经济学人75:安拉与女人 God-daughters

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review; Women and Islam;God-daughters;

　　文艺；书评；妇女和伊斯兰教；安拉与女人；

　　A biography of two women whose lives have been transformed by militant¹ Islam;

　　一本关于两个被伊斯兰激进主义改变人生的女性的传记；

　　Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. By Deborah Scroggins.

　　被通缉的妇女：信仰，谎言和反恐战争：阿雅按安·希尔西·阿里和阿菲亚·西迪基的人生。黛博拉·斯克罗金斯著。

　　Ayaan Hirst Ali and Aafia Siddiqui are forceful, intelligent women who were born around 40 years ago in the heart of the conservative Islamic world, into families of some prominence². Later, they moved to America. Like tens of millions of others who made similar journeys, they had to negotiate the interface³ between an immigrant sub-culture that harked back to the homeland and a liberal society where very different options existed. Presented with two sharply contrasting value systems, two diametrically opposed ideas about the meaning of virtue⁴, success and fulfilment, they had to make their choices.

　　阿雅按安·希尔西·阿里和阿菲亚·西迪基都是性格坚强、头脑聪明的女性，40年前出生于传统伊斯兰世界心脏地带的显赫家庭，而后又移民美国。与数以千万计有相同经历的人一样，她们必须将来自其故土的移民亚文化与一个存在巨大选择差异的自由世界进行调和对接。在两种尖锐对立的价值体系，两种关于道德、成功和成就的定义完全相反的理念面前，她们不得不做出自己的选择。

　　There, it would seem, the resemblance ends. Somali-born Ms Hirsi Ali is an admired public intellectual who denounced Islam as an oppressor of her sex and the source of many other woes⁵. Ms Siddiqui is serving an 86-year prison sentence in Fort Worth, Texas, after being convicted of shooting at the American officers detaining her in Afghanistan. A Pakistani-born neuroscientist who excelled in her studies at leading American universities, she has been described as the only senior female member of al-Qaeda and “the most wanted woman in the world”. Her alleged⁶ complicity in terrorist plots has not been tested in court (her trial had a narrower remit) but there is no doubting her jihadist zeal⁷.

　　从这样看起来，两人的结局大同小异。索马里裔的·希尔西·阿里女士是受人尊敬的公共知识分子，她谴责伊斯兰教对自己的性压迫，并视其为其它许多悲剧的根源。西迪基女士则因被控在阿富汗向拘留自己的美国军官开枪，被判在德州沃思堡监狱服刑86年。西迪基女士是巴基斯坦裔的神经系统科学家，在美国顶尖大学里研究成果突出，被描述为基地组织唯一的女性高级成员和“全世界最有名的女性通缉犯”。虽然指控其与恐怖分子同谋未经法庭证实（对其审判稍有从轻）但她对于圣战的狂热是毫无疑问的。

　　As Deborah Scroggins, an American journalist, recalls in this gripping and finely textured⁸ double biography, the two women's marital⁹ histories are also different. Ms Hirsi Ali is now wedded¹⁰ to Niall Ferguson, a British-born historian, forming one of the world's most lionised couples. Their son was born last month. Formally speaking, her first marriage was an arranged union with a fellow Somali who wanted to take her to Canada. Ms Hirsi Ali instead sought asylum¹¹ in the Netherlands. Eventually she became its best-known politician after her artistic¹² collaborator¹³ (on a film denouncing Islam's cruelty to women) was murdered by a Muslim extremist and her own life needed protecting.

　　身为记者的美国作者黛博拉 斯克罗金斯在这部精心创作、扣人心弦的双人传记中回顾了两位女性截然不同的婚史。希尔西·阿里的现任丈夫是英国裔史学家尼尔 弗格森，两人组成全球最受崇拜的夫妻。上个月他们刚刚喜得贵子。而从形式上讲，希尔西·阿里的初婚则是与某个设法将其带到加拿大的索马里男子组成的形式婚姻。希尔西·阿里舍弃了对方在荷兰寻求庇护。而让希尔西·阿里最终扬名天下的是她艺术合伙人（在一部影片中谴责伊斯兰教残酷对待妇女）被伊斯兰极端主义者谋杀，而她自己亦需要保护之后。

　　Ms Siddiqui, who seemed to personify the very demons¹⁴ that Ms Hirsi Ali was fighting, married the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11th 2001 terror attacks. An earlier, failed marriage was to a Pakistani-born doctor, another high-flyer in American academia, who shared her piety¹⁵ but not her extremism.

　　西迪基看上去则恰恰正像是希尔西·阿里与之战斗的那些魔鬼的化身，她嫁给了据称是911恐怖袭击的主要策划者哈立德 谢赫 穆罕默德的侄子。而其前夫是一位在美国学术界极有抱负的巴基斯坦裔医生，此人与其一样虔诚但没有她极端。

　　Ms Scroggins has spent much of the past decade tracking both women and is struck by what she calls the weird¹⁶ symmetry between them. Ms Hirsi Ali could have been an Islamist; as an adolescent in east Africa she was exposed to persuasive¹⁷ activists¹⁸ in the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁹. Ms Siddiqui could have settled for life as a “Volvo-driving mother of two” as she was described (accurately, in a way) by those who insisted that her detention²⁰ and trial were unfair. By flipping²¹ between the two lives, the book cleverly shows how both women were influenced by successive episodes in history, from the Bosnian war to the New York attacks and the overthrow²² of the Taliban, gradually becoming protagonists²³ in subsequent events.

　　过去十年，斯克罗金斯女士花费了大量时间追踪两位女性的生活，并被其描述的发生在两个妇女身上宿命的对称所震撼。幼年生活在东非，身处穆斯林兄弟会极具蛊惑的活动分子当中，希尔西·阿里本应成为一个穆斯林。而按照某些坚称对其拘捕和审判是不公的人们的描述，西迪基的生活本应是“驾驶着沃尔沃的两个孩子的妈妈”（某种程序上的确这样）。而通过回顾两个人的生活，传记清晰地展示了两人是如何被从波黑内战到911袭击再到塔利班被推翻这一系列历史事件所影响，从而逐渐走向了各自的命运。

　　Although the book avoids psychobabble, it is tempting²⁴ to conclude that very personal factors influenced the women's choices. In Ms Hirsi Ali's childhood the dominant²⁵ figure was her father, a rebel leader who was frustratingly²⁶ absent most of the time. In her own battles, she at once defied and emulated²⁷ him. In the Siddiqui household, the strongest role model was her mother, a passionate²⁸ advocate of ultra-conservative Islam and close associate of Pakistan's most hard-line clerics. Both lives were also affected²⁹ by the final phase of the cold war. The Siddiquis were part of a wave of Islamist zeal unleashed³⁰ by Zia ul Haq, a Pakistani general who enjoyed American support as an ally in the anti-Soviet fight in Afghanistan. As opponents of Somalia's pro-Soviet regime, Ms Hirsi Ali's family were initially³¹ welcomed by pro-Western Saudi Arabia; but when Somalia switched sides, the family had to move to Kenya, where life as an exile remained difficult. The worst features of traditional life, especially domestic violence, were easier to reproduce than any other aspect of Somali culture.

　　虽然这本传记也在避免心理呓语，但还是吸引人地总结了左右两人选择的每个个人因素。支撑希尔西·阿里童年的是其父，这是一位在绝大多数时间里都令人沮丧地不在其身边的反对派领导人。当希尔西·阿里开始自己的战斗时，她立即膜拜并效仿父亲。而西迪基家中最有力的榜样是母亲，后者强烈拥护极端保守的伊斯兰教，与巴基斯坦最强硬的神职人员关系紧密。两人的生活都受到了冷战最后阶段的影响。西迪基是被齐亚 哈克释放出的一波伊斯兰教狂热的一部分，而齐亚 哈克则是受到美国支持并被视为美国在阿富汗反苏盟友的巴基斯坦将军。而做为索马里亲苏政府的反对者，希尔西·阿里的家庭起初受亲西方的沙特欢迎，不过后来索马里变换了阵营，希尔西·阿里一家不得不远走肯尼亚，在那里做为被流放者艰难度日。传统生活中的糟粕，尤其是家庭暴力，比索马里文化中的其它东西更容易滋生。

　　In the introduction, Ms Scroggins says she hopes her meticulous³² investigation³³ into the two women's lives (which did not enjoy the collaboration³⁴ of either) will help her to understand the “deep structure” of the defining conflict of the early 21st century, pitting militant Islam against the West. (Something her subjects share, of course, is that both regard that battle as primordial³⁵ and non-negotiable.) Some may find the book's stated intention slightly over-ambitious. But it does add greatly to the understanding of several interlocking conflicts, some grand and geopolitical and others intimate and personal.

　　在前言里，斯克罗金斯女士表示她希望自己严谨细致的对这两位妇女生活（并没有与这两名妇女共同谋划）的调查，能够帮助自己理解被定义为21世纪初，伊斯兰极端主义反西方的这场冲突的“深层次结构”。（当然，她这个主题的含义，是认为这场冲突是原始的和不可调和的）。有人可能会发现这本书所宣称的意图稍微有那么点过于宏大。不过这本书的确大大有助于从宏观的、地缘政治的以及其它一些秘密的和个人的方面增加了人们对于几场连续发生冲突的理解。

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

3 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

4 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

5 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

8 textured   

adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的

参考例句：

• The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
• Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。

9 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

10 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

12 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

13 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

14 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

16 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

17 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

20 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

21 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

22 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

23 protagonists   

n.（戏剧的）主角( protagonist的名词复数 )；（故事的）主人公；现实事件（尤指冲突和争端的）主要参与者；领导者

参考例句：

• Mrs Pankhurst was one of the chief protagonists of women's rights. 潘克赫斯特太太是女权的主要倡导者之一。 来自辞典例句
• This reflects that Feng Menglong heartily sympathized with these protagonists. 这反映出冯梦龙由衷地同情书中的这些主要人物。 来自互联网

24 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

25 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

26 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

27 emulated   

v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours. 前几个月已经使他垮下来，如今更是一小时一小时地在恶化。 来自辞典例句
• The key technology emulated by CAD and the circuit is showed. 对关键技术进行了仿真，给出了电路实现形式。 来自互联网

28 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

29 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

30 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

32 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

33 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

34 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

35 primordial   

adj.原始的；最初的

参考例句：

• It is the primordial force that propels us forward.它是推动我们前进的原始动力。
• The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.的尼安德特人是我们的原始祖先之一.