凯特尼斯·伊夫狄恩 以及她和长官的斗争。

Can "Hunger Games" lead us into thinking about capitalism in a new way?

《饥饿游戏》能引领我们 重新思考资本主义吗？

Can it teach us a lesson

它能教会我们，个人不该 把自己放在集体之前吗？

about why the individual should not put herself before the group?

Will "Uglies" reflect the dangers of pursuing a perfect body

威尔·丑儿反映了 追求完美躯体、

and letting the media define what is beautiful?

让媒体觉得什么是美， 会带来的危险

Will "Seekers" trod a path beyond global warming?

《熊行者》能带来 应对全球变暖的方法吗？

Will the life-and-death struggles of Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and the other bears

托克罗、卡莉、露莎 以及其他熊的生死挣扎

chart a course for understanding animals and our place in their world?

能传达一种方式，让我们理解动物

还有我们在它们世界中地位吗？

Only the future will tell which stories will engage our imagination,

只有到了未来才能知道 什么故事会引起我们的想像，

我们又会写出什么虚构的故事，

which tales of make-believe we'll make tomorrow.

But the good news is this:

不过有个好消息：

there are new stories to venture in every day,

每天都有新的故事可以探索。

new tales that promise to influence, to create and to spark change -

新的故事能影响、 创造和激发改变。

stories that you might even write yourself.

可能你自己都会写出这些故事。

So I guess the final question is this:

所以我想，最终的问题是：

What story will you try on next?

接下来你会尝试什么故事？