Part 1
1. demean 1. demean
- 造句:I wouldn't demean myself by copying during the examination.
2. prurient 2. prurient
- 造句:The latest celebrity gossip news are deliberately prurient to interest readers.
3. feminist 3. feminist
- 造句:Gays, lesbians, straights, feminists—none of them bother him.
Part 2
- But let’s face it: the English language is stuck with the generic masculine (“MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE”).
这句话出自《圣经·新约》 路加福音(Luke)的第4章第4句:
- And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
(耶稣回答说,经上记着说,人活着不是单靠食物,乃是靠神口里所出的一切话)
prurient的英文解释还蛮有意思的。“too interested in the details of another person's sexual behaviour ”比中文“好色的,迷恋淫欲的 ”要清晰。最重要的是字典标注了词语的语体色彩:formal disapproving。对正确使用和理解都有帮助,尤其是又涉及到敏感的性别话题。
feminist让我想到昨天本章的“CONCEPT NOUNS”部分。feminist的一个解释是Feminist groups, ideas, and activities are involved in feminism.单纯看这个解释,会发现它说了跟没说一样…当然这里与语境有关。所以也提醒自己记住OWW的这句:
关于女权主义,文章点到为止。其实可能有很多矛盾的敏感的东西在这个话题里面。在其他场合的写作和表达中,有使命感责任感的写作者,也许会向社会问题的纵深处挖掘。比如村上春树的《海边的卡夫卡》中的大岛这个人物,男人也可能是女权主义者: 节选自 Kafka on the Shore
- Don’t get caught holding a bag full of abstract nouns. You’ll sink to the bottom of the lake and never be seen again.
这个情节在小说的第19章,“精神上男性,肉体上女性”。
- "My body is physically female, but my mind's completely male," Oshima goes on. "Emotionally I live as a man. ”
争执源起男女兼用的卫生间,两个突然造访者认为男女兼用卫生间有各种各样的harassment。兼用卫生间显然是对妇女的neglect,是intentional oversight:
"Shared facilities give rise to all sorts of harassment. According to our survey, the majority of women are reluctant to use shared bathrooms. This is a clear case of neglect of your female patrons."
"Neglect...," Oshima says, and makes a face like he's swallowed something bitter by mistake. He doesn't much like the sound of the word, it would seem.
"An intentional oversight."
"Intentional oversight," he repeats, and gives some thought to this clumsy phrase.
争执进入到白热化阶段,矮个儿女性这时开口了,声音尖利高亢:
- "You've just been evading the point, mouthing empty arguments that avoid taking responsibility," she says in a really high-pitched voice. "In reality, to use the term for the sake of convenience, what you're doing is an easygoing attempt at self-justification. You are a totally pathetic, historical example of the phallocentric, to put it mildly."
“归根结底,你口中的无非内容空洞的意在逃避责任的高谈阔论,无非以现实这个方便好用的字眼巧妙美化自己。”——这样的指责也是我们常常陷入的困境,针对的是个人而不是事实和道理本身。
大岛同来到甲村图书馆吹毛求疵的两位女权组织的女性发生了激烈的争论。村上春树也借大岛之口道出了他对于女权主义运动,或者说对于这样一些偏激的社会现象的阐释和解决之道:
听清楚,我想奉告二位的是:
Look, what I'm trying to get across is this:倘若有时间来这座小城的小型私立图书馆到处嗅来嗅去、在卫生间形态和借阅卡片上吹毛求疵,那么不如去做对保障全国妇女权益更有效的事情——那样的事情外面比比皆是。
I'm sure there are many more effective ways of making sure that Japanese women's rights are guaranteed than sniffing around a small library in a little town and complaining about the restrooms and the card catalog.我们正在为使这座不起眼的图书馆发挥地区性作用而竭尽全力,为爱书的人士搜集提供优秀读物,并尽可能提供富有人情味儿的服务。
We're doing our level best to see that this modest library of ours helps the community. We've assembled an outstanding collection for people who love books. And we do our utmost to put a human face on all our dealings with the public.当然不完善之处是有的,局限性是有的。但不管怎么说我们是在尽心竭力。
Of course there are things we could do better, and limits to what we can accomplish.较之看我们做不到的,不如将目光投在我们做到的地方,这难道不才是所谓公正吗?
But rest assured we're doing our very best. I think it'd be a whole lot better if you focus on what we do well than what we're unable to do. Isn't that what you call fair?"
被驳斥得哑口无言的女权主义者们走后,大岛对卡夫卡少年这样说道:
"Only people who've been discriminated against can really know how much it hurts. Each person feels the pain in his own way, each has his own scars. So I think I'm as concerned about fairness and justice as anybody. But what disgusts me even more are people who have no imagination. The kind T. S. Eliot calls hollow men. People who fill up that lack of imagination with heartless bits of straw, not even aware of what they're doing. Callous people who throw a lot of empty words at you, trying to force you to do what you don't want to. Like that lovely pair we just met."
"But there's one thing I want you to remember, Kafka. Those are exactly the kind of people who murdered Miss Saeki's childhood sweetheart. Narrow minds devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe. Of course it's important to know what's right and what's wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around. But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause, and I don't want anyone like that coming in here."
引用林少华教授学生的论文的阐释:
他们(她们)在“空壳”一般内心的驱使下,成为各种有形或无形的暴力的传播者。放弃了思考和想象力,就更容易被各种以漂亮理论包装的罪恶意志操纵,在“正义”的名目下有意识、或无意识地伤害他人。不管是从卫生间形态上发现了“性别歧视”而向一个小小的私人图书馆兴师问罪的女权主义者,还是用残酷私刑杀害“对立派别”的青年学生,都是“空虚的人”的一员。
正因为是“空壳”,所以包括暴力意志在内的任何东西都可以自由进去。大岛在书上写下批语“我们的责任从想象力中开始”——返回原本的自己,途径正是找回责任感和想象力,通过思考和宽恕获得自我救赎。
以上。
今日立冬。 McDonald's巧克力千层蛋糕盒子喜欢这个打包盒的“to go”标签,简单有力。
蛋糕从飞机场一直带回到宿舍。
行李不多但思念一定带走
——流浪诗人/周杰伦
带走带走。
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