Will the real Fernando please stand up? - Ilan Stavans

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

On November 30th, 1935, dozens of writers passed away.

1935 年 11 月 30 日，

有數十位作家過世。

They came from different backgrounds, espoused divergent beliefs,

他們有不同背景，信奉不同的信仰，

and wrote in a variety of styles.

寫作風格也各有不同。

Yet all of their work was stashed in a single trunk

但他們所有的作品都被儲存在葡萄牙 里斯本一間公寓中的一個皮箱內。

in an apartment in Lisbon, Portugal.

So, what mysterious string tied all these writers together?

所以，這些作家之間 有什麼神秘的連結？

Well, the trunk belonged to one enigmatic author, Fernando Pessoa,

那個皮箱的主人是一位謎樣的作者：

費南多‧佩索亞（Fernando Pessoa），

who was, in fact, all of them.

其實所有這些作家都是他。

Some authors use pseudonyms and pen names

有些作者會使用假名和筆名

to protect their identities or bolster their artistic personas.

來保護他們的身分 或強化他們的藝術角色。

But Pessoa used what he called “heteronyms” to write not as himself

但佩索亞使用他所謂的 「異名」 來寫作，他扮演的不是他自己，

but as other people he invented,

而是他發明的人物，

giving way to generative, artistic experimentation.

來做生成式的藝術實驗。

He fleshed out their imagined lives, devised their distinct quirks,

他充實了他們的假想生活，

設計了他們的鮮明怪僻，

and cultivated their unique literary voices.

並發展出他們的獨特文學表達方式。

Sometimes Pessoa's heteronyms interacted with each other,

有時，佩索亞的 不同異名會彼此互動，

even criticizing one another's work.

甚至批評彼此的作品。

Pessoa described himself as a “nomadic wanderer through [his own] consciousness,”

佩索亞把自己描述為

「在自己意識中漫遊的遊牧者」，

“a kind of medium,” “divided” among his heteronyms.

「一種媒介」，

在他的異名之中被分裂。

“But,” he wrote, “I’m less real than the others,

「但，」他寫道：

「我沒有其他人那麼真實、

less substantial, less personal, and easily influenced by them all.”

那麼實在、那麼個人，

且很容易受他們所有人影響。」

Born in Lisbon in 1888, Pessoa began writing as different people

1888 年生於里斯本，

佩索亞約六歲時就開始 用不同人的身分來寫作，

when he was around six years old,

authoring letters as an imaginary Frenchman, Chevalier de Pas.

他以假想的身分， 法國騎士帕斯，來寫信。

When Pessoa’s stepfather moved their family to South Africa,

當佩索亞的繼父將全家遷到南非，

Pessoa picked up new languages.

佩索亞學會了新的語言。

He adopted several English-language heteronyms in high school

他在高中時採用了幾個英語的異名，

and published booklets of poems featured by the British press.

他出版的詩集小冊 還被英國媒體報導。

In 1905, Pessoa returned to Lisbon for good.

1905 年，佩索亞回到 里斯本並永久留下。

He gained a reputation for his formal dress, affinity for the occult,

他知名的特色包括穿著正式服裝、

喜好神秘事物，

and for being cordial and charming while always keeping people at arm’s length.

及既親切又迷人卻又 總是和人保持距離。

Pessoa established art and literary journals and a publishing house.

佩索亞創立了藝術及文學 期刊以及一間出版社。

But while these public ventures failed to take off

但，雖然這些公共事業未能成功，

and Pessoa amassed debt and relocated frequently,

且佩索亞積欠債務又常常搬遷，

his greatest experiments were unfolding in private.

他最偉大的實驗卻是在私下進行的。

Scrawling in various languages on envelopes, book jackets and loose papers,

佩索亞以瑪莉亞‧荷西（Maria José）的身分， 精心寫下一封夢幻的情書，

在信封上、書皮上，和零散的 紙張上潦草地書寫各種語言，

Pessoa crafted a dreamy love letter as Maria José,

a teenager with a spinal disorder who was infatuated with a metalworker;

瑪莉亞是患有脊椎疾病的 青少女，愛上了一名金屬工匠；

he scribbled detective stories as Horace James Faber;

他以霍勒斯‧詹姆士‧費伯 （Horace James Faber）的

身分撰寫偵探故事；

and analyzed astrological charts as Raphael Baldaya.

並以拉斐爾·鮑達亞（Raphael Baldaya）的 身分分析占星圖。

He used three heteronyms most frequently.

他最常用的異名有三個。

Alberto Caeiro was a shepherd-poet who used simple diction

阿爾貝托‧卡耶羅 （Alberto Caeiro）是牧羊詩人，

用簡單的措詞來形容他所見的世界。

to describe the world as he saw it.

Ricardo Reis, a doctor, favored the epic style of Classical poets.

雷卡多‧瑞許（Ricardo Reis）是醫生，

偏愛古典詩人的史詩風格。

And Álvaro de Campos, a bisexual naval engineer and nomad,

阿瓦羅‧德‧坎伯斯（Álvaro de Campos） 是雙性戀海軍工程師和遊牧者，

wrote poetry extolling the wonder and hardship of daily life.

他寫詩來讚頌日常 生活的奇妙與艱辛。

Using de Campos, Pessoa said he could channel all the emotions

佩索亞可以利用德‧坎伯斯 來傳遞他否定自己擁有的情緒。

he denied himself.

And at one point, de Campos claimed it was Pessoa who didn’t truly exist.

有一度，

德‧坎伯斯還聲稱真正 不存在的人是佩索亞。

During his lifetime,

在一生中，

Pessoa published poems, letters, essays, and literary criticism—

佩索亞出版了詩作、信件、 短文，和文學評論——

some as heteronyms, others under his own name.

有些是用異名，有些 則是用他自己的名字。

He also produced a handful of books, just one in Portuguese—

他還創作了許多書籍，

只有一本是葡萄牙文的，

a poetry collection about Portugal’s mythic history called “Message.”

那是本關於葡萄牙神話歷史的 詩集，名為《訊息》。

He gained local recognition,

他獲得了當地的認可，

but the full scope of his creative endeavours only revealed itself

該書出版後一年，

佩索亞過世，那時他所有的 創作心血才見到天日。

when Pessoa died a year after the book’s release.

From among almost 30,000 pages of unpublished work stashed in his trunk,

在他的皮箱中裝了 近三萬頁未出版的作品，

critics eventually assembled “The Book of Disquiet” in 1982,

評論家終於在 1982 年從這些 素材拼湊完成了《惶然錄》，

which Pessoa spent two decades developing.

佩索亞花了兩十年的時間撰寫它。

It declares itself, in typically cryptic fashion,

這本書以典型的神秘方式宣稱它是

“the autobiography of someone who never existed.”

「從未存在過的人的自傳」。

Pessoa wrote it as the fictional diary of his so-called semi-heteronym,

佩索亞把這本書寫成他的半異名

身分伯納多‧索瓦許 （Bernardo Soares）的日記，

Bernardo Soares,

whose personality he described as a “mere mutilation” of his own.

他描述伯納多的性格是他自己 性格「切割出來的一部分」。

Often frustrated by life’s demands,

因為日常生活的要求感到沮喪，

the book’s narrator explores how delving inwards through literature

這本書的敘述者探討了 如何透過文學深刻內省

helps him escape reality’s confines.

來協助他逃離現實的限制。

He continuously challenges conceptions of the self as a singular, reliable unit—

他不斷挑戰「將自我視為單一、 可靠的單位」的觀念——

instead grappling with identity as indefinite,

反而將身分當作是不確定的，

each person a shifting sum of their parts.

每個人都是其各部分的總和， 且這總和會不斷變動。

“My soul is a hidden orchestra,” the first entry reads.

第一篇寫道：「我的靈魂 是個隱藏的管弦樂團。」

“I do not know what instruments, what violins and harps,

「我不知道有什麼樂器，

有什麼小提琴和豎琴、鼓和定音鼓、

drums and tambours sound and clash inside me.

聲音和碰撞存在我體內。

I know myself only as a symphony.”

我只知道我自己是一首交響曲。」