Notes of a native son: The world according to James Baldwin - Christina Greer

翻译人员: Sijia Chen 校对人员: Yinchun Rui

Over the course of the 1960s,

20 世纪 60 年代，

the FBI amassed almost two thousand documents

在一项针对美国最负盛名的 一位人物的调查中，

in an investigation into one of America’s most celebrated minds.

联邦调查局收集了将近两千份文件。

The subject of this inquiry was a writer named James Baldwin.

这个调查案中的主角是 一位叫做詹姆斯·鲍德温的作家。

At the time,

在当时，

the FBI investigated many artists and thinkers,

联邦调查局调查了 许多艺术家和思想家，

but most of their files were a fraction the size of Baldwin’s.

但是他们中大部分人的文件数量 比起鲍德温都是小巫见大巫。

During the years when the FBI hounded him,

在联邦调查局追踪他的那些年里，

he became one of the best-selling black authors in the world.

他成为了世界上 最畅销的黑人作家之一。

So what made James Baldwin loom so large in the imaginations

那么到底是什么使詹姆斯·鲍德温 在当时的公众和美国当局眼里

of both the public and the authorities?

变得如此显赫呢?

Born in Harlem in 1924,

1924 年，鲍德温出生在纽约哈莱姆，

he was the oldest of nine children.

他是家里九个孩子中的长子。

At age fourteen, he began to work as a preacher.

14 岁起，他开始从事传道士的工作。

By delivering sermons, he developed his voice as a writer,

在布道过程中，他逐渐发展起了 自己作为作家的声音，

but also grew conflicted about the Church’s stance

但同时也与教会关于种族不平等和

on racial inequality and homosexuality.

同性恋问题的立场产生了分歧。

After high school,

he began writing novels and essays while taking a series of odd jobs.

上完高中后，

他在做一系列杂活儿的同时 开始创作小说和散文。

But the issues that had driven him away from the Church

但是那些驱使他远离教堂的问题 在日常生活中

were still inescapable in his daily life.

也仍然无法避免。

Constantly confronted with racism and homophobia,

不断面对种族歧视和对同性恋的憎恶，

he was angry and disillusioned, and yearned for a less restricted life.

愤怒而失望的他 渴望一个少些束缚的生活。

So in 1948, at the age of 24,

于是，在 1948 年，

he moved to Paris on a writing fellowship.

24 岁的他通过 一个写作奖学金去了巴黎。

From France, he published his first novel,

在法国，他于 1953 年发表了 自己的第一部小说

"Go Tell it on the Mountain," in 1953.

《向苍天呼吁》。

Set in Harlem,

故事背景设置在哈莱姆，

the book explores the Church as a source of both repression and hope.

小说探索了教堂同时作为 压抑和希望来源的存在。

It was popular with both black and white readers.

它受到了黑人和白人读者的普遍欢迎。

As he earned acclaim for his fiction,

随着小说不断获得赞誉，

Baldwin gathered his thoughts on race, class, culture and exile

鲍德温在他 1955 年发表的 随笔文集《一个土生子的札记》里

in his 1955 extended essay, "Notes of a Native Son."

集中表达了自己对于种族、 阶级、文化和流亡的想法。

Meanwhile,

于此同时，

the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum in America.

民权运动在当时的美国势头愈发猛烈。

Black Americans were making incremental gains at registering to vote and voting,

越来越多的美国黑人 开始登记参与投票和选举。

but were still denied basic dignities in schools, on buses, in the work force,

但是在学校内，在公交车上， 在工作中，在军队里，

and in the armed services.

他们的基本尊严依旧得不到保障。

Though he lived primarily in France for the rest of his life,

虽然他余生的大部分时间 都在法国度过，

Baldwin was deeply invested in the movement,

但鲍德温还是坚定地 投入到了这场民权运动中。

and keenly aware of his country’s unfulfilled promise.

他深谙自己的祖国 有尚未兑现的诺言。

He had seen family, friends, and neighbors

他亲眼目睹过家人、朋友以及邻居

spiral into addiction, incarceration and suicide.

陷入毒瘾、监狱和自杀的泥沼。

He believed their fates originated from the constraints

他相信这些人的悲惨命运源于

of a segregated society.

一个实行种族隔离社会的种种束缚。

In 1963,

1963 年，

he published "The Fire Next Time,"

他发表了短文集《下一次将是烈火》，

an arresting portrait of racial strife

醒目地揭示了美国种族纠纷问题。

in which he held white America accountable,

除了指出白人对此有不可推卸的责任，

but he also went further,

他更进一步地论证，

arguing that racism hurt white people too.

种族歧视对白人同样造成了伤害。

In his view,

在他看来，

everyone was inextricably enmeshed in the same social fabric.

所有人都无法避免地 被同一个社会肌理缠绕。

He had long believed that:

他一直认为：

“People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”

“人们被困在历史中， 而历史被困在人们心中。”

Baldwin’s role in the Civil Rights movement

鲍德温在民权运动中所扮演的角色

went beyond observing and reporting.

超越了观察者和报告者。

He also traveled through the American South

他遍游美国南方，

attending rallies giving lectures of his own.

参加集会，发表演说。

He debated both white politicians and black activists,

他既与白人政客，也与 包括马尔克姆· X 在内的黑人激进分子

including Malcolm X,

进行辩论。

and served as a liaison between black activists and intellectuals

他同时还充当联络人的角色， 帮助黑人激进分子及知识分子

and white establishment leaders like Robert Kennedy.

与像罗伯特·肯尼迪这样的 掌权白人领袖进行沟通。

Because of Baldwin’s unique ability

鲍德温擅于以白人受众

to articulate the causes of social turbulence

原意聆听的方式阐明社会动荡的原因，

in a way that white audiences were willing to hear,

鉴于他的这个特殊才能，

Kennedy and others tended to see him as an ambassador for black Americans

肯尼迪和其他一些人 往往把他看做是美国黑人的使者。

— a label Baldwin rejected.

但鲍德温本人则拒绝这个标签。

And at the same time,

而与此同时，

his faculty with words led the FBI to view him as a threat.

他高超的语言文字能力也 使得联邦调查局将其视作威胁。

Even within the Civil Rights movement,

由于旅居国外，加之自己的性取向，

Baldwin could sometimes feel like an outsider

即使是在当时民权运动的圈子里，

for his choice to live abroad, as well as his sexuality,

鲍德温也会不时觉得自己是个局外人。

which he explored openly in his writing

对此，他在自己的文字中 进行了公开的探讨，

at a time when homophobia ran rampant.

哪怕正值同性恋恐惧症猖獗之时。

Throughout his life,

纵观其一生，

Baldwin considered it his role to bear witness.

鲍德温视自己的角色为见证者。

Unlike many of his peers,

与许多同时代的人不同，

he lived to see some of the victories of the Civil Rights movement,

他有幸活着看到了 一些民权运动的胜利，

but the continuing racial inequalities in the United States weighed heavily on him.

但美国持续的种族不平等 依然沉甸甸地压在他的心上。

Though he may have felt trapped in his moment in history,

虽说他可能感觉被困在了 属于自己的历史时刻里，

his words have made generations of people feel known,

但他的话引导了几代人，

while guiding them toward a more nuanced understanding

使得他们对最为复杂的社会问题 有了更加细致入微的了解，

of society’s most complex issues.

同时也使得他们自己 有了被了解的感觉。