Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" - Tanya Boucicaut

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Baritone thunder. Snarling winds. Consuming downpours.

低沉的雷聲，

狂嗥的疾風，

猛烈的雨水。

Okeechobee, the disastrous hurricane of 1928,

1928 年的災難性颶風奧奇丘比

tore through the North Atlantic basin, laying waste to entire communities.

橫掃北大西洋盆地，

徹底搗毀該地社區。

In Eatonville, Florida, the storm forced many to flee.

在佛羅里達州伊頓維爾，

颶風迫使許多居民逃離。

But for Janie Crawford, it inspired an unexpected homecoming.

但對於珍妮·克勞佛而言，

這颶風卻促成了未預期的返鄉之旅。

Janie’s return begins “Their Eyes Were Watching God,”

珍妮的返鄉是

《他們眼望上蒼》一書的開頭，

Zora Neale Hurston’s acclaimed novel

柔拉·涅爾·荷絲頓頗受好評的小說，

about a Black woman’s quest for love and agency

內容是一名追求愛 與自主權的黑人女性，

in a time that sought to deprive her of both.

而她所處的時代 卻會剝奪這兩樣東西。

When Janie arrives back in Eatonville, her arrival is shrouded in mystery.

當珍妮回到伊頓維爾，

她的歸返讓大家摸不著頭緒。

Her neighbors and friends are quick to gossip about her reappearance,

她的鄰居和朋友馬上 開始八卦她的再次出現、

her finances, and most importantly, the whereabouts of her missing husband.

她的財務狀況，

還有，最重要的，

她下落不明的丈夫在哪裡。

But only Janie’s friend Pheoby gets to hear the whole story.

但只有珍妮的朋友菲比 能聽到整個故事。

Over the course of a conversation that spans most of the novel,

在幾乎慣穿整部小說的 對談過程當中，

Hurston untangles Janie’s life story;

荷絲頓解開珍妮的人生故事；

from her complicated childhood and her life in Eatonville,

從她複雜的童年 及在伊頓維爾的生活，

to her scandalous departure and the shocking events that followed.

到她因醜聞而離開，

以及後續讓人震驚的事件。

The specifics of Janie’s story are often larger than life,

珍妮故事的明確詳情通常被誇大，

but many of the book’s details reflect the incredible experiences of its author.

但書中很多細節反映出 其作者不可思議的經歷。

Zora Neale Hurston was raised in Eatonville,

柔拉·涅爾·荷絲頓 是在伊頓維爾長大的，

one of the first planned and incorporated all-Black communities in America.

是美國最早的計畫性整合 全黑人社區之一。

Like Janie, she also left Eatonville abruptly,

她和珍妮一樣突然離開伊頓維爾，

traveling first to Jacksonville and DC, before eventually moving further north.

先前往傑克遜維爾和華盛頓，

最後搬去更北方。

In New York City, Hurston studied anthropology

在紐約，

荷絲頓讀的是人類學，

and became a renowned author in the Harlem Renaissance,

成為哈林文藝復興中的知名作家，

a cultural, literary and artistic movement that’s still considered a golden era

這個文化、文學，和藝術的運動，

至今仍被視為是黑人 藝術和創意的黃金時代。

of Black artistry and creativity.

Here, her work garnered enough support to fund research trips through the South,

在這裡，她的作品得到足夠的支持，

讓她有資金能前往南方做研究，

where she collected stories and folktales from Black Americans.

她到南方收集美國黑人的 故事及民間傳說。

By 1937, her fieldwork had taken her all the way to Haiti,

1973 年,

她的實地調查工作讓她到了海地，

where she wrote most of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

《他們眼望上蒼》大半部分 是在那裡完成的。

Hurston drew on all these experiences for the novel,

荷絲頓把所有這些經驗 應用到該小說上，

incorporating folkloric elements alongside her own family and romantic history

整合民間傳說元素 和她自己的家庭與愛情史，

to bring readers into the intimate spaces of Black southern life.

把讀者帶進黑人 南方生活的親密空間中。

She uses regional phrases and sayings

她會採地區性的方言和俗語，

to capture the dialect of her Floridian characters.

以捕捉佛羅里達州角色的用語特徵。

And the novel’s omniscient third-person narration

且該小說採用全知的 第三人稱旁白敘述，

allows Hurston to unleash her poetic prose on everything

荷絲頓能自在地把 她那有詩意的散文體用在各處，

from birdsong, architecture, and fashion,

從鳥鳴、建築，及時尚，

to her characters’ deepest feelings and motivations.

到角色最深刻的感受和動機。

Perhaps more than any specific details,

也許，比起任何明確的細節，

Hurston’s experiences of being a Black woman in America at this time

荷絲頓在這個年代 身為美國黑人女性的經歷

are more evident in the novel’s themes.

在小說的主題中還更明顯。

Over the course of one long evening,

談了一整晚，

Janie and Pheoby discuss the nature of family, marriage, spirituality and more.

珍妮和菲比討論到家庭本質、

婚姻、靈性等話題，

But their conversation always comes back to Janie’s truest desire:

但他們的談話總會回到 珍妮最真切的渴望上：

to live honestly and be truly loved in return.

能夠正常地生活， 並且真正被愛人所愛。

As a teenager, Janie resents an arranged marriage,

珍妮在青少女時期 對包辦婚姻感到憤恨，

despite the safety it offers her and the wishes of her loving grandmother.

儘管那婚姻能帶給她安全感， 且是她慈愛祖母的心願。

When her family becomes well-respected in Eatonville,

當她的家族在伊頓維爾 變得備受尊重，

she struggles with the judgmental eyes of strangers

她很難忍受陌生人對她品頭論足，

and a husband who wants her to be something she’s not.

以及丈夫希望她成為不是她的樣子。

Throughout her life, Janie frequently feels she’s at the whim

珍妮一生中經常覺得她會瞬間突然

of natural and spiritual forces

遭逢大自然和靈性的力量，

that can shift the course of her existence without warning.

會在完全沒警告的情況下 就改變她人生的方向。

And when she finally does find true love,

若她真的能尋獲真愛，

these unknowable powers continue to act on her,

這些不知名的力量仍會持續影響她，

threatening to destroy the life she's so painstakingly built.

威脅要摧毀她千辛萬苦建立的生活。

The story takes place during a time where women had little to no agency,

故事的背景時代，是女性 幾乎／完全沒有自主權的時代，

and Janie’s life is full of complicated characters

而珍妮的人生中滿是複雜的角色，

who demand different kinds of love and submission.

要求不同類型的愛和服從。

But despite the loneliness of her situation,

但，儘管她的處境孤單，

Janie navigates these trials with defiance and curiosity.

珍妮用挑戰的態度 和好奇心通過這些考驗。

Her questions and commentary push back in subtle, clever ways.

她的問題和評論 以微妙且聰明的方式做反抗。

And as the reader follows Janie’s journey from childhood to middle age,

當讀者跟隨著珍妮 從童年到中年的旅程，

her confidence becomes infectious.

她的自信心變得有感染力。

Just like Hurston, Janie defies the restrictive expectations

和荷絲頓一樣，

珍妮起身反抗那個年代 對女性充滿限制的期望。

for a woman in her time.

Early in the novel, Hurston writes that

荷絲頓在小說中的前段寫到

“there are years that ask questions and years that answer,”

「有問問題的歲月 也有解答的歲月」，

suggesting that life can only truly be understood by living it.

意味著，唯有親自去活過， 才能真正了解生命。

But through her empathetic storytelling,

但透過她具有同理心的說故事方式，

Hurston invites us into Janie’s life, her life,

荷絲頓邀請我們進入 珍妮的生命、她的生命，

and the lives of so many other women.

還有更多其他女人的生命。