How books can open your mind | Lisa Bu

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: David J. Kreps Finnemann Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

So I was trained to become a gymnast

Jeg blev trænet til at være gymnast

for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s.

i to år i Hunan, Kina i 1970'erne.

When I was in the first grade, the government

Da jeg gik i første klasse, ville regeringen

wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes,

flytte mig til at en skole for atleter,

all expenses paid.

med alle udgifter betalt.

But my tiger mother said, "No."

Men min tigermor sagde, "Nej."

My parents wanted me to become

Mine forældre ville have at jeg blev

an engineer like them.

en ingeniør ligesom dem.

After surviving the Cultural Revolution,

Efter at have overlevet Kulturrevolutionen,

they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness:

troede de de fuldt og fast på at der kun var en sikker vej til lykke:

a safe and well-paid job.

et sikkert og godt betalt job.

It is not important if I like the job or not.

Det er ikke vigtigt om man kan lide jobbet eller ej.

But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer.

Men min drøm var at blive en kinesisk operasanger.

That is me playing my imaginary piano.

Det er mig der spiller på mit indbildte klaver.

An opera singer must start training young

En operasanger skal begynde at træne som ung

to learn acrobatics,

for at lære akrobatik,

so I tried everything I could to go to opera school.

så jeg gjorde alt hvad jeg kunne for at gå på operaskole.

I even wrote to the school principal

Jeg skrev endda til skolens rektor

and the host of a radio show.

og værten på et radioprogram.

But no adults liked the idea.

Men ingen voksne synes om ideen.

No adults believed I was serious.

Ingen voksne troede på jeg mente det alvorligt.

Only my friends supported me, but they were kids,

Kun mine venner støttede mig, men de var børn,

just as powerless as I was.

og lige så magtesløse som jeg var.

So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained.

I en alder af 15, vidste jeg at jeg var for gammel til at blive trænet.

My dream would never come true.

Min drøm ville aldrig gå i opfyldelse.

I was afraid that for the rest of my life

Jeg var bange for, at jeg i resten af mit liv

some second-class happiness

kun kunne håbe på en eller anden form

would be the best I could hope for.

for andenklasses lykke.

But that's so unfair.

Men det er så uretfærdigt.

So I was determined to find another calling.

Så jeg var fast besluttet på at finde et andet kald.

Nobody around to teach me? Fine.

Ingen der kunne undervise mig? Fint.

I turned to books.

Jeg vendte mig mod bøger.

I satisfied my hunger for parental advice

Jeg tilfredsstillede min sult for forældreråd

from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]

fra denne bog af en familie af forfattere og musikere. ["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]

I found my role model of an independent woman

Jeg fandt min rollemodel på en uafhængig kvinde

when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]

da konfusiansk tradition kræver lydighed. ["Jane Eyre"]

And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]

Og jeg lærte at blive effektiv fra denne bog. ["Det Vilde Dusin"]

And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.

Og jeg blev inspireret til at læse i udlandet efter at have læst disse.

["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]

["Complete Works of Sanmao" (alias Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" af Nan Huaijin]

I came to the U.S. in 1995,

Jeg kom til Amerika i 1995,

so which books did I read here first?

så hvilke bøger læste jeg her først?

Books banned in China, of course.

Bøger der var forbudte i Kina, selvfølgelig.

"The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life.

"The Good Earth" handler om livet som kinesisk bonde.

That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it.

Den er bare ikke praktisk til propaganda. Modtaget.

The Bible is interesting, but strange.

Biblen er interessant, men mærkelig.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

That's a topic for a different day.

Det er et emne til en anden dag.

But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany:

Men det femte bud gav mig en åbenbaring:

"You shall honor your father and mother."

"Ær din far og din mor."

"Honor," I said. "That's so different,

"Ære," sagde jeg. "Det er så anderledes,

and better, than obey."

og bedre, end adlyde."

So it becomes my tool to climb out

Så det bliver mit værktøj til at klatre ud

of this Confucian guilt trap

af denne konfusianske skyldfælde

and to restart my relationship with my parents.

og genstarte mit forhold til mine forældre.

Encountering a new culture also started my habit

At møde en ny kultur startede også min vane

of comparative reading.

med komparativ læsning.

It offers many insights.

Det tilbyder megen indsigt.

For example, I found this map out of place at first

For eksempel synes jeg at dette kort var fejlplaceret

because this is what Chinese students grew up with.

fordi dette er hvad kinesiske studerende vokser op med.

It had never occurred to me,

Det var aldrig gået op for mig,

China doesn't have to be at the center of the world.

at Kina ikke behøver at være verdens centrum.

A map actually carries somebody's view.

Et kort medbringer faktisk ens synspunkt.

Comparative reading actually is nothing new.

Komparativ læsning er faktisk ikke noget nyt.

It's a standard practice in the academic world.

Det er almen praksis i den akademiske verden.

There are even research fields

Der er endda forskningsområder

such as comparative religion and comparative literature.

såsom komparativ religion og komparativ litteratur.

Compare and contrast gives scholars

Sammenligning og kontrast giver lærde

a more complete understanding of a topic.

en mere fuldstændig forståelse af et emne.

So I thought, well, if comparative reading

Så jeg tænkte, jamen, hvis komparativ læsning

works for research, why not do it in daily life too?

fungerer for forskning, hvorfor ikke gøre det i hverdagen også?

So I started reading books in pairs.

Så jeg begyndte at læse bøger parvis.

So they can be about people --

De kan handle om mennesker --

["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] --

["Benjamin Franklin" af Walter Isaacson] ["John Adams" af David McCullough] --

who are involved in the same event,

der er involveret i den samme begivenhed,

or friends with shared experiences.

eller venner med en delt oplevelse.

["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder]

["Personal History" af Katharine Graham] ["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," af Alice Schroeder]

I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter)

Jeg sammenligner også den samme historie i forskellige genrer -- (Latter)

[Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] --

[Holy Bible: King James Version] ["Lamb" af Chrisopher Moore] --

or similar stories from different cultures,

eller lignende historie fra forskellige kulturer,

as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell]

som Joseph Campbell gjorde i sin vidunderlige bog. ["The Power of Myth" af Joseph Campbell]

For example, both the Christ and the Buddha

For eksempel, gik både Kristus og Buddha

went through three temptations.

gennem tre fristelser.

For the Christ, the temptations

For Kristus, var fristelserne

are economic, political and spiritual.

økonomiske, politiske og spirituelle.

For the Buddha, they are all psychological:

For Buddha, er de alle psykologiske:

lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.

Begær, frygt og social pligt -- interessant.

So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun

Hvis man kender et fremmedsprog, er det også sjovt

to read your favorite books in two languages.

når man læser sine yndlingsbøger på to sprog.

["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]

["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton] ["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]

Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain.

I stedet for at blive tabt i oversættelsen, fandt jeg ud af at der er meget at vinde.

For example, it's through translation that I realized

For eksempel, er det gennem oversættelsen at jeg blev klar over

"happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh!

at "lykke" på kinesisk bogstavelig talt betyder "hurtig glæde." Huh!

"Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh.

"Brud" på kinesisk betyder bogstavelig talt "ny moder." Uh-oh.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people

Bøger har givet mig en magisk portal til at forbinde sig med mennesker

of the past and the present.

fra fortiden og fremtiden.

I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again.

Jeg ved jeg aldrig kommer til at føle mig ensom eller magtesløs igen.

Having a dream shattered really is nothing

At få ødelagt en drøm er i virkeligheden ingenting

compared to what many others have suffered.

sammenlignet med hvad mange andre har gennemgået.

I have come to believe that coming true

Jeg er begyndt at tro på

is not the only purpose of a dream.

at det ikke er det eneste formål med en drøm.

Its most important purpose is to get us in touch

Dets vigtigste formål er at få os i kontakt

with where dreams come from,

med der hvor drømmene kommer fra,

where passion comes from, where happiness comes from.

hvor passionen kommer fra, hvor lykken kommer fra.

Even a shattered dream can do that for you.

Selv en ødelagt drøm kan gøre det for en.

So because of books, I'm here today,

På grund af bøger, er jeg her i dag,

happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity,

lykkelig, lever igen med et formål og en klarhed,

most of the time.

det meste af tiden.

So may books be always with you.

Må bøgerne altid være med jer.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Thank you. (Applause)

Tak. (Bifald)

Thank you. (Applause)

Tak. (Bifald)