2016年经济学人 儿童文学 儿童读物的政治性

 

Children's literature

儿童文学

Much red reading books

大量红色读物

The politics of children's stories

儿童读物的政治性

Once upon a time there was a loyal citizen

从前有一个忠诚的市民

IN CHINA in Mao Zedong's day, frivolous¹ childhood pursuits such as reading were frowned on. The few children's books that were tolerated told stories of revolution and class struggle. These days, toddlers are allowed to have more fun. But though the message has changed, parents and the state still believe the primary role of such works is to shape young minds, not amuse them.

毛泽东时期的中国，毫无意义的童年追求，例如阅读，常常是不被赞同的。只有那些少部分关于革命和阶级斗争的儿童读物可以出版。今天，孩子们的读物变得更有趣味性。然而，即使儿童读物的限制已经改变，父母和国家仍然认为这些儿童读物的使命是塑造孩子的思想，而不仅仅是娱乐。

Sales of children's literature have risen by double digits² in most of the past ten years, much faster than the growth of book sales overall. The number of children's titles has more than tripled since 2005. This partly reflects a growing demand for products aimed at indulged only-children. A cost-conscious reluctance³ to have more offspring, which was reinforced by the country's recently relaxed one-child policy, helped fuel that demand. The richer parents are, the more they splash out on children's books.

过去十年里，儿童文学书籍的销量有了两位数的增长，比图书销量整体增长更快。自2005年以来，儿童书籍的数量翻了三倍多。这一定程度上反应了针对万千宠爱于一身的独生子女不断增长的产品需求。推动这种需求的原因正是具有成本意识的人们不愿意养更多的子女，而这种意识是独生子女政策所强化的，但是这个政策目前有所松懈。父母越富裕，就越愿意在儿童书籍上花钱。

Booksellers see a huge moneymaking opportunity. Most publishers of literature for adults now offer children's titles too. Around half of the 100 best-selling books last year were for youngsters—a higher share than in Britain or America. There is a growing variety of genres⁴. Picture books for under-fives have been taking off; fiction for older teenagers is thriving.

书商由此看到了一个巨大的赚钱机会。现在大部分成人读物出版商也开始出版儿童读物。去年前100部畅销书其中大约有一半是针对儿童的----无论英国还是美国，都没有这么高的比例。而且体裁种类越来越多。为五岁以下儿童量身定做的图画书大受欢迎；针对青少年的小说也在蓬勃发展。

Unsurprisingly, given the huge emphasis in China that is placed on passing exams, many titles aim purely⁵ to teach facts. Parents like to buy non-fiction, even for children still learning to read. Some books—printed on paperboard and intended mainly for under-twos—aim to teach the Roman alphabet to infants. Volumes for toddlers with titles such as “How to be a Meteorologist” and “Superstars of Science” do well.

基于中国很大的重点在于通过考试，很多书目仅限于传授事实，这一点毫不奇怪。即使孩子还只是在咿呀学语的阶段，家长也会喜欢买非小说类的读物。一些印刷在纸板上，适于两岁及以下的儿童读物竟然旨在教那些婴儿罗马字母表。那些标题为“如何成为气象学家”或是“科学巨星”等系列儿童读物销量都很不错。

The moral is often laid on thick. One provincial⁶ publisher (state-owned, like all of them) has titled a six-volume set of nursery rhymes “A Good Father is Better Than a Good Teacher”. Chinese-language versions of foreign classics often proclaim their didactic worth: Paddington, a marmalade-loving bear from darkest Peru, is a model of “thoughtfulness, modesty⁷ and self-discipline”, proclaims the blurb⁸ on the cover of a translation of Michael Bond's popular stories.

道德伦理经常受到极大的吹捧。一个省出版社（所有的这些出版社都是国有的）给一部六卷的儿歌加的标题是“好父亲胜于好老师”。一些经典外文读物的中文版经常带有道德说教意味：迈克尔?邦德畅销书籍译本封面上写道：帕丁顿熊，一只来自秘鲁最深处且深爱橘子酱的熊是“周到，谦虚和自律”的榜样。

China's publishers remain profoundly conservative. They shun⁹ books with naughty or frivolous children, or where youngsters outsmart their elders. Cute animals vastly outnumber rebellious¹⁰ figures such as pirates. Few books depict¹¹ siblings¹², aunts, uncles or cousins—relationships little understood by the young, thanks to the one-child policy.

中国出版社依旧非常保守。他们不会出版那些关于淘气或者不务正业的孩子的书籍，以及那些描述孩子的智慧超过大人的书籍。所出书籍中可爱的动物远多于海盗这样的叛逆的人物。独生子女政策使得年轻一代对兄弟姐妹，阿姨，叔叔或者同辈表亲（或堂亲）这样的关系理解极少，因此描述这样的关系的书籍也是几乎没有。

Though far less visible than it was in Mao's day, politics still lurks¹³. Publishers have internally appointed censors¹⁴ whose job is to ensure that the Communist Party's line is not transgressed¹⁵. One executive says she avoids publishing history books for children where “the story does not match the narrative” approved by the party. Maps showing the island of Taiwan as a separate country are omitted from translations. Even a toddler's bedtime story is part of a bigger political picture.

虽不似毛泽东时代那样显而易见，但政治思想依旧根深蒂固。出版机构内部其实委派了相关的书籍检查员来确保这些读物不违背中共的路线。一位行政部门人员说道她不会向儿童出版党审核出的“与叙述不符合的故事”类历史书。那些不将台湾划入中国版图的地图无法翻译出版。即使是儿童的睡前读物也是巨大政治图景的一部分。

1 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

2 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

4 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

5 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

8 blurb   

n.简介，短评

参考例句：

• This book fails to give what the blurb describes.这本书不像该书护封上所描绘的那样好。
• In the blurb I couldn't see anything about thinking at all.在这本书的简介中，我根本找不到任何有关思想的东西。

9 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

10 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

11 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

12 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

13 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

14 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。

15 transgressed   

v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 )；越过；违反；违背

参考例句：

• You transgressed against the law. 你犯法了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His behavior transgressed the unwritten rules of social conduct. 他的行为违反了不成文的社交规范。 来自辞典例句