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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Over the course of the 1960s,

在六○年代，

the FBI amassed almost two thousand documents

FBI 收集了近兩千份文件，

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

目的是針對美國 最馳名的人進行調查。

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

這項研究的對象是一位作家， 叫做詹姆士包德溫。

At the time,

當時，

the FBI investigated many artists and thinkers,

FBI 調查了許多藝術家和思想家，

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

但他們大多數人的檔案 和包德溫相比，都只是冰山一角。

During the years when the FBI hounded him,

在 FBI 追查他的這些年間，

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

他變成世界上 最暢銷的黑人作家之一。

So what made James Baldwin loom so large in the imaginations

所以，是什麼讓詹姆士包德溫

成為眾人和當權機關 想像中的威脅？

of both the public and the authorities?

Born in Harlem in 1924,

他於 1924 年出生在哈林區，

he was the oldest of nine children.

是九個孩子中最年長的。

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

十四歲時，他開始擔任傳教士。

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

在布道的過程中， 他發展出了身為作家的聲音，

but also grew conflicted about the Church’s stance

但也對於教堂在種族不平等

on racial inequality and homosexuality.

和同性戀上的立場感到衝突。

After high school,

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

高中之後，他開始寫小說和短文，

同時打了些零工。

But the issues that had driven him away from the Church

但讓他遠離教堂的那些議題，

were still inescapable in his daily life.

仍然出現在他的日常生活中。

Constantly confronted with racism and homophobia,

他常常要面對種族主義 和對同性戀的仇恨，

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

他很憤怒且灰心， 渴望生活中能少一點限制。

So in 1948, at the age of 24,

1948 年，二十四歲時，

he moved to Paris on a writing fellowship.

他靠寫作的獎金，搬到巴黎。

From France, he published his first novel,

在法國，他出版了 他的第一本小說，

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

《高山上的呼喊》， 那是 1953 年。

Set in Harlem,

這本書的背景是哈林區， 探討的主題是教堂，

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

它同時是壓制以及希望的源頭。

It was popular with both black and white readers.

這本書受到黑人 和白人讀者的歡迎。

As he earned acclaim for his fiction,

隨著這本小說帶來的喝采，

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

包德溫把他的想法集中在 種族、階級、文化，和流放上，

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

在 1955 年為小說寫了 延伸短文《土生子的筆記》。

Meanwhile,

同時，

the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum in America.

民權運動在美國沸騰。

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

美國黑人在登記投票和投票上 都得到了一些進展，

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

但在許多地方仍然得不到 基本尊嚴，如學校裡、

and in the armed services.

公車上、工作時，和在服役時。

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

雖然包德溫的餘生 幾乎都在法國生活，

Baldwin was deeply invested in the movement,

他對該運動卻投入相當多，

and keenly aware of his country’s unfulfilled promise.

且非常清楚知道他的國家 沒有實現諾言。

He had seen family, friends, and neighbors

他曾經見過他的家人、朋友、鄰居

spiral into addiction, incarceration and suicide.

被捲入毒癮、監禁， 和自殺的旋渦。

He believed their fates originated from the constraints

他認為他們的命運是由

種族隔離社會的限制所造成的。

of a segregated society.

In 1963,

1963 年，

he published "The Fire Next Time,"

他出版了《下一次將是烈火》，

an arresting portrait of racial strife

對於種族衝突做了醒目的描述，

in which he held white America accountable,

且把責任歸咎給美國白人，

but he also went further,

但他還更進了一步，

arguing that racism hurt white people too.

主張種族主義也會傷害白人。

In his view,

依他所見，

everyone was inextricably enmeshed in the same social fabric.

大家都被捲入同樣的 社會結構當中，沒人能逃離。

He had long believed that:

長年來他一直相信：

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

「人們被困在歷史中， 而歷史被困在他們當中。」

Baldwin’s role in the Civil Rights movement

包德溫在民權運動中的角色 不只是觀察和報導。

went beyond observing and reporting.

He also traveled through the American South

他也旅行到美國南方，

attending rallies giving lectures of his own.

參加集會，親自演講。

He debated both white politicians and black activists,

他和白人政治人物 及黑人行動主義者辯論，

including Malcolm X,

包括麥爾坎 X，

and served as a liaison between black activists and intellectuals

並扮演黑人活動主義者和知識分子

and white establishment leaders like Robert Kennedy.

與白人體制領導人之間聯絡橋樑， 如羅伯特甘迺迪。

Because of Baldwin’s unique ability

包德溫有很獨特的能力，

to articulate the causes of social turbulence

能夠明確表達社會動亂的成因，

in a way that white audiences were willing to hear,

且讓白人觀眾也願意聽他說，

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

因此甘迺迪及其他人傾向 將他視為是美國黑人的大使——

— a label Baldwin rejected.

包德溫自己拒絕這個標籤。

And at the same time,

同時，

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

他善用文字的技能 讓他被 FBI 視為威脅。

Even within the Civil Rights movement,

即使是在民權運動中，

Baldwin could sometimes feel like an outsider

包德溫有時也覺得 自己像是個外人，

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

原因是他選擇住在國外， 且身為同性戀，

which he explored openly in his writing

他公開在他的作品中 談論了他的同性戀身分，

at a time when homophobia ran rampant.

那時是對同性戀的仇恨 非常高漲的時代。

Throughout his life,

包德溫一生中都認為他必須 扮演目擊者的角色。

Baldwin considered it his role to bear witness.

Unlike many of his peers,

他和他大部分的同儕不同，

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

他在有生之年見到了 民權運動的一些勝利，

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

但在美國持續的種族不平等 壓得他喘不過氣。

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

雖然，他覺得他被困在 歷史上他的時代當中，

his words have made generations of people feel known,

但他的文字讓數世代的人 感覺被認可，

while guiding them toward a more nuanced understanding

同時引導他們更細微地了解

of society’s most complex issues.

社會上最複雜的議題。