Elif Shafak: The revolutionary power of diverse thought
艾莉芙莎法克: 多樣化思想的革命力量
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.
that caught me by surprise.
at a literary festival,
一個文學節慶演說,
experience an overlap in their senses
體驗到感官重疊,
by this subject, myself included.
很著迷,包括我在內。
and said, "Yeah, I know all of that.
她說:「是啊,那些我都知道。
We learned it at school.
(譯註:也有譯連帶感覺、共同感覺)
of food and ingredients
get hungry when you write?
maybe you could taste words.
has a different color,
都有不同的顏色,
is quite pungent, almost perfumed,
幾乎是芳香的,
all of this to the teenager,
這些都告訴這位青少女,
what I was trying to convey
我在試著傳達的訊息
allowed me to say.
in similar situations:
類似的情況下通常會做的:
and I stopped talking.
the truth was complicated,
remain silent for fear of complexity.
害怕複雜就保持沉默。
to give on that day.
來做為今天演說的開頭。
a different flavor than sad words.
文字有不同的味道。
the word "creativity" taste like,
這個字嚐起來像什麼,
this last word that troubles me.
there's more and more people
the culture, the land, the food.
土地、食物都有著依附感。
by its politics and politicians,
我們越來越感到挫折,
of despair or hurt or anger.
受傷、憤怒的程度。
our emotional intelligence.
pays very little attention to emotions.
are so busy with data and metrics
忙著處理資料和度量,
those things in life
under statistical models.
用統計模型來分成集群。
for two main reasons.
I think we all are like that.
a new stage in world history
guide and misguide politics
集體感情最會引導
and social networking,
around the world quite fast.
about economic factors,
about emotional factors.
關於情緒因素的研究。
feelings and perceptions?
of our biggest intellectual challenges,
最大的智力挑戰之一,
are replete with emotions.
exploiting these emotions.
在利用這些情緒。
and among the intelligentsia,
on economic inequality worldwide,
全球的經濟不平等一樣,
to emotional and cognitive gaps worldwide
情緒和認知落差、
living in Istanbul,
women writers in the Middle East
in our exchange, she said,
why you're not a feminist,
into two imaginary camps,
分割成兩個想像的陣營,
were liquid countries.
not yet settled.
還沒有平靜下來。
namely the West,
that needed feminism
unfortunate enough
for these most essential values.
而不斷掙扎。
would someday catch up.
也有一天會趕上來。
in the progress of history
of other people elsewhere,
其他人的掙扎,
did not have to struggle
was shattered to pieces.
this dualistic pattern
學者腦中的二元的模式,
does not necessarily move forward.
歷史不見得會向前走。
can make the same mistakes
versus liquid countries.
in liquid times,
definition for our age.
to be walking on moving sands.
slide backwards into authoritarianism,
回到專制主義、
to be a vital moment,
for global sisterhood as well.
而言亦是如此。
before I go any further.
我要先做個小小的告解。
an international conference or festival,
國際會議或是慶祝活動,
of the more depressed speakers.
and how our dreams of coexistence
with a bewildering speed,
以讓人混亂的速度被摧毀,
quite demoralized.
some other gloomy writers,
會有一些其他憂鬱的作家,
such as Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan,
奈及利亞、巴基斯坦、
China, Venezuela, Russia.
中國、委內瑞拉、俄國等地。
at each other in sympathy,
Writers International Club.
joined first, came on board.
from Austria, the Netherlands, France,
奧地利、荷蘭、法國的作家,
where I live and where I call my home,
就住在英國且稱英國為我的家,
the fate of our nations
in our own motherlands.
卻覺得自己像是陌生人。
very depressed for a long time,
很長一段時間的人,
they were so not used to feeling this way
不習慣有這樣的感覺,
from Bangladesh or Turkey or Egypt
孟加拉、土耳其、或埃及的作家
or from post-election USA.
of unprecedented challenges,
充滿了空前的挑戰,
enters into the picture.
how collective sentiments work
can benefit from them.
「他」──能如何從中獲利。
belong in our tribes,
都屬於我們的部落,
if we are surrounded by sameness.
都是相同性,我們會比較安全。
and in all shapes.
of a marginal political party
preaching dogma and hatred,
在鼓吹教義和仇恨,
Nazi-admiring orator somewhere else.
崇拜納粹的至上主義白人演說家。
they seem disconnected.
似乎都沒有關聯。
and how they inspire movements,
以及他們如何激勵運動,
unmistakable quality in common:
of an authoritarian personality."
是專制獨裁人格的徵兆。」
of the age we're living in?
我們所生活的年代的標記呢?
I see nuances withering away.
細微差別減少而趨向兩極化。
one anti-something speaker
反某樣東西的發言者,
if they shout at each other.
is supposed to be nourished,
應該是栽培知識份子的地方,
competing with a firmly theist scholar,
堅定的有神論學者互爭,
between two certainties.
to be complex.
巴黎、布魯塞爾、
terror attack after another.
and when you react against the cruelty,
殘酷行為做出反對,
for civilians in Yemen
who write such messages
and stand in solidarity with
in the Middle East, in Europe,
歐洲、亞洲、美國、
that we don't have to pick one pain
我們不是只能從各地
tribalism does to us.
部落意識對我們的影響。
to the suffering of other people.
受到的苦難都麻木無感。
we weren't always like this.
我們以前並不是這樣的。
I did lots of events.
younger kids in Turkey.
how much empathy, imagination
想像力、膽量,總是讓我
to become global citizens
變成全球公民的傾向絕對
when you ask them,
to be poets and writers,
想要當詩人和作家,
to erase their individuality.
and within ourselves.
我們自己內在的多樣性。
I do know that the loss of diversity
the world's biggest jailer
世界上最大的記者監獄。
over there in Turkey
was an illusion,
a multiplicity of voices inside.
every ingredient necessary
所必要的所有原料,
is to mix those ingredients."
(註:地中海東部諸島及沿岸諸國)
as a global soul, as a world citizen,
是世界公民、
just like all of us do.
有多重的連結。
mean multiple stories.
chase stories, of course,
我們總是在追逐故事,
interested in silences,
about and written extensively
同性雙性跨性者權力,
to say in a public space
ever, remain silent
no stranger to anxieties,
about the power of emotions --
or a threshold --
have their own tipping points.
有更多的細微差異。
Khalil Gibran used to say,
用在我們的時代。
the need for global solidarity.
the beauty of cosmopolitanism
with one word, or one taste.
或是說,一個味道。
means "motherland."
它的意思是「祖國」。
because it makes me think
因為它會讓我覺得
to be rooted in one place.
對說故事者而言,
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