Newsletter No. 325

No. 325,19.10.2008 北島，原名趙振開，是著名詩人和散文家。生於1949年，1978年與芒克等人創辦 《今天》雜誌，1989年移居國外。現為中文大學人文學科講座教授。 Bei Dao is the pseudonym of Zhao Zhenkai, a world-renowned poet and essayist. Born in 1949, he founded the famous literary magazine Today in collaboration with Mang Ke and others. He left China in 1989 and is now Professor of Humanities at CUHK. 1 北島一名的緣起？ What is the origin of the pseudonym Bei Dao? 1978年年底，我和朋友在北京創辦《今天》文學雜誌。當 時處於地下狀態，為安全起見，我和另一位創辦人姜世偉 互取筆名。他外號叫「猴子」，我用英文monkey的諧音取 名「芒克」。他為我取名「北島」，後來他解釋說是北方大 海中沉默的島。 At the end of 1978, my friends and I founded a literary magazine called Today in Beijing. We were underground, so another founder Jiang Shiwei and I decided to give each other pseudonyms. His nickname was ‘Houzi’, meaning ‘monkey’, so I gave him the name ‘Mang Ke’ which is the transliteration of ‘monkey’. He thought of ‘Bei Dao’ for me [note: ‘Bei Dao’ literally means ‘island in the North’]. Later he explained that it means a silent island in the Northern sea. 2 你和中大的緣分始自何時？ When did your relationship with the Chinese University begin? 1983年，我成為大陸反精神污染運動的批判重點之一，被 「停職反省」一年多，不准在大陸發表作品。就在這時刻， 中文大學出版社出版了我的中短篇小說集《波動》的中英 文版（那是我第一本中文正式出 版物），對我是極大的精神支持。 1987年我在英國教書期間，中大 出版社社長詹德隆先生請我來中 大演講。此後一晃近二十年。直到 2005年秋，我來香港與家人團聚， 見到中大翻譯系的方梓勳教授和 童元方教授，他們很熱情，問我是 否有興趣在2006年來教一門暑期 課，我答應了。於是這緣分又續上 了—我應邀來中大任教。 In 1983, as a major target of the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign on the mainland, I had been ‘relieved of duties for the purpose of self-reflection’ for over a year. I was not allowed to publish in mainland China. At the time, the Chinese University Press published the Chinese and English versions of Waves: Stories , a collection of my medium-length novels and short stories (my first official Chinese publication). It was a real spiritual boost. While teaching in England in 1987, then director of the CU Press Mr. Tsim Tak-lung invited me to give a talk at CUHK. Then after that, a lapse of 20 years. In autumn 2005, I came to Hong Kong for a family reunion and met with Prof. Gilbert Fong and Prof. Tung Yuan-fang of the Department of Translation. They warmly invited me to teach a summer course here in 2006, and I acquiesced. So the relationship was reconnected. 3 在中大的工作主要在哪方面？ What do you do at CUHK? 我在東亞研究中心，但教學範圍是跨系的。以前在美國我 用英文教創作課，現在我開的是雙語詩歌創作課，通過翻 譯與閱讀擴大學生的視野，提高寫作能力。寫作不僅僅是 在語言層面，還要對社會、歷史、文化等背景有更深入的 理解。我下個學期在中國語言文化系用中文教創作課。此 外，我將和同事們合作，籌備國際性的文學活動。 I am with the Centre for East Asian Studies but the scope of my teaching is interdepartmental. Back in the US, I taught creative writing in English. Now I teach a bilingual poetry workshop, in which I try to expand my students’ perspectives and enhance their writing competence through translation and reading. Writing is not only about language. It requires in-depth understanding of society, history and culture. In the next semester, I will teach creative writing in Chinese at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature. I will also organize international literary events together with my colleagues. 4 詩歌是可以翻譯的嗎？你最喜歡讀者怎樣演繹你的 作品—通過閱讀、朗誦、還是吟唱？ Can poetry be translated? Do you prefer your work to be read, recited or sung? 在西方尚未用堅船利砲打開中國的大門之前，幾乎不存在 翻譯的問題。李白和杜甫的詩當年就用不着翻譯。二十世 紀是一個轉折，由於戰爭與革命等多種因素，打破國界， 「世界文學」應運而生，在詩歌翻譯中，可譯的是意象、句 法、結構和風格，而包括韻律在內的音樂性就很難，只能 在另一種語言中再造一種音樂性。這對譯者是很大的挑 戰。至於我的作品，自完成之日起就不再屬於我，讀者怎樣 演繹解釋，與我無關。 Before the West forced open China’s doors with their ships and guns, the issue of translation was virtually non-existent. The poetry of Li Bai and Du Fu did not need translating. The 20th century was a turning point. National boundaries were broken by wars, revolutions and many other factors, giving rise to ‘world literature’. In poetry translation, imagery, sentence structure, organization and style are translatable, but the musicality, including the rhythm, is very difficult to translate. One can only create a different music in another language. This is a stupendous challenge for the translator. As for my work, they are no longer mine once they are finished. How readers interpret and understand them has nothing to do with me. 5 你曾在歐美多所大學擔任教職，比較之下，外國跟 香港的學生有甚麼分別？ You have taught at various universities in Europe and the US. How do their students compare to Hong Kong students? 美國學生是問題沒有想好便舉手，而香港學生相反，比較 內向害羞，往往要經過一段時間，才會「熱」起來。 總體來說，香港學生的國際視野比較窄。中大提倡國際化 是對的，但國際化不僅僅是一個概念、一個系統，而是一 種文化，這種文化需要通過日積月累，才能形成傳統。 American students raise their hands before thinking of what to ask, but Hong Kong students are the opposite. They tend to be shy and introverted and take a long time to warm up. And generally speaking, they have a rather narrow world vision. The Chinese University advocates internationalization. I think they are doing the right thing, but internationalization is not only a concept or system. It is a culture and this culture takes time to become a tradition. 6 香港是否一個有利於文學創作的地方？ Is Hong Kong a place conducive to literary creation? 對一個作家來說，環境並沒那麼重要，有利與不利是可以 轉換的，關鍵是持甚麼樣的態度。這二十年來，我先後居 住過近十個國家，每到一處，我首先要盡快適應環境— 處處無家處處家。 For a writer, the environment is not that important. Advantages and disadvantages can be interchangeable.