How (and why) to read William Faulkner - Sascha Morrell

209,844 views ・ 2023-05-30

TED-Ed


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譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang
00:09
You’re halfway through
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這本書應該是二十世紀最棒的 小說之一,你已經看了一半,
00:10
what’s supposedly one of the greatest novels of the 20th century,
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00:13
but nothing quite makes sense.
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但還看不出所以然。
00:15
Narrating characters offer clashing versions of the same story
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旁白角色對於同一個故事 提供的版本都相抵觸,
00:18
and often seem unsure who, what, or when they’re talking about.
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且通常無法確定他們在講的 是誰、是什麼,或是何時。
00:22
Seemingly minor details trigger intense emotional reactions you don't understand.
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看似微不足道的小細節觸發了 你無法理解的強烈情緒反應。
00:27
And the prose is loaded with convoluted sentences and outlandish imagery.
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且議論的部分又滿是 複雜的句子和奇特的意象。
00:31
Confused? Good— that means you’re on the right track.
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困惑嗎?很好——那表示 你走在正確的軌道上。
00:34
William Faulkner is considered one of America’s most remarkable
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威廉‧福克納被認為是美國 最傑出且讓人費解的作家之一。
00:37
and perplexing writers.
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00:38
Fortunately, he wasn’t just toying with his audience.
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幸運的是,他並不只是 在玩弄他的觀眾。
00:41
Faulkner used confusion intentionally,
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福克納會刻意運用困惑,
00:44
to explore the most mysterious parts of the human mind
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來探索人類大腦中最神秘的部分,
00:47
and investigate pressing issues of personal, racial, and regional identity.
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並探討個人、種族, 及地域身分的迫切議題。
00:51
The result is a body of work that’s shocking, inventive, and often hilarious—
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其成果是一系列讓人震驚、 有創意,且通常很滑稽的作品——
00:55
but above all, challenging.
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但最重要的是,都很有挑戰性。
00:58
So what clues should readers look for to navigate his literary labyrinths?
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那讀者要尋找什麼線索才能 在他的文學迷宮中找到方向?
01:02
Many of Faulkner’s novels are set in the fictional county of Yoknapatawpha—
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福克納的許多小說都是以虛構的 約克納帕塔法郡為背景——
01:06
a fantastical reimagining of Lafayette County, Mississippi,
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由密西西比拉法葉郡重新 做奇幻想像設計出來的郡。
01:09
where he spent most of his life.
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他一生大多待在拉法葉郡。
01:11
Born in 1897, Faulkner grew up steeped in oral storytelling traditions,
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生於 1897 年,
福克納在口述故事傳統中長大,
01:16
from folklore and family histories to local legends of Civil War glory.
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故事從民間傳說和家庭歷史, 到南北戰爭榮耀的當地傳說都有。
01:20
However, these grand myths didn’t match the messy reality of the American South,
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然而,這些宏大的神話並不符合 美國南方的混亂現實:
01:24
divided by racist Jim Crow laws
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被種族主義的吉姆‧克勞法律分裂,
01:26
and plagued by the legacies of slavery and colonial violence.
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又為奴隸制度 和殖民暴力的遺產所苦,
01:30
All these tensions come alive inside Yoknapatawpha.
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所有這些緊張都在 約克納帕塔法生動呈現。
01:33
Full of horror, humor, and human tragedy,
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充滿了恐怖、幽默,和人類悲劇,
01:36
Faulkner’s stories feature many memorable characters,
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福克納的故事有許多 讓人印象深刻的角色,
01:39
like the spurned bride who sleeps beside her would-be husband’s corpse,
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比如被拋棄的新娘,她枕邊的 屍體是本來會成為她丈夫的人;
01:42
or the duped sharecropper obsessively hunting for imaginary coins.
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或者被騙的佃農, 痴迷地獵尋虛構的硬幣。
01:47
At first glance, these characters seem grotesquely absurd.
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乍看之下,這些角色似乎荒謬怪異,
01:50
But under the surface, they all reflect his obsession
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但在表面之下,
這些角色都反映出他對人 處理過去的方式有多著迷——
01:53
with how people process the past—
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01:55
what they stubbornly hold on to, unwittingly forget and willingly distort.
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他們對什麼固執不肯放手、 不知不覺遺忘什麼,
以及情願扭曲什麼。
02:00
Much of Faulkner’s fiction is told from multiple perspectives,
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福克納的小說多半從多重視角講述,
02:03
offering the reader several versions of the story’s events.
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針對故事中的事件, 提供數個版本給讀者。
02:06
For example, “The Sound and the Fury” combines the narratives
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比如,《喧嘩與騷動》 結合了這些人的說法:
02:09
of Benjy, Quentin, and Jason Compson,
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班吉、昆丁,以及傑森‧康普森,
02:11
three brothers haunted by memories of their sister Caddy.
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這三兄弟都被他們姐妹 卡蒂的記憶所困擾。
02:15
One brother's narration will occasionally fill the gaps left by another's,
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一位兄弟的描述偶爾能夠 填補另一位的描述不足之處,
02:18
but just as often, their accounts contradict each other.
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但他們的說法也經常彼此矛盾。
02:21
To make things more confusing, Benjy’s narration is disjointed in time,
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使一切更混亂的是,
班吉的描述在時間上是不連續的,
02:25
slipping between past and present without warning.
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毫無預警地在過去與現在之間轉換。
02:28
Meanwhile, Quentin's section confuses fact and fantasy
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同時,昆汀的部分 則是將事實與幻想混淆了,
02:32
as it jumps backward in time from the day of his untimely death.
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敘事會跳回過去,從他 英年早逝的那一天說起,
02:35
Only the aggressive, money-hungry Jason attempts to embrace the present—
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只有好鬥、愛錢的傑森 試圖擁抱現在——
02:39
but even he is constantly overtaken by past resentments.
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但就連他,也常常 被過去的怨恨給追上。
02:43
Following these threads can be bewildering,
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跟著這幾條線走下去 可能很人很混淆,
02:45
but Faulkner wants the audience to share in the characters’ confusion.
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但福克納想要觀眾 一同感受角色的困惑。
02:49
This approach allows readers to understand the Compsons’
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這個方法能讓讀者親身了解 康普森兄弟的偏見和盲點。
02:51
biases and blindspots firsthand.
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02:54
And since his characters’ distortions of the past
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且因為他的角色將過去扭曲的方式
02:56
often reflect larger denials of Southern history,
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通常都反映出更廣的層面上 對南方歷史的否認,
02:59
it also allows Faulkner to explore his own anxieties about the South.
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因此福克納得以探討 他自己對於南方的焦慮。
03:03
For example, his novel “Light in August” deliberately induces ambiguity
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比如他的小說《八月之光》
就刻意針對一個角色的 種族源頭製造模糊,
03:07
about a character’s racial origins in ways that undermine rigid Jim Crow policies.
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且用的方式能夠削弱 僵化的吉姆‧克勞政策。
03:12
And in “Absalom, Absalom!” narrating townsfolk
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在《押沙龍,押沙龍!》中
講故事的鎮民說 「沒人知道怎麼辦到的」,
03:15
remark that “no one knew how”
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03:17
a local landowner had come into his property,
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一名當地的地主 就是取得了他的資產,
03:19
and that his house was built “apparently out of nothing.”
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他的房子「明顯是從無到有」建造的。
03:22
This kind of evasive language shows how characters are desperate to cover up
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這種迴避式的語言 說明了角色如何拼命
掩蓋該地區天理不容的歷史: 種族大屠殺和奴隸制度。
03:26
the region's intolerable history of genocide and slavery.
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03:30
But even when exploring the heaviest topics,
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但就連在探討最沉重的主題時,
03:33
Faulkner spellbinds readers with verbal acrobatics.
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福克納也會用言辭雜技 讓讀者陶醉其中,
03:36
One particularly bewildering sentence in “Absalom, Absalom!”
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在《押沙龍,押沙龍!》中 有個特別讓人困惑的句子,
03:40
runs 1,288 words long,
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長度是一千兩百八十八個字,
03:43
and features locals haggling over “violently-colored candy,”
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其中描繪了當地人爭論 「顏色鮮艷的糖果」、
03:46
a “cloudy swirl of chickens,” and a hard-drinking planter
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「烏雲般的雞群」, 以及愛喝酒的農場主,
03:50
who’s compared to both a worn-out cannon and a showgirl.
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這個農場主被比喻為 破舊的大砲以及舞女。
03:53
Even his jokes can breed more confusion,
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連他的笑話也很讓人困惑,
03:56
such as when Benjy Compson conflates his sister Caddy with golf caddies.
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比如班吉‧康普森將他的姐姐 凱蒂和高爾夫球童搞混了。
04:00
Reading Faulkner is rarely easy, but it is deeply rewarding.
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通常福克納的作品都很難讀, 但也非常值得一讀。
04:04
He invites readers to contemplate the unreliable nature of history and memory.
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他邀請讀者去思考歷史 與記憶的不可靠本質,
04:09
And in teaching us to embrace confusion
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透過教導我們擁抱困惑,
04:11
and recognize the limits of our perception,
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承認我們的感知有其限制,
04:13
Faulkner can help us listen for hidden meanings
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福克納能協助我們傾聽我們
04:16
in the sound and fury that surround us.
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周遭的聲音和憤怒隱藏了什麼意涵。
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