中英双语新闻——247 解读西方的非主流文化

 　　They can be seen more frequently than ever before on college campuses, wearing flannel¹ and thick-rimmed glasses while listening to indie music. One might find them playing unusual musical instruments, shopping at second-hand² stores or expressing themselves in other unique ways.

 

　　在大学校园里，有这样一群人变得越来越多——他们穿法兰绒衣服，戴厚框眼镜，听独立音乐。可能他们喜欢玩一些冷门乐器，喜欢去二手店购物，或是以特立独行的方式来表达自我。

 

　　They call themselves hipsters. Being “hip³” used to mean following the latest fashion. But gradually the word has evolved into a synonym⁴ for “cool”, “edgy” and “quirky”.

 

　　他们自称“潮人”。“潮”一度意味着紧跟潮流步伐。但是渐渐地，这个词已发展成“酷”、“前卫”以及“另类”的同义词了。

 

　　Hipsters value independent thinking, progressive politics, an appreciation⁵ of creativity and intelligence. Hipsters take pains and pride in not being mainstream⁶. However, their culture has become quite trendy. This irony⁷ is central to their culture and offers an interesting paradox⁸.

 

　　“潮人”看重独立思考，信奉政治革新，崇拜创新与智慧。对于“潮人”来说，成为“非主流”是件痛并快乐着的事情。然而，他们的文化已成为一种时尚。这一令人啼笑皆非的局面对于他们文化却有着至关重要的意义，因而形成了一个有趣的自相矛盾的现象。

 

　　“I do take things in the mainstream with a grain of salt,” says Ben Polson, a college student at Brown University in the US. Polson describes himself as a hipster and says he often questions what determines popularity, especially regarding music.

 

　　“我对主流文化持保留意见。”就读于美国布朗大学的本?波尔森表示。他自称“潮人”，并表示自己经常质疑是什么左右着流行趋势，尤其是在音乐方面。

 

　　When lesser-known bands become popular they often lose their former fan base in exchange for a new one. There is a famous hipster cliché that goes: I used to like that band before it got popular.

 

　　当一个小众乐队走红时，他们常常会失去先前的粉丝阵营，而换来新的一批簇拥者。“潮人”们有句著名的老话儿是这样说的：我曾喜欢过那支乐队，在它还没有走红之前。

 

　　According to Polson, bands’ music changes when they go mainstream. They become “less experimental, doing things just to save popularity and fans. The original elements that we were drawn⁹ to slowly dwindle¹⁰ for the sake of popularity.”

 

　　波尔森表示，乐队在走向主流后，音乐发生了变化。他们会变得“缺乏实验精神，做事只是为了留住粉丝和人气。为保持人气，过去吸引我们的那种原创元素会慢慢减少。”

 

　　Many young adults have started to view hipsters’ outlook as cool and are adopting their counterculture mindset themselves. This has led to specialized¹¹ brands, stores and music for the hipster niche¹². Ironically, some such stores, including clothing labels Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, have gained mainstream popularity. This has seemingly diluted¹³ the anti-mainstream culture.

 

　　许多年轻人开始觉得“潮人”的外形很酷，并自发接受他们的反主流文化心态。这产生了一批“潮人”专属的小众品牌、商店以及音乐。然而出乎意料的是，包括服装品牌Urban Outfitters和American Apparel在内的一些商店都受到了主流文化的欢迎。似乎这也冲淡了反主流文化。

 

　　“A lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters, they’re just trying to conform to the non-conformist to seem cooler,” says Amanda Leopold, a college student from Oberlin College, US. Although Leopold has many unconventional tastes and seems quite individualist, she refuses to classify herself as a hipster.

 

　　就读于美国欧柏林学院的阿曼达?利奥波德认为：“许多自称‘潮人’的人其实名不副实。他们只是试图通过追随那些非主流人士，来让自己看起来更酷。”尽管利奥波德的品味独树一帜，似乎是个十足的个人主义者，但她并不认为自己是个“潮人”。

 

　　There is a conflict among hipsters about the very definition of the label. To some, to be a hipster is to be free from cultural constraints¹⁴. To others, it means wearing a certain style and listening to a specific genre¹⁵ of music. The former constantly strives for uniqueness, while the latter strives not to be mainstream.

 

　　对于自身的定义，“潮人”族中间也存在争论。对于一些人而言，成为“潮人”意味着摆脱文化的束缚。对于其他人来说，这意味着要穿上特定款式的服装，听特定类型的音乐。前者一直努力争取独特性，后者则努力成为非主流。

 

　　And yet, the movement is gaining mainstream popularity. “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip,” laments¹⁶ Leopold. “There have been hipsters since the seventies, it’s only become popular recently.”

 

　　然而，这种趋势正在主流群体中普及。利奥波德对此感到遗憾：“这是当下的一种潮流，每个人都想‘潮’，所以每个人都不‘潮’。自70年代以来，‘潮人’便不断涌现出来，只是最近才大行其道而已。”

 

　　Hipsters reject materialism¹⁷ and mock mainstream culture. But are they really beyond material comforts? Do they have any ideas of their own if they despise mainstream so much?

 

　　“潮人”抗拒物质主义，嘲笑主流文化。然而他们真的超越了物质享受吗？如果他们如此鄙视主流文化，那他们对自身又有什么看法呢？

 

　　Christy Wampole, an associate professor of literature at Princeton University, US, is not so sure. She says the hipster is a contradiction in himself and an easy target of mockery. Writing in The New York Times, Wampole paints a less appreciative¹⁸ picture of a typical hipster:

 

　　美国普林斯顿大学文学系副教授克里斯蒂?维姆珀对此并不确定。她认为，“潮人”本身就是个矛盾体，因此很容易成为嘲笑的对象。维姆珀在写给《纽约时报》的文章中，将典型的“潮人”描绘成一种并不受外界赞赏的形象。

 

　　“The hipster is a scholar of social forms, a student of cool. He studies relentlessly¹⁹, foraging²⁰ for what has yet to be found by the mainstream. He is a walking citation²¹; his clothes refer to much more than themselves. He tries to negotiate the age-old problem of individuality, not with concepts, but with material things.”

 

　　“‘潮人’是研究社会形态的知识分子，是酷炫的学生。他孜孜不倦地学习，搜寻那些主流文化还未发现的角落。他是一个鲜活的例证，衣着并能体现他们的全部说明。他不是用概念，而是用实实在在的东西试图探索由来已久的个性化问题。”

1 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

2 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

3 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

4 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

7 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

8 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

11 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

12 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

13 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

14 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

16 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

17 materialism   

n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上

参考例句：

• Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。
• Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。

18 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

19 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

20 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

21 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。