美国国家公共电台 NPR--Fenkl's 'Skull Water' delves into friendship, belonging and displacement

Fenkl's 'Skull¹ Water' delves² into friendship, belonging and displacement³

Transcript⁴

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with author Heinz Insu Fenkl about his novel Skull Water, which is based on many of his own experiences in South Korea in the 1970s.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Heinz Insu Fenkl writes of what he knows in his new novel "Skull Water." It's a story of family, friendship and war, with Fenkl telling some of his own story as the son of a Korean mother and a GI father in the U.S. Army. Because his dad wasn't often home, he grew close to his Korean uncle that he calls Big Uncle.

HEINZ INSU FENKL: He was a geomancer. A geomancer is somebody who reads the energy of the earth. In Korean tradition, it's the person you consult for auspicious⁵ locations for a home or a grave. He also did exorcisms. Big Uncle was a very charismatic person.

FADEL: And so he's one of the central characters in Fenkl's novel. And he was a big influence on Fenkl's own life.

FENKL: So you could see Big Uncle was sort of serving as a substitute father figure because my father joined the U.S. Army shortly after the Korean War. And so he was out in Korea as a military policeman. Of course, he ended up marrying my mother. He was stationed up in Camp Casey near the Korean DMZ. And so he was basically never home.

FADEL: What was it like being of these two worlds? I mean, in the book, it doesn't feel like you fit in anywhere. You have both scorn and privilege in your position as half Korean and half Western but not just Western soldiers, right?

FENKL: Right. So in the Korean community, we were ostracized⁶ for a mixture of reasons. Part of it was racism⁷ because we were only half Korean. The other was because our fathers were U.S. military. And although at that time, Korea was very politically pro-American, people who lived in the camp towns, you know, had very mixed feelings about the American presence. Then on the U.S. military bases, where we weren't really supposed to be there. But one of the great ironies⁸ was that because we were sort of isolated⁹ among ourselves, we formed our own very tight, you know, communities, very family-like, as you notice in the...

FADEL: Yeah.

FENKL: ...Novel. And being on the American Army bases, where we were pretty much left alone, we had no supervision¹⁰ at all unless we got into some major trouble. So the Army bases were like huge parks for us. We could basically, you know, do whatever we wanted. And we got into lots of mischief¹¹, taking things out of dumpsters and selling them on the local economy.

FADEL: Yeah, on the black market.

FENKL: Yes. You know, in the novel, I talk about going through the ruins of the burnt down 121st military Evacuation Hospital and, you know, selling the remnants that we found on the black market.

FADEL: There's also this theme of belief. I mean, in it, you see the teenagers influenced by Christianity, Buddhism¹³, Taoism, Confucianism. It's all present here and kind of mixed up as they try to decide what's OK and what's not OK.

FENKL: That's also actually - I guess you would say sociologically accurate. The traditional Korean religion is a very interesting mix of shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism and, of course, Confucianism. And then Christianity came in later.

FADEL: Yeah.

FENKL: So all those religions sort of swirl¹⁴ together in daily life. And, of course, we had Western fathers, and they were mostly Christian¹². My father tried to raise me as a Catholic. I sort of made of Catholicism what I could, and it didn't make sense to me, whereas the shamanic tradition made perfect sense because I participated in it. When there was a neighborhood tragedy, there would be a shamanic ceremony.

FADEL: Yeah.

FENKL: Or when somebody opened a business, there would be a shamanic ceremony. So that's what my friends and I were exposed to.

FADEL: Yeah. And shamans, the cleansing¹⁵ of bad omens¹⁶ - that's a major part of the plotline, as you point out. If you could talk about how that shapes the outcome of this story.

FENKL: One of the things I did as I was writing the novel was I had to imagine Big Uncle's experience. And that's the 1950s sections - are me partially¹⁷ imagining what his experience might have been like but also documenting the things that he actually told me. And then because he was a geomancer and he had also done exorcisms, he was connected to the folk tradition of - I guess the Indigenous¹⁸ tradition of Korean shamanism, which is people go into trances. There are, you know, drums and flutes¹⁹ and cymbals²⁰ and things like that. It's a very loud and raucous²¹ kind of ceremonies. And since a lot of the domestic trauma²² and things like that were addressed by shamanism in the structure of the novel, of course, what happens is things just keep going badly. One of the themes, as you probably noticed, is that even when you're trying to do the right thing, you can never know what the outcome will be.

FADEL: Right.

FENKL: So these tragic²³ outcomes occur, and those are addressed shamanically in traditional Korean religion.

FADEL: There's so much happening, but I'm just wondering how much of this was just routine in 1970s Korea, what you describe between the rooster fighting and the dog fighting and the gambling²⁴ and the black market and teenagers running on - around these American bases.

FENKL: In my experience, that was just daily life.

FADEL: Yeah.

FENKL: It's one of those things that in retrospect²⁵ just is kind of alarming to me. Especially, like, after we had my daughter, I was talking to my wife and reflecting on some of the things I did at certain ages. And she would ask me like, would you let Bella (ph) do that? And I would, of course, say, you know, of course not because so many of the things I was doing were, you know, potentially lethal²⁶.

FADEL: Wow.

FENKL: And I just could not imagine my daughter doing those kinds of things.

FADEL: Heinz Insu Fenkl. His new novel, based on his own life as a child and teenager in Korea, is called "Skull Water."

(SOUNDBITE OF LEE SAENGKANG'S "SHAMANISM")

1 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

2 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

3 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 auspicious   

adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的

参考例句：

• The publication of my first book was an auspicious beginning of my career.我的第一本书的出版是我事业吉祥的开始。
• With favorable weather conditions it was an auspicious moment to set sail.风和日丽，正是扬帆出海的黄道吉日。

6 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

8 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

11 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

14 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

15 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

16 omens   

n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
• Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句

17 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

18 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

19 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

20 cymbals   

pl.铙钹

参考例句：

• People shouted, while the drums and .cymbals crashed incessantly. 人声嘈杂，锣鼓不停地大响特响。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The dragon dance troupe, beating drums and cymbals, entered the outer compound. 龙灯随着锣鼓声进来，停在二门外的大天井里。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

21 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

22 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

23 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

24 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

25 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

26 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。