Newsletter No. 353

10 No. 353, 4.3.2010 下回〈十方吐露〉將訪問科大衛教授 Prof. David Faure will be featured in the next instalment of ‘TEN QUESTIONS FOR’. 預告 Coming 1 你有不少學術界以外的工作經驗，從中有甚麼得着？ You have had a lot of professional experience outside academia. What did you learn from this? 我發覺世上許多有才華和成功的人士都忽視了人文學科的 重要，但也有許多人是重視的。我也發覺即使與哪些最繁 忙的行業相比，學者的工作也是頗為繁重的，不過他們有 幸得享較大的思想自由，這是他們應該珍視和維護的。 I learned that there are many talented and successful people in the world who don’t see the point of the humanities: but also many who do. I learned that academics work pretty hard even by comparison with people in those busy careers, but that they are fortunate in the degree of intellectual freedom they have. They should value and preserve this. 2 你在澳洲國立大學是人文學院院長，究竟是甚麼吸引 你來港擔任中大的英文系系主任？ You were head of the School of Humanities at Australian National University. What most appealed to you about coming to Hong Kong and taking up the chair of English at CUHK? 香港是世界城市，文化豐盛迷人，位處中國和西方交匯，更 適值此歷史關鍵時刻，家鄉各人都認為我和家人能有機會 來港實屬幸運，我們也有同感。中大英文系是一個年輕熱 誠、勤種勤收、輕鬆愉快的學系，學生優秀，從屬國際級大 學，校方對人文學科的重視更是舉世無雙。 Hong Kong is a world city, culturally rich and fascinating, at the junction point of China and the West, at a crucial time in history. Everyone back home thought I and my family were very lucky to have the chance to live here right now: so do we! And CUHK English is a young, enthusiastic, productive and happy department, with great students, in a world-class university where there is also a level of respect for the humanities you don’t find everywhere in the world. 3 在一所以「中文」為名的亞洲／中國大學中，英文可以 扮演甚麼角色？ What role can English play in a university in Asia/China that is eponymously Chinese? 中大的創辦人建立一所雙語學府服務這個雙語（也是多元 文化）城市，真是胸懷睿智。這樣一來，他們便把大學的定 位扣準香港核心價值。也因此大學需要（也是一向得到明 確認同和支持的）一個壯實而活潑的學系，充當西方人文 學科的重鎮，以及語文的基地，以提升學生對雙語和多元 文化的了解與能力。這是英文在此獨特的地方扮演的獨特 角色。 I think CUHK’s founders showed great wisdom in creating a bilingual institution to serve this bilingual (and multicultural) city. They thereby positioned the University at the heart of what Hong Kong itself stands for. It follows that such a University would need (as it has always clearly and supportively recognized) a strong and lively department to act as the hub of the Western humanities and a focus for the language, fostering that bilingual and cross-cultural awareness and ability in our students. It’s a unique role in a unique place. 4 有甚麼發展英文系的計劃或構思？ What plans or initiatives do you have for the English Department? 我希望英文系不但成為（或者繼續是）大學裏學生和同事 最感友善的工作環境，而且成為一個更強大的研究部門， 甚或是一個愈趨年輕的學系。我們的應用英語語言學文學 碩士課程辦得有聲有色，稍後會增辦文學研究文學碩士課 程。另外，著名的莎士比亞節也會陸續加入新猷。 I would like to see the department become (or continue to be) not only the friendliest working environment in the University for students and staff alike, but an even stronger research department, and maybe also an even younger department. We have a new MA Programme in Literary Studies to run alongside our highly successful MA Programme in Applied English Linguistics, and some new plans for the famous Shakespeare Festival. 5 「人文學科的用處」─你覺得這個說法是否矛盾？ ‘The uses of the humanities’—do you think it’s a contradiction in terms? 也許「人文學科的價值」這個說法較好一點。實用和價值 的爭辯由來已久。約翰．斯圖亞特．密爾是最偉大的實用 主義哲學家，但他的人文胸懷也非常深廣。他最終目的是 改革建制和思想─他努力的目標是實用的。可是，有一 天他反問自己：要是你努力追求的社會和政治改革突然 之間像變戲法般全都實現了，那又將如何？你會滿心歡喜 嗎？答案是：不！實用是不夠的，關鍵在於手法，而令我 們快樂的則關乎目的。密爾轉向詩歌尋求那更深刻的滿 足感。在人文學科的領域裏，我們、或是我們所讀的書， 提出的問題是：「 為甚麼 我們要做這些有用的事情？我們 想成為甚麼樣的人？甚麼樣的朋伴？生命的最終意義是甚 麼？」 ‘The value of the humanities’ is perhaps a better phrase. The quarrel between utility and value is an old one. John Stuart Mill was the greatest of the Utilitarians, but also a man of deep humanity. He wanted above all to reform institutions and opinions: he served utility. But then one day he asked himself: what if every social and political reform you have ever worked for was suddenly achieved, as if by magic? Would you be full of happiness? And the answer was: No! Utility is not enough. It is about means; what makes us happy has to do with ends. Mill turned to poetry for that deeper sense of fulfilment. In the humanities we, or the books we read, ask: why are we doing all these useful things? What sort of people, what sort of companions, do we want to be? What are the true ends of life? 6 人文教育如何裝備個人應對當今生活？ How does an education in the humanities prepare one for contemporary life? 傳統來說教育的目的是「誘發」學生潛在的價值和素質。 由此來看，人文教育就是 唯一 真正的教育。它「裝備」我們 應對的不止是「當今生活」，而純粹就是生活本身。生活最 艱巨的挑戰不是我們的學歷是否足以應付工作所需，而是 我們活出個甚麼樣式來，在內心深處─我們如何應對生 與死、信仰、背叛或信任、愛、苦痛與仇恨等事情。人文學 科教育不會巨細無遺告訴你在這些骨節眼上該怎樣做，然 而卻會令你更省察其重要性。不過，我們也該務實一點： 是的，我們希望學生了解英國語文的豐富內涵和千變萬 化，好使他們日後能在全世界的英語社群游走自如，當然 ─也覓得優差。 An education in the classical sense is a ‘bringing out’ of the values and qualities inside the student. In that sense a humanities education is the only true education. It ‘prepares’ us not just for ‘contemporary life’ but, simply, for life itself. The hardest challenges life throws at us aren’t to do with whether our qualifications have prepared us sufficiently for a job, but with what sort of people we have made of ourselves, deep down—how we respond to matters of life and death, faith, betrayal or trust, love, bitterness and hatred. An education in the humanities won’t exactly tell you what to do at those crucial points, but it will make you much more alive to their importance. But let’s also be pragmatic: we want to give our students an enhanced awareness of the richness and versatility of the English language, so that they can be full members of its world user community and, yes, get better jobs! 7 你的浪漫詩作和歐洲哲學論著等身，你最喜愛哪位作 家或哪部作品？ You have written extensively on Romantic poetry and on European philosophy. Who is your favourite author or work? 總的來說，我不得不說荷馬、但丁和莎士比亞之所以被尊 為最偉大的三位西方詩人，是自有其因的。他們的優點採 之不竭。我最喜愛的哲學家是亞里斯多德，他實在是絕頂 理性。 On the whole I’d have to say that there’s a good reason why Homer, Dante and Shakespeare are widely regarded as the three great poets of the West. They are inexhaustible. My favourite philosopher is Aristotle, because he is just so sensible. 8 你希望中大英文科主修生怎樣渡過他們的大學生活？ What would you like to see English majors at CUHK do? 我們一直希望學生盡量投入學系生活，在這兒，我們會竭 盡所能，例如安排海外學習和交流等，讓他們深入感受英 國語文的多采多姿。到他們離開後，我希望見到他們生活 得精采、活得出色，並且回來告訴我們！ We always want our majors to become part of the life of the department as much as possible, and while they are here to gain as deep a sense as we can give them of the possibilities of the English language: including by overseas trips and exchanges. Then after they leave here I’d like to see our majors make huge successes of their lives! And come back and tell us about it! 9 你曾周遊列國，最喜愛哪個城市？為甚麼？ You have travelled far. Which is your favourite city and why? 當然是香港！可是，我的兩個「家鄉」，也是成長的地 方—溫徹斯特（英格蘭南部）和坎培拉也讓我愜意，還有 倫敦……巴黎……和博洛尼亞……還有三藩市…… Hong Kong! Of course! But my two ‘home towns’, where I grew up, are Winchester (south of England) and Canberra, and I’m always happy there. And London…and Paris…and Bologna…and San Francisco… 10 閒來如何打發時間？學術和行政以外，你是否有另 一面象？ What do you do in leisure, or is there another side to you other than the academic and administrative? 我有三個孩子，所以閒時多會和他們一起。我得承認我愛 美酒，又愛歌劇、意大利、旅遊、偵探小說，還有那叫板球 的玩意兒。我當眾承認的就是那麼多了！ I have three children, so leisure preferably involves them in some way. I like good wine, I have to admit: and opera: and Italy: and travel: and detective fiction: and that strange game called cricket. That’s all I’ll admit to in public! Prof. Simon Haines