美国国家公共电台 NPR Bestselling Author Alexandra Fuller Talks New Novel: 'Quiet Until The Thaw'

 

LAKSHMI SINGH, HOST:

Over the past year, there have been a lot of big stories in the news about the rights of tribes versus¹ the federal government, themes that have resurfaced over centuries. A new novel explores those themes and their cyclical nature through the tale of two Oglala Lakota cousins living parallel lives on the Pine Ridge² Reservation in South Dakota. One cousin who takes a path of peace, the other who paves the path of conflict and the ripple³ effect of that tension on the generations to follow. "Quiet Until The Thaw⁴" is the first work of fiction from author Alexandra Fuller.

Fuller spent three months on the Pine Ridge Reservation to research. But before this first work of fiction, Fuller wrote several memoirs⁵ about her childhood in Rhodesia as the country struggled to win black majority rule in what is now Zimbabwe. When she joined me in our D.C. studios earlier this week, I started by asking if her experience growing up amid that racial division gave her any insight into the lives of Native Americans in the U.S.

ALEXANDRA FULLER: I think as an immigrant, you know, from Zimbabwe, or just as an immigrant, you look at what you recognize. And when I came onto the rez on assignment, you see, you know, life expectancy⁶ for men is between 46 and 48, for women 52, annual income $4,000 a year. This is in the most powerful nation on earth. That disparity, when you see it that starkly⁷, I know what it is, and I wanted to write about it.

SINGH: You talk about being an immigrant. Give us a little background. You were born in Britain, but you didn't grow up there.

FULLER: I was 2 when my parents moved to Rhodesia. And, you know, I've written four memoirs. I've tried so hard to untangle, you know, my own history of racial capitalism⁸. It is for me, you know, as if Rhodesia was this little petri dish of which the U.S. is a bigger, more complicated example. But, you know, in that tiny little country, 100,000 white people trying to hold on to the land, the water, the air and the dominant⁹ narrative¹⁰.

Coming over to the U.S. as an immigrant, watching my children go through the U.S. government's school system and seeing that they were taught as little about their own white settler history as I was taught about my own white settler history in Rhodesia was a horrible reminder¹¹. And this will come back and haunt us.

SINGH: So tell me about the two main characters. One is Rick Overlooking Horse, the other You Choose Watson. Tell me about each and the path that each takes that leads to some life-changing effects for generations to follow.

FULLER: The very beginning of the book is Rick Overlooking Horse didn't talk much and, you know, the sort of deep silence. And he carries the silence. He's always thinking. And so his trajectory¹² is to go off to war, as is, you know, the highest demographic per capita in the nation to fight for the U.S. military are indigenous¹³ communities. And he goes to Vietnam. He's terribly, badly wounded, but he comes back. And he really begins a life of, you know, deep-rootedness on the rez.

And in contrast, his cousin or his rez cousin, You Choose Watson, is broken by his life on the rez, broken by the generations of trauma¹⁴. And he skips out on the Army. He ends up sort of bringing his violence home. He brings this corruption¹⁶ home. He represents the corrupt¹⁵ chairman who who really was the beginning of the 1973 Wounded Knee incident.

SINGH: You overlap¹⁷ the fictitious¹⁸ with historical events. You've just referenced one, Wounded Knee. Tell us about that and your decision to overlap these two.

FULLER: Wounded Knee really was ground zero in 1973 for indigenous communities to come together and resist the U.S. government. There was a standoff that lasted nearly a month. And I write about it in the book from the perspective of Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose Watson. And that geographical¹⁹ site, I mean, that's undeniably haunting and haunted.

SINGH: You dedicate a specific section in your book to talk about the myth of the reservation. Could you read an excerpt²⁰ from that?

FULLER: (Reading) One common myth about the rez dispelled²¹ - people who don't know the rez say it is a complicated place. They're confused by what they do not understand. The rez is not a complicated place. It's an essential place. Essential, meaning there is nothing more that can be taken away, removed or forgotten. Essential, meaning there remains²² only what is absolutely necessary. Essential, meaning it doesn't get more real than this.

SINGH: Back in 2011, you rode across the country with 400 Oglala Lakota to commemorate²³ the murder of Crazy Horse. That was a pivotal time for you.

FULLER: I think it was the perfect way for me to go onto the rez, you know, with 400 Lakota Oglala riding 200 miles across land that is still under treaty law belonging to the Sioux. And to be a minority, which is rare for white people in this country to experience, you know, sustained, you know, identity as a minority and to come onto the rez diminished. I mean, it was a difficult ride and, you know, humbled²⁴. I think that is one way to come onto the rez appropriately.

SINGH: Were you ever worried about how people would perceive the idea of a white woman writing a novel about life on a Native American reservation?

FULLER: Yeah. I think that's - I mean, I think it's an essential thing if you are a white settler and you're taking on the stories of people, you know, who have been othered for so long. Also to remember, listen, it's not as if the whites came and just took the land. They took the land, the water, the power but also the dominant narrative. And I'm deeply aware of that, I mean, deeply, deeply aware of that because of also have growing up in Zimbabwe and seeing how the dominant narrative throughout my childhood and for a lag time afterwards was always white, even though the dominant stories were coming out of the indigenous community.

So yes, I think this is a very important question. On balance, I had to weigh it up. What is worse here, my silence or my speaking out? If it further wounds and harms, you know, indigenous communities, then I've desperately²⁵ failed. But really, the conversation I want to be having is with fellow white settlers, not with the indigenous community. They already know their own story.

SINGH: Award-winning author Alexandra Fuller, who recently released her novel "Quiet Until The Thaw." Alexandra, thanks so much for joining us.

FULLER: Lakshmi, thank you.

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

3 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

4 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

5 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

7 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

8 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

9 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。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

12 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

13 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。

14 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。

15 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

18 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

19 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

20 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

21 dispelled   

v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His speech dispelled any fears about his health. 他的发言消除了人们对他身体健康的担心。
• The sun soon dispelled the thick fog. 太阳很快驱散了浓雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

23 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

24 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

25 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。