內容簡介

  本輯選譯臺灣文學現代派作家王文興的兩篇小說、六篇散文,以及七篇論文。除了兩篇新近「出土」和發表的小說外,特別介紹作家過去鮮為人注意,有關作家成長過程、思想理念、宗教信仰的散文,和其多種文藝評論,呈現他對中國古典文學、電影、書法、英文小說的研究和寫作觀點,有助於英文讀者對王文興全面的認識。

  Wang Wen-hsing is an internationally renowned modernist writer who has long been regarded by Taiwan writers as a bellwether of literary aesthetics. His reputation rests on his devotion to an innovative literary language and writing style, demonstrated primarily in his novels. His persistent pursuit of an ideal style has challenged standard aesthetic views of Chinese literary language and conventional reading strategies. He views writing much as he does painting, music, or any other art form: while acknowledging the importance of content, he foregrounds the form. His fictional works, therefore, are not only pieces of creative writing but also creative artworks; each word and sign should be appreciated like a musical note in a song or a brush stroke in a painting. This ideal pushes him constantly to search out a more precise method to describe a specific subject, and each new method he develops is added to the reservoir of Chinese rhetoric. Due to his peculiar approach, he writes extremely slowly. During the past three decades, he has been able to write only thirty-some characters a day. To date, he has published twenty-three short stories, one novella, three novels (the second novel is in two volumes), one one-act play, three volumes of essays, and numerous poems, prose works, translations, and pieces of criticism.

  王文興是台灣文學現代派的代表作家。王文興以獨特的語言風格,聞名於文學界,他對文學藝術的忠誠,數十年不改其志,廣受國內外學界和文壇的崇敬。由於其千錘百鍊的創作手法,王文興的寫作速度極其緩慢,近三十多年來維持一天三十個字的紀錄。直至目前他的著作包含了二十三個短篇小說,一個中篇,三部長篇(第二部有上下兩冊),一篇獨幕劇,三本散文集,和諸多未集結成冊的散文、詩歌、翻譯以及評論文章。王絕非多產作家,但作品篇篇如同精雕細琢的藝術品,耐人品味。其高度實驗性的寫作手法,挑戰讀者的閱讀,但又回報以無以倫比的美感享受。在華文文學的世界,獨樹一格,散發出璀璨的光芒。
 
 

作者介紹

編者簡介

Kuo-ch'ing Tu(杜國清)


  Kuo-ch'ing Tu(杜國清)born in Taichung, Taiwan. His research interests include Chinese literature, Chinese poetics and literary theories, comparative literature East and West, and world literatures of Chinese (Shi-Hua wenxue). He is the author of numerous books of poetry in Chinese, as well as translator of English, Japanese, and French works into Chinese.

Terence Russell(羅德仁)

  Terence Russell(羅德仁)is an Associate Professor in the Asian Studies Center at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His early research dealt with classical Chinese literature and religion but for the past few years his interest has turned to contemporary literature in Chinese, especially the literature of Taiwan's indigenous people. Dr. Russell has a strong interest in translation and translation theory.

  Shu-ning Sciban is a professor of Chinese and teaches Chinese language and literature at the University of Calgary. Her research interests include modern and contemporary Chinese and Taiwanese fiction, writing by Chinese women, Chinese diaspora literature, narratology, rhetoric, stylistics, and Chinese language. She co-edited with Fred Edwards Dragonflies: Fiction by Chinese Women in the Twentieth Century (Cornell East Asia Program, 2003) and Endless War: Fiction and Essays by Wang Wen-hsing (Cornell East Asia Program, 2011), with Lai-hsin Kang and San-hui Hong on Mandu Wang Wen-hsing [Slow reading Wang Wen-hsing] (7 volumes) (National Taiwan UP, 2013), and co-edited with Ihor Pidhainy Reading Wang Wenxing: Critical Essays (Cornell East Asia Program, 2015).

譯者簡介

Chu-yun Chen

  Chu-yun Chen comes from a family with roots in Guangdong, China. Due to her father's career in the diplomatic service, she spent part of her childhood and adolescence in Sydney, Seoul, Bangkok, and Nicosia. She received an M.A. in English and American literature from National Taiwan University. She taught in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University from 1970 until her retirement in 2005. She has contributed numerous Chinese-English translations, including several short stories by her husband Wang Wen-hsing.

Michael Cody

  Michael Cody has a B.A. in Film Studies from York University and an M.A. in Chinese Studies from the University of Toronto. He contributed to Dragonflies, Shu-ning Sciban and Fred Edwards'p revious anthology of short stores, and continues to pursue his interest in Asian languages and cultures.

Fred Edwards

  Fred Edwards is an editor and translator who has a degree in Chinese Studies from the University of Toronto. Until his recent retirement, he edited the opinion page of the Toronto Star, where he wrote frequently about China-related issues, and he also served as an editorial advisor with Beijing Review.

Johanna Chien-mei

  Johanna Chien-mei Liu is a professor of Chinese art andaesthetics at the department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. Her main research interests are philosophical aesthetics in China and the West, Chinese art theories and literary criticism, and modern Taiwanese literature.

Ihor Pidhainy

  Ihor Pidhainy is an Assistant Professor at the University of West Georgia in the Department of History, as well as being the editor of the journal Ming History. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on the Ming Dynasty scholar, poet, and exile, Yang Shen (1488-1559), on whom he has published several articles.

Steven Riep

  Steven Riep is an associate professor of Chinese and comparative literature at Brigham Young University, where he teaches courses in modern and contemporary Chinese literature, film, and culture. He has served as head of the Chinese program and as co-director of BYU's International Cinema Program.

Terence Russell

  Terence Russell is an Associate Professor in the Asian Studies Center at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His early research dealt with classical Chinese literature and religion, but for the past few years his interest has turned to contemporary literature in Chinese, especially the literature of Taiwan’s indigenous people. Dr. Russell has a strong interest in translation and translation theory and has been a regular contributor to the Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series, and was the guest editor of Issue 24 on Taiwan indigenous myths and oral literature.

Darryl Sterk

  Darryl Sterk is a Chinese-English literary translator, most notably of Wu Ming-Yi’s The Man With the Compound Eyes (Harvill Secker 2013), assistant professor of translation at National Taiwan University (NTU), in the Graduate Program in Translation and Interpretation (GPTI), and a scholar of translation, currently working on the translation of the script for the film Seediq Bale (Warriors of the Rainbow) into Seediq.

Jane Parish Yang

  Jane Parish Yang received her Ph.D. in Chinese from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was an associate professor of Chinese in the Department of Chinese and Japanese at Lawrence University, retiring in 2015. She taught beginning and advanced Chinese language, traditional and modern Chinese literature, Chinese cinema, and the East Asian studies senior seminar.
 
 

目錄

Preface to the Special Issue on Wang Wen-hsing/Kuo-ch'ing Tu
「王文興專輯」前言/杜國清
Foreword to the Special Issue on Wang Wen-hsing/Shu-ning Sciban
「王文興專輯」卷頭語/黃恕寧

Fiction
The Youth Who Returned at Dusk 夏天傍晚回家的青年/Translated by Fred Edwards
Clipped Wings, a History (Excerpt)《剪翼史》(節譯)/Translated by Darryl Sterk

Essays
Autobiography 自傳/Translated by Michael Cody
Why Write? 為何寫作/Translated by Michael Cody
Garden on the Sea 海上花園/Translated by Fred Edwards
Remembering Modern Literature 現文憶舊/Translated by Fred Edwards
Collection of Spirit Thoughts 神話集/Translated by Ihor Pidhainy
Kindness, Frugality, … 一曰慈,二曰儉……/Translated by Michael Cody

Critiques
“A Dream of Foxes”: A Dionysian Story in Strange Tales from Make-do Studio 《聊齋》中的戴奧尼西安小說〈狐夢〉/Translated by Terence Russell
The Literature of “A Gentleman Dies for the One Who Knows Him” 「士為知己者死」的文學/Translated by Ihor Pidhainy
A Combined Reading of Su Shi's Poems on Viewing Huangzhou's Red Cliff 蘇子瞻黃州赤壁三構合讀/Translated by Jane Parish Yang
Film Is Literature 電影就是文學/Translated by Steven Riep
Of Journeys and Islands: Narrative Patterns in Ingmar Bergman's Films 旅途和島嶼―柏格曼的電影模式/Translated by Steven Riep
Calligraphy the Supreme Art 書法是藝術的頂巔/Translated by Johanna Chien-mei Liu
Nine Lectures on Katherine Mansfield’s “The Doll's House”(Excerpt) 《玩具屋九講》(節譯)/Translated by Chu-yun Chen

Appendix: “The Doll's House” by Katherine Mansfield
About the Translators
About the Editors

 
 



「王文興專輯」卷頭語(摘錄)
黃恕寧(加拿大卡加利大學語言學、語言及文化系教授)


  王文興是台灣文學現代派的代表作家。王文興以獨特的語言風格,聞名於文學界,他對文學藝術的忠誠,數十年不改其志,廣受國內外學界和文壇的崇敬。由於其千錘百鍊的創作手法,王文興的寫作速度極其緩慢,近三十多年來維持一天三十個字的紀錄。直至目前他的著作包含了二十三個短篇小說,一個中篇,三部長篇(第二部有上下兩冊),一篇獨幕劇,三本散文集,和諸多未集結成冊的散文、詩歌、翻譯以及評論文章。王絕非多產作家,但作品篇篇如同精雕細琢的藝術品,耐人品味。其高度實驗性的寫作手法,挑戰讀者的閱讀,但又回報以無以倫比的美感享受。在華文文學的世界,獨樹一格,散發出璀璨的光芒。

  王文興生於1939年11月4日,出自福州書香世家。祖父王壽昌(1864–1926),號曉齋,工詩能文,被時人譽為詩書畫三絕,他為晚清第一屆官費留法學生,專攻法律和法文文學,歸國後為負責修建鐵路之名臣。王氏家族多人留歐,伯父王慶驥於1920年至1940年間出任中國駐歐多國公使,著有《流星集》、《椒園詩稿》等作多種。姑母王真、王閑皆有詩作出版。父王慶定畢業於震旦大學法國文學學士,後留學比利時,善古體詩。祖輩叔伯們的文學造詣,使得王文興年少時期即認定寫作為其家族傳統,從未考慮發展其他事業。

  對王文興而言,大學四年的重要性不僅於接受大學高等教育。雖從高二起王文興就常於課餘練習寫作,但正式發表要等到大學時期。王文興的頭十五篇短篇小說,都發表於大學時期,他第一篇小說就是1958年大學一年級下學期發表在《臺大青年》上的〈守夜〉。這是王文興最多產的寫作時期。王文興就讀臺大時,外文系裡才人輩出,能舞文弄墨的同學為數甚多,這些同學成立了「南北社」(表示社員們來自中國大陸和台灣南北各地),互相鼓勵文學創作。他們的文才,受到系上夏濟安教授的青睞,作品因之經常發表在夏教授主編的《文學雜誌》上。

  不幸,1959年夏教授離台赴美,《文學雜誌》停刊。擔憂無發表園地,王文興遂與南北社同窗白先勇、陳若曦、歐陽子等人在1959 年暑期六月決定創辦《現代文學》雜誌。這些年輕的文學愛好者,憑著對一股熱情,承繼了《文學雜誌》的精神,一方面引介優秀的西方現代派文學家和作品,一方面鼓勵主題和技巧的創新;在他們的努力之下,台灣掀起了現代主義小說的風潮。許多戰後新生代作家在這個雜誌上誕生、成長;自此台灣當代小說一直在華文世界享有重要的地位。

  1972 年王文興發表第一部長篇小說《家變》,一夜間文名四播。《家變》的寫作始於1965 年,完成於1972年,全文不到兩百頁,卻歷時七載。《家變》剛發表時,激烈地震驚了台灣文壇。故事採用反英雄式的主角人物,其不孝的叛逆行徑和心態與文字的實驗風格,令很多讀者不解,台灣各報刊評論《家變》的文章一時多如泉湧,其熱烈程度令作者本人也十分驚訝。因其語言的實驗性與時文相距甚遠,王文興原認為《家變》不可能成為暢銷書,正如他在1978年洪範版的《家變》序中所說,當初只想油印幾份,分贈親友而已。《家變》出版未久,即受到台灣幾位外文系學者如顏元叔、張漢良、李有成等教授的讚美,他們的觀點與一般讀者的意見有天壤之別。

  雖然讀者對《家變》的意見十分分歧,王文興秉持同樣的創作理念,自1974年開始其第二部長篇的寫作。《背海的人》上冊完成於1980年,其單行本於次年出版,下冊寫就於1997年,發表於1999年,寫作共歷時二十四寒暑。《背海的人》是一個品行低劣、背景複雜的醉漢對其所處環境的雜亂陳述,内容涉及哲學、神學、文學、政治、社會、人性、命運等包羅萬象的議題。敍事者特異的性格,加之酒醉的意識狀態,使得其獨白的語言狂妄破碎。比之於《家變》,《背海的人》的結構更複雜、寫作難度更高。

  在進行長篇小說創作的那些歲月,王文興過著十分簡單寧靜的生活,除了教學和照顧年邁的父母之外,他將全部精神都放在寫作之上。唯一的例外是宗教。1985年,經過長期閲讀神學作品和對宗教問題的思考,王文興終於領洗,成為虔誠的天主教徒。現在王文興將信仰放在語言藝術創作之上,宗教對他的影響可見於其獨幕劇〈M和W〉(1988)。這齣戲劇,如同《背海的人》,是一個諷刺劇,嘲諷浪漫的愛情和物質主義。其中心題旨—虛幻與現實,生與死—都蘊涵濃烈的宗教氣息。

  自《背海的人》上冊出版以來,王文興除了繼續孜孜耕耘其小說園地,他的散文也開始出現在各文學刊物和大報副刊上。他在第五時期出版的散文集—《書和影》(2版)、《小說墨餘》和《星雨樓隨想》,收錄了不少這些散文和評論文章。這些文章不僅展現了王文興對西方文學的學識,同時也透露出他對電影、繪畫、音樂、中國古典文學和書法之洞見,一種以藝術創作者觀賞另一種藝術創作方式的閱讀。無怪乎王文興的小說手法,結合多種藝術,如繪畫中光影理論的挪借、蒙太奇電影手法之運用、語言音樂性的發揮,及文言、白話和英文文體之兼容並包等。

  2016年8月王文興出版了第三部長篇,《剪翼史》。此長篇始作於2003 年,終於2015 年,歷時十二年。故事以大學校園為主要場景,描述人生下半段可能遭逢之際遇,作者對社會結構、人事變遷、人性、生命哲理和宗教信仰等議題的睿思,蘊涵於字裡行間。《剪翼史》的風格,雖然承續作家一貫的作風,甚至運用了新創的標點和符號,但比之於前兩部長篇,《剪翼史》更為樸素、語調更為沉靜,呈現了王文興所說的,蓋中外古今的藝術傑作,其發展原則,都是由繁入簡。《剪翼史》是作家從夕陽歲月,回顧人生,具莊嚴肅穆的氣氛。王文興第一部長篇《家變》,寫於27至33歲,體現青少年的成長過程和心態;第二部《背海的人》(上、下),寫於35至58歲,刻畫中年人的社會體驗和觀察,第三部《剪翼史》,寫於64至76歲,陳述耳順之年對人生本質的反思。三作並列,好似人生三部曲,我們可以感受作家心靈微妙的變化。台灣文壇最具創造精神的作家—王文興,沒有自我重複,與時並進,不斷成長。

  王文興自發表第一篇作品以來,持續創作已近六十年。早年受現代主義的啓發,一生追求藝術性的寫作。他博通中西文化,並萃取其各種藝術之精華,融入其創作之中。他的創作理念打破了五四以來散文文體的陳規,喚醒了我們對文字藝術性的重視,並提出中文作為敘事語言的前瞻性。雖然其出版的作品數量不多,但備受國内外學界的尊崇。

  王文興今年七十開外,身體健康,我們衷心期待能繼續讀到他更多的文字藝術的精品!

  台灣文學英譯叢刊第39期為王文興專刊,譯介了王文興二篇小說、六篇散文和七篇論文。這十五篇譯作均為首次發表。如前所言,王文興的創作很早即受到西方學界的重視,他的長短篇小說(除了《背海的人》(下)以外),以及獨幕劇都已有了英譯本。

  為避免重複,此專刊除了譯介兩篇新近「出土」和發表的小說外,特別介紹作家過去鮮為人注意,有關作家成長過程、思想理念、宗教信仰的散文,和其多種文藝評論,呈現他對中國古典文學、電影、書法、英文小說的研究和寫作觀點,期以有助於英文讀者對王文興全面的認識。

  本專刊的第一部分是王文興小說的選譯,包含了二篇作品。第一篇是〈夏天傍晚回家的青年〉,此文最早發表於1960年11月,是王文興新近被發掘出來的舊作,也是編者和Fred Edwards在編輯Endless War: Fiction and Essays by Wang Wen-hsing時,收集王文興短篇小說工作中的漏網之魚。此作描寫一位剛自大學畢業的青年人,在服兵役期間的一個短暫假期中,對他與父母和心儀的舊日女同學關係的思考。此作與王文興同期作品相較,較為簡樸,但具相同的特質,都有細膩的心理刻畫,和對人生隱隱困境的摹寫。第二篇是《剪翼史》節譯,是描寫一位外籍勞工在台不幸的遭遇,經蒙受善心鄰友援助,順利返鄉的過程。《剪翼史》是剛出爐的新作,藉由一位大學教授從中年至晚年的境遇,反映了人在家庭、職場、社會可能遭逢的莫名困厄與超越之路。一如作家前兩部長篇小說,《剪翼史》中文方塊字的字形、注音符號、標點符號、圖像、符號、頁面的空白等,都被作者有意識地用為表意的手段,譯文獨創的設計,配合原文之風格,對翻譯界而言,應頗具研究價值。

  本專刊的第二部分是王文興散文的選譯。王文興的散文作品數量頗大,內涵豐富。本專刊基於篇幅,選譯了六篇具傳記價值的散文。王文興的英譯散文,於此之前,有Endless War: Fiction and Essays by Wang Wen-hsing中的〈無休止的戰爭〉和〈懷仲園〉兩篇。本專刊收錄了〈自傳〉、〈為何寫作〉、〈海上花園〉、〈現文憶舊〉、〈神話集〉和〈一曰慈,二曰儉,……〉。〈自傳〉、〈為何寫作〉簡述作家生平,呈現作家專心寫作的精神。〈海上花園〉是王文興作品中較為少見的傳統抒情文體,對其幼年生活與離世的親人做了動人的緬懷。〈現文憶舊〉追憶作家在大學時期與同學創編《現代文學》的往事,記人記事記情;印刷廠老闆練達的處世之道與諸同仁的熱心編務,躍然紙上。王文興平日有記手記的習慣,具他透露,手記可代替日記,段落短小的手記比之長篇的日記,記錄起來方便省時。《星雨樓隨想》收錄了十三篇不同主題的手記,〈神話集〉是其中之一,集結了許多王文興對宗教(尤其是基督教)和奧秘宇宙探索的神思。王文興在多年研讀神學作品之後,終於皈依天主教。他對宗教信仰的意見,曾披露於天主教的刊物,但很少見諸於一般文章。〈神話集〉是此議題極其珍貴的一篇,揭露了王文興對其信仰的態度。〈一曰慈,二曰儉,……〉是王文興1987年寫給年輕人的一封信,戒傲戒貪戒爭先;自省諭人,展露作者的人生智慧,亦反映作者平日謙遜的態度。

  王文興的嗜讀在台灣文學界是極其著名的事,淵博的學養使他經常受邀,就各種不同題旨做公開演講。此專刊的第三部分選譯了作家七篇不同文藝領域的文論。頭三篇是中國古典敘事典籍的閱讀。王文興十分推崇《聊齋誌異》,曾就此小說做過多次演講。王認為它在人性的分析、想像力的豐富和題旨的變化三方面,有卓越的表現。〈《聊齋》中的戴奧尼西安小說〈狐夢〉〉細膩分析〈狐夢〉的故事內容和結構,也反映他對這部中國古典小說整體藝術手法的讚揚。〈「士為知己者死」的文學〉以《史記》、《國語》、《水滸》、《三國》中描述的人物事跡為本,佐以多種文獻,論證傳統知己、報恩、殉君、殉友、殉情的現象、本質和造因,並洞見時代變遷和此題旨之難以復現。〈蘇子瞻黃州赤壁三構合讀〉以細讀方式,評比了〈前赤壁賦〉、〈後赤壁賦〉和〈赤壁懷古〉(念奴嬌)三作,就其結構、聲韻、文義、時空、文句、版本等諸多問題,詳論三作的優缺,頗有獨到之創見。

  王文興多年提倡電影藝術和實驗性電影,〈電影就是文學〉和〈旅途和島嶼—柏格曼的電影模式〉簡介他對電影藝術的理論和貢獻。在〈電影就是文學〉一文中,他論述了電影藝術與文字藝術之關聯,強調貫穿二者的乃是文學性。〈旅途和島嶼—柏格曼的電影模式〉則綜論柏格曼的電影藝術特色與成就,並兼顧了電影藝術中聲光設計與文學性的分析。除了電影之外,王文興也一直是繪畫音樂的愛好者,在〈書法是藝術的頂巔〉一文,王提出「元太藝術」的觀念,貫穿對所有藝術由繁入簡的發展,尤其側重傳統書法發展的分析,表現王文興對中外書法、繪畫,長年鑽研後的獨獲之洞見。

  最後一篇譯文是《玩具屋九講》(節譯)。《玩具屋九講》是王文興在2007年的教學講稿,也是王文興在臺灣大學外文系教的最後一門課的講稿。那門課的題目是「小說探微」,顧名思義,講述如何閱讀小說。王文興依上課的時數長短,選定了二十世紀初英國著名作家Katherine Mansfield(1888–1923)所著之“The Doll’s House”。《玩具屋九講》原包含了九講,本專刊選譯其中的四講:〈第二講如何寫形,色,味〉、〈第四講學校中的階級偏見〉、〈第六講階級歧視的升高〉和〈第七講校園中的凌虐〉。本專刊將此四講譯稿集中在同一個章節而名之為「節譯」。四講的頭講,〈第二講如何寫形,色,味〉,解說小說中物件的外形、顏色和氣味的描摹,透露王文興的小說寫實是扎根於對現實世界各方面細心的觀察。後三講,〈第四講學校中的階級偏見〉、〈第六講階級歧視的升高〉和〈第七講校園中的凌虐〉,體現王文興高度的社會關懷。王文興畢生專注於藝術性的寫作,甚少涉足大學校園之外的活動,其社會的關懷面較不易為人注意,然而讀者仍可自他的作品體會出他對社會中小人物的悲憫情懷,從早期的〈下午〉、〈大風〉到《家變》、《背海的人》以及《剪翼史》,處處可見。《玩具屋九講》節譯的後三講細膩地論述了十九世紀英國社會階級歧視狀況,並分析故事中校園霸凌的社會背景,霸凌者和被霸凌者的外貌、動作以及語言,和情節發展。作家的悲天憫人,昭然紙上,也讓讀者管窺王文興獨特的創作觀和社會觀。
 
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