TEDGlobal 2010
Elif Shafak: The politics of fiction
艾莉芙．夏法克：小說的政治
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聆聽故事可以激發想像力，述說故事可以消弭文化隔閡，接納不同的經驗，體驗他人的感受。艾莉芙．夏法克的簡單主張，來證明小說也能克服政治、身分的衝突。
Elif Shafak - Novelist
Elif Shafak explicitly defies definition -- her writing blends East and West, feminism and tradition, the local and the global, Sufism and rationalism, creating one of today's most unique voices in literature. Full bio
Elif Shafak explicitly defies definition -- her writing blends East and West, feminism and tradition, the local and the global, Sufism and rationalism, creating one of today's most unique voices in literature. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I'm a storyteller.
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我是作家
00:17
That's what I do in life -- telling stories,
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我的工作就是說故事
00:19
writing novels --
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寫小說
00:21
and today I would like to tell you a few stories
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今天我要告訴你們
00:23
about the art of storytelling
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說故事的藝術
00:25
and also some supernatural creatures
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以及一種超自然生物
00:27
called the djinni.
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精靈
00:29
But before I go there, please allow me to share with you
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在那之前，我想與各位分享
00:32
glimpses of my personal story.
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我自己的一些故事
00:34
I will do so with the help of words, of course,
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除了用話語分享
00:37
but also a geometrical shape, the circle,
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我也用圓形來比喻
00:40
so throughout my talk,
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我的演說中
00:42
you will come across several circles.
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我們會提到幾個圓形
00:45
I was born in Strasbourg, France
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我在法國史特拉斯堡出生
00:48
to Turkish parents.
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父母是土耳其人
00:50
Shortly after, my parents got separated,
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不久之後，我父母分居
00:52
and I came to Turkey with my mom.
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我跟著媽媽到了土耳其
00:54
From then on, I was raised
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所以我是個
00:56
as a single child by a single mother.
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單親家庭的孩子
00:58
Now in the early 1970s, in Ankara,
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在1970年早期的安卡拉
01:00
that was a bit unusual.
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是很不尋常的
01:02
Our neighborhood was full of large families,
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鄰居都是大家庭
01:04
where fathers were the heads of households,
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一家之主是父親
01:07
so I grew up seeing my mother as a divorcee
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在這種父權社會
01:10
in a patriarchal environment.
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我和離婚的媽媽一起生活
01:12
In fact, I grew up observing
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我的童年
01:14
two different kinds of womanhood.
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有兩個女人做榜樣
01:16
On the one hand was my mother,
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一個是我媽媽
01:18
a well-educated, secular, modern, westernized, Turkish woman.
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受良好教育、西方思想、現代的土耳其女性
01:21
On the other hand was my grandmother,
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一個是照顧我
01:23
who also took care of me
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的外婆
01:25
and was more spiritual, less educated
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虔誠的、教育程度較低、
01:28
and definitely less rational.
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較迷信的傳統女性
01:30
This was a woman who read coffee grounds to see the future
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她會咖啡渣算命
01:33
and melted lead into mysterious shapes
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將溶化的鉛弄成神秘的圖案
01:35
to fend off the evil eye.
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來防禦邪惡之眼
01:38
Many people visited my grandmother,
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很多人會來找我祖母
01:40
people with severe acne on their faces
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臉上有嚴重痘痘的人
01:42
or warts on their hands.
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手上有疣的人
01:45
Each time, my grandmother would utter some words in Arabic,
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每次，我祖母都會念一串阿拉伯文
01:48
take a red apple and stab it
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然後拿與痘痘同數量的
01:50
with as many rose thorns
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玫瑰刺，
01:52
as the number of warts she wanted to remove.
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來刺一顆紅蘋果
01:55
Then one by one, she would
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一個接一個，她會
01:57
encircle these thorns with dark ink.
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用黑墨水，在花刺周圍畫圈
02:00
A week later, the patient would come back
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一週後，病人會回來
02:02
for a follow-up examination.
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複檢
02:04
Now, I'm aware that I should not be saying such things
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我知道我在一群學者、科學家面前
02:07
in front of an audience of scholars and scientists,
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講這種事很傻
02:10
but the truth is, of all the people
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但事實上，
02:12
who visited my grandmother for their skin conditions,
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上門的病人，沒有一個
02:15
I did not see anyone go back
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回家的時候
02:17
unhappy or unhealed.
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是不開心、沒有痊癒的
02:20
I asked her how she did this. Was it the power of praying?
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我問祖母她怎麼做的，是因為禱告嗎？
02:23
In response she said, "Yes, praying is effective,
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她回答我，禱告是很有效的一種方法
02:26
but also beware of the power of circles."
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但也別低估圓形的力量
02:29
From her, I learned, amongst many other things,
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從她身上，我學到很多東西
02:32
one very precious lesson --
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特別珍貴的一課是
02:34
that if you want to destroy something in this life,
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如果你想消滅某個東西
02:36
be it an acne, a blemish
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痘痘也好、髒污也好
02:38
or the human soul,
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甚至是靈魂
02:40
all you need to do is to surround it with thick walls.
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你只要將其以厚牆圍繞
02:43
It will dry up inside.
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它就會消逝在裡面
02:45
Now we all live in some kind of a social and cultural circle.
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我們都生活在某種社交、文化圈中
02:48
We all do.
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每個人都是
02:50
We're born into a certain family, nation, class.
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出生於某個家庭、某個國家、某個階級
02:53
But if we have no connection whatsoever
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如果我們視為理所當然的世界之間
02:56
with the worlds beyond the one we take for granted,
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都沒有交集
02:58
then we too run the risk
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我們也面對
03:00
of drying up inside.
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消逝的危險
03:02
Our imagination might shrink;
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我們會失去想像力
03:04
our hearts might dwindle,
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心胸變的狹隘
03:06
and our humanness might wither
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人性將枯萎
03:08
if we stay for too long
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如果在自己的
03:10
inside our cultural cocoons.
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文化圈內待太久
03:12
Our friends, neighbors, colleagues, family --
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我們的朋友、鄰居、同事、家人－
03:15
if all the people in our inner circle resemble us,
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如果圈圈中的人都跟自己一樣
03:17
it means we are surrounded
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這表示我們被自己的表象
03:19
with our mirror image.
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圍繞著
03:21
Now one other thing women like my grandma do in Turkey
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另一件像我祖母一樣的土耳其女人會做的事
03:24
is to cover mirrors with velvet
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就是用絨布蓋鏡子
03:26
or to hang them on the walls with their backs facing out.
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或是將反面掛在牆上
03:29
It's an old Eastern tradition
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這是古老的東方傳統
03:31
based on the knowledge that it's not healthy
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他們相信
03:33
for a human being to spend too much time
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人常常盯著自己看
03:36
staring at his own reflection.
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是不健康的
03:38
Ironically, [living in] communities of the like-minded
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諷刺的是，現在的全球化社會
03:41
is one of the greatest dangers
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面對最大的危險就是
03:43
of today's globalized world.
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太相似的社群
03:45
And it's happening everywhere,
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到處都看的到
03:47
among liberals and conservatives,
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不論自由派或保守派
03:49
agnostics and believers, the rich and the poor,
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不論是無神論者或信徒、窮人或有錢人
03:51
East and West alike.
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東西方皆同
03:53
We tend to form clusters
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我們和與自己相像的人
03:55
based on similarity,
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形成小圈圈
03:57
and then we produce stereotypes
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再來開始對其他小圈圈的人
03:59
about other clusters of people.
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產生刻板印象
04:01
In my opinion, one way of transcending
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我認為，超越這些文化圈
04:03
these cultural ghettos
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的唯一方式
04:05
is through the art of storytelling.
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就是透過故事的述說
04:07
Stories cannot demolish frontiers,
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故事無法破壞邊境
04:10
but they can punch holes in our mental walls.
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但可以在心牆上打洞
04:13
And through those holes, we can get a glimpse of the other,
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透過這些洞，我們得以一瞥他人
04:16
and sometimes even like what we see.
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甚至欣賞我們所看見的東西
04:19
I started writing fiction at the age of eight.
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我八歲就開始寫小說
04:22
My mother came home one day with a turquoise notebook
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我媽有天回家，帶了本土耳其藍的筆記本給我
04:25
and asked me if I'd be interested in keeping a personal journal.
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讓我寫日記
04:28
In retrospect, I think she was slightly worried
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後來回想，她應該是擔心
04:30
about my sanity.
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我精神不正常
04:32
I was constantly telling stories at home, which was good,
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因為我常常會說故事，這是好事
04:35
except I told this to imaginary friends around me,
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但我都說給我「想像的朋友」聽
04:37
which was not so good.
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這就不太妙了
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I was an introverted child,
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我小時候很內向
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to the point of communicating with colored crayons
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會跟蠟筆講話
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and apologizing to objects
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撞到東西的時候
04:46
when I bumped into them,
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還會跟他們道歉
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so my mother thought it might do me good
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所以我媽覺得讓我寫日記
04:50
to write down my day-to-day experiences
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寫下發生的事、每天的心情
04:52
and emotions.
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是不錯的
04:54
What she didn't know was that I thought my life was terribly boring,
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她所不知道的，就是我覺得我的生活很無趣
04:57
and the last thing I wanted to do
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我最不想做的事情
04:59
was to write about myself.
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就是寫下關於我自己的事
05:01
Instead, I began to write about people other than me
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所以我開始寫我身邊的人
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and things that never really happened.
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和一些虛構的故事
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And thus began my life-long passion
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後來寫小說，成為我
05:08
for writing fiction.
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一生的熱愛
05:10
So from the very beginning, fiction for me
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一開始，小說對我而言
05:13
was less of an autobiographical manifestation
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只是一種，自己以外的東西
05:16
than a transcendental journey
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而不是冒險的旅程、
05:18
into other lives, other possibilities.
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其他的生活、其他的可能
05:20
And please bear with me:
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各位請包容我
05:22
I'll draw a circle and come back to this point.
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我畫了個圈圈，等一下再回到這個點上
05:25
Now one other thing happened around this same time.
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這段期間，發生了另一件事
05:27
My mother became a diplomat.
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就是我母親當上外交官
05:29
So from this small, superstitious,
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我從這個迷信、
05:31
middle-class neighborhood of my grandmother,
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祖母家附近這中產階級的小街坊
05:34
I was zoomed into this
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到了馬德里
05:36
posh, international school [in Madrid],
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一所光鮮亮麗的國際學校
05:38
where I was the only Turk.
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我是唯一的土耳其人
05:40
It was here that I had my first encounter
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那裡，我首次了解
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with what I call the "representative foreigner."
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「外國代表」這個觀念
05:45
In our classroom, there were children from all nationalities,
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教室中，每個孩子都來自不同國家
05:48
yet this diversity did not necessarily lead
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這種多樣性，並沒有
05:51
to a cosmopolitan, egalitarian
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消除偏見、平等
05:54
classroom democracy.
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教室並不民主
05:56
Instead, it generated an atmosphere
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孩子們變成
05:58
in which each child was seen --
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不只是獨立的個體
06:00
not as an individual on his own,
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而是代表
06:02
but as the representative of something larger.
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更大的東西、概念
06:05
We were like a miniature United Nations, which was fun,
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有點像是迷你聯合國，其實很好玩
06:08
except whenever something negative,
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除了有時候提到些負面的形象
06:10
with regards to a nation
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像是講到國家
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or a religion, took place.
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或是宗教的時候
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The child who represented it was mocked,
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來自那個國家的孩子
06:17
ridiculed and bullied endlessly.
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就會被取笑、欺負
06:20
And I should know, because during the time I attended that school,
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我特別了解是因為，當時
06:23
a military takeover happened in my country,
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土耳其正經歷軍事接收
06:26
a gunman of my nationality nearly killed the Pope,
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一名土耳其槍手差點殺死教宗
06:29
and Turkey got zero points in [the] Eurovision Song Contest.
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所以土耳其在《歐洲歌唱大賽》掛鴨蛋
06:32
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
06:34
I skipped school often and dreamed of becoming a sailor
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我常翹課，然後就會幻想
06:36
during those days.
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水手的生活
06:38
I also had my first taste
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這也是我第一次
06:40
of cultural stereotypes there.
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了解什麼是刻板印象
06:42
The other children asked me about the movie
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其他小孩會問我有沒有看過
06:44
"Midnight Express," which I had not seen;
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土耳其電影《午夜快車》
06:46
they inquired how many cigarettes a day I smoked,
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他們會問我一天抽多少煙
06:49
because they thought all Turks were heavy smokers,
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因為他們覺得土耳其人都是大菸槍
06:52
and they wondered at what age
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他們也很好奇
06:54
I would start covering my hair.
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我幾歲要開始戴頭巾
06:56
I came to learn that these were
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所以我學到
06:58
the three main stereotypes about my country:
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關於土耳其的三種刻板印象
07:00
politics, cigarettes
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政治、香菸
07:02
and the veil.
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和面紗
07:04
After Spain, we went to Jordan, Germany
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離開西班牙後我們還去過約旦、德國
07:06
and Ankara again.
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然後回到安卡拉
07:08
Everywhere I went, I felt like
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遊歷各國後，我覺得
07:10
my imagination was the only suitcase
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我的想像力就像只皮箱
07:12
I could take with me.
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隨時可以帶著走
07:14
Stories gave me a sense of center,
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故事給我一種中心(center)、
07:16
continuity and coherence,
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連續性(continuity )、凝聚力(coherence)
07:18
the three big Cs that I otherwise lacked.
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我無法缺少的3C
07:21
In my mid-twenties, I moved to Istanbul,
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我25、26歲時，搬到伊斯坦堡
07:23
the city I adore.
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我很喜歡的地方
07:25
I lived in a very vibrant, diverse neighborhood
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我住在個很有活力、多元文化的街坊
07:28
where I wrote several of my novels.
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我在那寫了許多本小說
07:30
I was in Istanbul when the earthquake hit
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1999年伊斯坦堡大地震時
07:32
in 1999.
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我就在那
07:34
When I ran out of the building at three in the morning,
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凌晨三點我急忙跑出公寓
07:37
I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.
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但我看著眼前的景象，我便停下腳步
07:40
There was the local grocer there --
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我看見一個雜貨店老闆
07:42
a grumpy, old man who didn't sell alcohol
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這老人，不賣東西給邊緣人
07:44
and didn't speak to marginals.
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也不跟他們說話
07:46
He was sitting next to a transvestite
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但他當時，坐在一個
07:49
with a long black wig
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戴著長黑髮
07:51
and mascara running down her cheeks.
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睫毛膏哭花在臉上的變裝癖者旁邊
07:53
I watched the man open a pack of cigarettes
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我看著這男人用顫抖的手
07:55
with trembling hands
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拆了包菸
07:57
and offer one to her,
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並遞一支給她
07:59
and that is the image of the night of the earthquake
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那晚地震的那一幕
08:01
in my mind today --
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我始終忘不了
08:03
a conservative grocer and a crying transvestite
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一個保守的雜貨店老闆與哭泣的變裝癖
08:06
smoking together on the sidewalk.
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一同坐在人行道旁
08:08
In the face of death and destruction,
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面對死亡及毀壞
08:11
our mundane differences evaporated,
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我們最基本的差異消失無蹤
08:13
and we all became one
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我們成為相同的
08:15
even if for a few hours.
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即便幾小時也好
08:17
But I've always believed that stories, too, have a similar effect on us.
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我一直相信，故事也有相同作用
08:20
I'm not saying that fiction has the magnitude of an earthquake,
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我並不是說小說像地震一樣強大
08:23
but when we are reading a good novel,
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但當我們讀本好書時
08:25
we leave our small, cozy apartments behind,
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我們忘記狹小卻舒適的公寓
08:28
go out into the night alone
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像是身在個單獨的夜
08:30
and start getting to know people we had never met before
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認識從未見過的人們
08:33
and perhaps had even been biased against.
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甚至是我們先前有所偏見的人們
08:36
Shortly after, I went
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不久後，我到
08:38
to a women's college in Boston, then Michigan.
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波士頓及密西根的女子大學就讀
08:41
I experienced this, not so much as a geographical shift,
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這經驗不是地理上的轉變
08:44
as a linguistic one.
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而是語言上的
08:46
I started writing fiction in English.
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我開始用英文寫小說
08:48
I'm not an immigrant, refugee or exile --
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我並非移民、難民、或在逃亡
08:50
they ask me why I do this --
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他們問我為什麼
08:52
but the commute between languages
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但兩種語言的轉換間
08:54
gives me the chance to recreate myself.
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給了我另一個機會，重新創造自己
08:57
I love writing in Turkish,
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我愛用土耳其文寫作
08:59
which to me is very poetic and very emotional,
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對我而言，富有詩意又感性
09:02
and I love writing in English, which to me
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我也愛用英文寫作
09:04
is very mathematical and cerebral.
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因為它精確又理智
09:06
So I feel connected to each language in a different way.
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我對這兩種語言的感受是很不同的
09:09
For me, like millions of other people
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對我而言，以及全世界
09:11
around the world today,
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幾百萬人一樣
09:13
English is an acquired language.
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英文是第二語言
09:15
When you're a latecomer to a language,
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當你是個語言學習者的時候
09:17
what happens is you live there
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常常會遇到的情況
09:20
with a continuous
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就是那種
09:22
and perpetual frustration.
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永不停止的挫折感
09:24
As latecomers, we always want to say more, you know,
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學習語言，我們總想多說點、
09:26
crack better jokes, say better things,
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想講好笑的笑話、有趣的事
09:29
but we end up saying less
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但說出來的通常不是如此
09:31
because there's a gap between the mind and the tongue.
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因為腦子與嘴巴有距離
09:33
And that gap is very intimidating.
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這種距離是很可怕的
09:36
But if we manage not to be frightened by it,
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但是如果我們努力不被它嚇到
09:38
it's also stimulating.
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它可以是種刺激
09:40
And this is what I discovered in Boston --
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這是我在波士頓所發現的－
09:42
that frustration was very stimulating.
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挫折就是刺激
09:45
At this stage, my grandmother,
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這時候，我祖母
09:46
who had been watching the course of my life
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替我這樣的生活
09:48
with increasing anxiety,
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感到很憂心
09:50
started to include in her daily prayers
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她開始每天禱告
09:52
that I urgently get married
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希望我快點嫁出去
09:54
so that I could settle down once and for all.
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這樣我才能安定下來
09:57
And because God loves her, I did get married.
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因為上帝愛她，我後來真的結婚了
10:00
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
10:02
But instead of settling down,
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不過我沒有定下來
10:04
I went to Arizona.
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我到了亞利桑那州
10:06
And since my husband is in Istanbul,
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因為我丈夫人在伊斯坦堡
10:08
I started commuting between Arizona and Istanbul --
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我開始兩地往返
10:11
the two places on the surface of earth
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同在地球上，這兩個地方
10:13
that couldn't be more different.
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差別太大了
10:15
I guess one part of me has always been a nomad,
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我想我有游牧民族因子吧
10:18
physically and spiritually.
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身體上或精神上
10:20
Stories accompany me,
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故事陪伴著我
10:22
keeping my pieces and memories together,
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像個膠水一樣，
10:24
like an existential glue.
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將我的記憶黏起來
10:26
Yet as much as I love stories,
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雖然我愛故事
10:28
recently, I've also begun to think
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最近我卻開始覺得
10:31
that they lose their magic
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當故事變得不只是個故事
10:33
if and when a story is seen as more than a story.
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他們就失去了魔力
10:36
And this is a subject that I would love
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我希望跟各位
10:38
to think about together.
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分享這個想法
10:40
When my first novel written in English came out in America,
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當我第一本英文小說在美國出版
10:43
I heard an interesting remark from a literary critic.
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我聽到了一個有趣的評論
10:46
"I liked your book," he said, "but I wish you had written it differently."
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他說：「我喜歡你的書，但我不喜歡妳呈現的方法。」
10:49
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
10:53
I asked him what he meant by that.
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我請他解釋清楚一點
10:55
He said, "Well, look at it. There's so many
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他說：「你書中有一堆」
10:57
Spanish, American, Hispanic characters in it,
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「西班牙人、美國人、拉丁美洲裔的角色，」
10:59
but there's only one Turkish character and it's a man."
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「但卻只有一個土耳其人，還是個男的。」
11:02
Now the novel took place on a university campus in Boston,
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因為小說背景是波士頓的一所大學校園
11:05
so to me, it was normal
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國際學生數量
11:07
that there be more international characters in it
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比土耳其學生多
11:09
than Turkish characters,
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是很正常的
11:11
but I understood what my critic was looking for.
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但我了解評論家要的是什麼
11:13
And I also understood that I
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我也了解他為什麼
11:15
would keep disappointing him.
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會對小說失望
11:17
He wanted to see the manifestation of my identity.
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他想看的是我身份的呈現
11:20
He was looking for a Turkish woman in the book
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他想在書中讀到土耳其女人角色
11:23
because I happened to be one.
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因為我是土耳其女人
11:25
We often talk about how stories change the world,
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我們常講到故事如何改變世界
11:28
but we should also see how the world of identity politics
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但我們也應該知道世界上的身分政治
11:31
affects the way stories
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是如何影響故事
11:33
are being circulated,
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如何解讀故事
11:35
read and reviewed.
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如何看待故事
11:37
Many authors feel this pressure,
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很多作者接承受如此壓力
11:39
but non-Western authors feel it more heavily.
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特別是那些非西方作者
11:42
If you're a woman writer from the Muslim world, like me,
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如果你像我一樣，是伊斯蘭社會的女作家
11:45
then you are expected to write
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那大家就期望你寫出
11:47
the stories of Muslim women
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伊斯蘭女人的故事
11:49
and, preferably, the unhappy stories
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或是，不開心的伊斯蘭女人
11:51
of unhappy Muslim women.
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背後不開心的故事
11:53
You're expected to write
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大家期望你寫
11:55
informative, poignant and characteristic stories
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含帶訊息、激烈的、人物性格的故事
11:58
and leave the experimental and avant-garde
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其他試驗性的、前衛的故事
12:00
to your Western colleagues.
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就交給你來自西方的同事
12:02
What I experienced as a child in that school in Madrid
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我小時候在馬德里的經驗
12:05
is happening in the literary world today.
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現在的文學社會也發生著
12:08
Writers are not seen
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作者不再被視為
12:10
as creative individuals on their own,
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單獨富創意的個體
12:12
but as the representatives
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而是他們文化
12:14
of their respective cultures:
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的代表
12:16
a few authors from China, a few from Turkey,
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一些中國作家、土耳其作家
12:19
a few from Nigeria.
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奈及利亞作家
12:21
We're all thought to have something very distinctive,
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大家想從我們的作品裡看到的，是奇特
12:23
if not peculiar.
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是與眾不同
12:25
The writer and commuter James Baldwin
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詹姆斯•鮑德溫
12:28
gave an interview in 1984
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1984年的一場訪問
12:30
in which he was repeatedly asked about his homosexuality.
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訪問中，他被重復問到他的同性戀傾向
12:33
When the interviewer tried to pigeonhole him
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訪問者硬要他
12:35
as a gay writer,
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作出回應
12:37
Baldwin stopped and said,
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鮑德溫遍回答他
12:39
"But don't you see? There's nothing in me
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「你不明白嗎？我身上所擁有的，」
12:41
that is not in everybody else,
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「其他人也有；」
12:43
and nothing in everybody else
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「其他人所擁有的，」
12:45
that is not in me."
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「我身上也有。」(我和其他人並無不同)
12:47
When identity politics tries to put labels on us,
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當身份政治將我們貼上標籤
12:50
it is our freedom of imagination that is in danger.
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我們想像力的自由便有了危險
12:53
There's a fuzzy category called
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有個模糊的分類叫做
12:55
multicultural literature
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多元文化文學
12:57
in which all authors from outside the Western world
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基本上就是，西方以外國家的作者
12:59
are lumped together.
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被歸類在一起
13:01
I never forget my first multicultural reading,
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我從未忘記我十年前在哈佛廣場(波士頓)
13:03
in Harvard Square about 10 years ago.
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所參加的多元文化文學讀書會
13:06
We were three writers, one from the Philippines,
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我們共有三位作家，一個是菲律賓籍
13:09
one Turkish and one Indonesian --
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一個土耳其籍，一個印度籍
13:11
like a joke, you know.
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像個笑話一樣
13:13
(Laughter)
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(笑聲)
13:15
And the reason why we were brought together
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但我們相聚的原因
13:17
was not because we shared an artistic style
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並不是我們作品類似
13:19
or a literary taste.
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文學喜好類似
13:21
It was only because of our passports.
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而是因為我們的護照
13:23
Multicultural writers are expected to tell real stories,
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大家期望多元文化作家寫出真實故事
13:26
not so much the imaginary.
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想像力就不必了
13:28
A function is attributed to fiction.
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小說被賦予了一個功能
13:31
In this way, not only the writers themselves,
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因此，不只是作者本身
13:33
but also their fictional characters
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連小說中虛構人物
13:36
become the representatives of something larger.
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也都代表了更大的東西
13:39
But I must quickly add
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我必須補充
13:41
that this tendency to see a story
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這種"故事不只是故事"
13:43
as more than a story
347
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的想法
13:45
does not solely come from the West.
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不只有在西方世界看的到
13:47
It comes from everywhere.
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而是世界各地都如此
13:49
And I experienced this firsthand
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我在2005的一次親身經歷
13:51
when I was put on trial in 2005
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當時我在法庭上受審
13:54
for the words my fictional characters uttered in a novel.
352
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原因是我小說中角色所說的一些話
13:57
I had intended to write
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我本來想用
13:59
a constructive, multi-layered novel
354
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女人的觀點
14:02
about an Armenian and a Turkish family
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寫出亞美尼亞與土耳其家庭
14:04
through the eyes of women.
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結構上多層次的故事
14:06
My micro story became a macro issue
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我的小故事成了大話題
14:09
when I was prosecuted.
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後來我被起訴了
14:11
Some people criticized, others praised me
359
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書中土耳其與亞美尼亞衝突的內容
14:13
for writing about the Turkish-Armenian conflict.
360
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有人批評、有人讚美
14:16
But there were times when I wanted to remind both sides
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但好幾次，我都想告訴這些人，
14:19
that this was fiction.
362
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這是虛構的
14:21
It was just a story.
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只是個故事而已
14:23
And when I say, "just a story,"
364
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當我說：「只是故事而已」
14:25
I'm not trying to belittle my work.
365
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我並不是貶低自己的作品
14:27
I want to love and celebrate fiction
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我熱愛、頌揚文學
14:29
for what it is,
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是因它的本質
14:31
not as a means to an end.
368
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而不是文學的目的
14:33
Writers are entitled to their political opinions,
369
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作家當然有自己的政治傾向
14:35
and there are good political novels out there,
370
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現在也又很多不錯的政治小說
14:38
but the language of fiction
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但小說的語言
14:40
is not the language of daily politics.
372
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並非政治的語言
14:42
Chekhov said,
373
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契訶夫說過
14:44
"The solution to a problem
374
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「問題的解決方法，」
14:46
and the correct way of posing the question
375
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「與問題的呈現方法，」
14:48
are two completely separate things.
376
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「是全然不同的兩件事，」
14:51
And only the latter is an artist's responsibility."
377
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「但只有後者，是藝術家的責任。」
14:55
Identity politics divides us. Fiction connects.
378
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身分政治分裂我們，小說連結我們
14:58
One is interested in sweeping generalizations.
379
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一個是一概而論
15:01
The other, in nuances.
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一個是些微差別
15:03
One draws boundaries.
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一個劃分隔閡
15:05
The other recognizes no frontiers.
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一個消除分界
15:07
Identity politics is made of solid bricks.
383
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身分政治就像厚牆
15:10
Fiction is flowing water.
384
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小說就像流水
15:13
In the Ottoman times, there were itinerant storytellers called "meddah."
385
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奧圖曼時期，有種遊歷各國的人，叫做說書人(邁達赫)
15:16
They would go to coffee houses,
386
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他們會去茶館
15:18
where they would tell a story in front of an audience,
387
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對著一群觀眾說故事
15:20
often improvising.
388
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即興說書
15:22
With each new person in the story,
389
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為表現書中不同人物
15:24
the meddah would change his voice,
390
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說書人會利用不同的聲音
15:26
impersonating that character.
391
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來表現人物的變化
15:28
Everybody could go and listen, you know --
392
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大家都會去看說書人表演
15:30
ordinary people, even the sultan, Muslims and non-Muslims.
393
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不論是蘇丹王、回教徒、或非回教徒
15:33
Stories cut across all boundaries,
394
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故事消弭隔閡
15:36
like "The Tales of Nasreddin Hodja,"
395
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就像《土耳其智者荷加的故事》
15:38
which were very popular throughout the Middle East,
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這本在中東、北非、巴爾幹、亞洲
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North Africa, the Balkans and Asia.
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大家都熟知的故事一樣
15:43
Today, stories continue
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今日，故事依然
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to transcend borders.
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超越邊界
15:47
When Palestinian and Israeli politicians talk,
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當巴勒斯坦與以色列政治家發表言論
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they usually don't listen to each other,
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他們通常都不聽彼此的內容
15:52
but a Palestinian reader
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但當一個巴勒斯坦讀者
15:54
still reads a novel by a Jewish author,
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讀著猶太作家的小說時
15:56
and vice versa, connecting and empathizing
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他們對於敘述者，產生連結
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with the narrator.
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產生同理心
16:01
Literature has to take us beyond.
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文學必須帶領我們超越自我
16:03
If it cannot take us there,
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如果沒辦法如此
16:05
it is not good literature.
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那就不是好的文學
16:07
Books have saved the introverted,
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書拯救了小時候那個
16:09
timid child that I was -- that I once was.
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內向、膽小的我
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But I'm also aware of the danger
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但我也明白
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of fetishizing them.
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盲目閱讀的危險
16:16
When the poet and mystic, Rumi,
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當神秘的詩人魯米
16:18
met his spiritual companion, Shams of Tabriz,
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遇到他的精神伴侶沙姆士時
16:21
one of the first things the latter did
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沙姆士做的第一件事就是
16:23
was to toss Rumi's books into water
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就是將魯米的書丟到河裡
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and watch the letters dissolve.
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看著墨水在水中化開
16:27
The Sufis say, "Knowledge that takes you not beyond yourself
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魯米便說：「擁有無法超越自我的知識，」
16:31
is far worse than ignorance."
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「還不如無知。」
16:34
The problem with today's cultural ghettos
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今日文化圈的問題
16:36
is not lack of knowledge --
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並不是缺乏知識
16:38
we know a lot about each other, or so we think --
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我們了解彼此，或只是我們自以為了解彼此
16:41
but knowledge that takes us not beyond ourselves:
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但那無法超越自我的知識
16:44
it makes us elitist,
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變成精英文化
16:46
distant and disconnected.
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彼此隔絕，產生距離
16:48
There's a metaphor which I love:
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有個我很喜歡的比喻
16:50
living like a drawing compass.
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生活就像是圓規
16:52
As you know, one leg of the compass is static, rooted in a place.
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一隻腳在定點靜止
16:55
Meanwhile, the other leg
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同時，另一隻腳
16:57
draws a wide circle, constantly moving.
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向外畫出一個，能任意擴大的圓
16:59
Like that, my fiction as well.
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我的小說也像那樣
17:01
One part of it is rooted in Istanbul,
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一隻腳在伊斯坦堡
17:03
with strong Turkish roots,
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有著土耳其深根
17:06
but the other part travels the world,
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但另一隻旅遊世界
17:08
connecting to different cultures.
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與各文化連結著
17:10
In that sense, I like to think of my fiction
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這樣來解釋，我想我的小說
17:12
as both local and universal,
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既本土又多元
17:15
both from here and everywhere.
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並無限延伸
17:17
Now those of you who have been to Istanbul
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有去過土耳其的人
17:19
have probably seen Topkapi Palace,
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一定參觀過托普卡比宮殿
17:21
which was the residence of Ottoman sultans
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鄂圖曼帝國的王室
17:23
for more than 400 years.
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在那住過超過400年
17:26
In the palace, just outside the quarters
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宮殿裡，寵妃的房間外
17:28
of the favorite concubines,
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一個角落
17:30
there's an area called The Gathering Place of the Djinn.
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被稱為精靈的集聚地
17:33
It's between buildings.
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就在每棟建築物間
17:35
I'm intrigued by this concept.
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我迷上這個概念
17:37
We usually distrust those areas
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我們通常都不信任
17:39
that fall in between things.
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這種中間地帶
17:41
We see them as the domain
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我們將那種地方
17:43
of supernatural creatures like the djinn,
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視為超自然生物，像是精靈
17:45
who are made of smokeless fire
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會突然冒出一陣白煙似的
17:47
and are the symbol of elusiveness.
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是難以捉摸的象徵
17:49
But my point is perhaps
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但我認為
17:51
that elusive space
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這種難以捉摸之地
17:53
is what writers and artists need most.
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正是小說家、藝術家所需要的
17:56
When I write fiction
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當我寫小說
17:58
I cherish elusiveness and changeability.
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我喜歡那種難以捉摸、多變性
18:00
I like not knowing what will happen 10 pages later.
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我喜歡那種不曉得十頁之後，故事會如何發展的感覺
18:03
I like it when my characters surprise me.
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我喜歡我的角色帶給我的驚喜
18:05
I might write about
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我可能一本小說
18:07
a Muslim woman in one novel,
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寫穆斯林女人
18:09
and perhaps it will be a very happy story,
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很開心的故事
18:11
and in my next book, I might write
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下一本小說，我可能會寫
18:13
about a handsome, gay professor in Norway.
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一個挪威的帥哥同性戀教授
18:16
As long as it comes from our hearts,
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只要這些故事是發自內心
18:18
we can write about anything and everything.
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沒有什麼是不能寫的
18:21
Audre Lorde once said,
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奧黛蘿德曾說：
18:23
"The white fathers taught us to say,
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「白衣神父教導我們
18:26
'I think, therefore I am.'"
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我思故我在。」
18:28
She suggested, "I feel, therefore I am free."
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但她認為應該是：「我感受所以我自由」
18:31
I think it was a wonderful paradigm shift.
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這是很美妙的轉變
18:34
And yet, why is it that,
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那為什麼，
18:36
in creative writing courses today,
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現在的創意寫作課裡
18:38
the very first thing we teach students is
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我們教學生的第一件事
18:40
"write what you know"?
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會是寫「自己所知」呢？
18:42
Perhaps that's not the right way to start at all.
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也許怎麼教都不對
18:45
Imaginative literature is not necessarily about
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想像文學並非是
18:48
writing who we are or what we know
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寫自己、或自己所知
18:51
or what our identity is about.
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或自己的身份
18:54
We should teach young people and ourselves
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我們應該教育自己以及下一代
18:56
to expand our hearts
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開放心胸
18:58
and write what we can feel.
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寫出自己的感受
19:00
We should get out of our cultural ghetto
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我們應該走出自己的文化圈
19:02
and go visit the next one and the next.
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探訪他人的世界
19:05
In the end, stories move like whirling dervishes,
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最終，故事也能像遊歷的僧侶
19:08
drawing circles beyond circles.
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不斷的向外畫圈
19:11
They connect all humanity,
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他們結合人性
19:13
regardless of identity politics,
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而非身分政治
19:15
and that is the good news.
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這是件好事
19:17
And I would like to finish with an old Sufi poem:
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最後我想以一首古詩作結
19:19
"Come, let us be friends for once;
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「來，讓我們做朋友，」
19:22
let us make life easy on us;
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「讓我們生活快樂點，」
19:24
let us be lovers and loved ones;
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「讓我們彼此相愛，」
19:26
the earth shall be left to no one."
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「如此世界將不會孤單。」
19:29
Thank you.
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謝謝
19:31
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elif Shafak - NovelistElif Shafak explicitly defies definition -- her writing blends East and West, feminism and tradition, the local and the global, Sufism and rationalism, creating one of today's most unique voices in literature.
Why you should listen
Elif Shafak is an award-winning novelist and the most widely read female writer in Turkey. She is also a political commentator and an inspirational public speaker.
She writes in both Turkish and English and has published 15 books, 10 of which are novels, including the bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love and her most recent, Three Daughters of Eve. Her books have been published in 48 languages. She is published by Penguin in the UK and represented by Curtis Brown globally.
Shafak is a TEDGlobal speaker, a member of Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy in Davos and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). She has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2010 by the French government.
She has been featured in and contributes to major newspapers and periodicals around the world, including the Financial Times, The Guardian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel and La Repubblica.
Shafak has an academic background and has taught at various universities in Turkey, UK and USA. She holds a degree in International Relations, a masters degree in gender and women's studies and a PhD in political science. She is known as a women's rights, minority rights and LGBT rights advocate.
Shafak has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, MAN Asian Prize, the Baileys Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award, and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize. She sat on the judging panel for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (2013); Sunday Times Short Story Award (2014, 2015), 10th Women of the Future Awards (2015); FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards (2015, 2016); Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (2016) and Man Booker International Prize (2017).
As a public speaker, Shafak is represented by The London Speaker Bureau and Chartwell Speakers and Penguin Speakers Bureau. She lives in London.
Elif Shafak | Speaker | TED.com