The fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan was the subject of popular books and movies for many decades. In recent years, however, the character has been criticized as a stereotyped caricature of Asian-Americans.
几十年来，一位虚构的名叫陈查理的美籍华人侦探是很多畅销书和电影的主人公。不过最近几年，陈查理这个人物被批评为讽刺亚裔美国人的刻板形象。
Author Yunte Huang says that’s not the case. He has explored the character and real-life policeman who inspired him in the book "Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and his Rendezvous With American History."
但是，作家黄运特认为这种批评没有道理。黄运特出版了一本书，名为《神探陈查理不为人知的故事》，探究了陈查理的人物性格以及陈查理在现实生活中的警察原型。
Charlie Chan has been a familiar character to readers and film-goers, beginning in the 1920s. The globe-trotting detective solved crimes in more than 40 films through the 1940s, and with the advent of television, found a new audience in the 1950s and 1960s.
自上世纪20年代以来，陈查理的形象在读者和影迷中深入人心。从1920年代到1940年代，这位闻名全球的侦探在40多部电影中大显身手。随着电视的普及，陈查理在1950年代和1960年代走入了千家万户。
Huang, an English professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was born in China and discovered Charlie Chan through books by American author Earl Derr Biggers, who created the character.
加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的美国文学教授黄运特出生在中国，他从美国作家毕格斯的笔下认识了陈查理。
"One day, I was at an estate sale in Buffalo, New York, and I found these two Charlie Chan novels. At that point I thought I knew that he was a negative stereotype against Asians, but when I read the book," he says, "I was immediately hooked. And ever since then, I've been a fan of Charlie Chan."
黄运特说：“有一天，我在布法罗市的一个房地产拍卖会上发现了两本陈查理小说。那时候我知道他是一个负面的刻板的亚洲人形象，但是我回家后开始读的时候，立刻被吸引住了。从那以后，我一直是陈查理的粉丝。”
Huang believes Chan’s broken English and unusual aphorisms - ostensibly ancient sayings - were part of his charm.
黄运特表示，不管是陈查理嗑嗑巴巴的英文，还是那些非同寻常的格言，都是他的魅力的一部分。
"Let me just quote a few if I may - 'Actions speak louder than French,' or 'Mind like parachute. Only function when open.' Charlie Chan always attributes these aphorisms to Confucius’ oriental wisdom, but as we know, most of these kind of fortune cookie sayings, including fortune cookies today, are made in America."
“比如“行动胜于法语”，或者“大脑就像降落伞，只有在打开的时候才有用”等等。陈查理通常把这些智慧归功于儒家的东方智慧，但是我们知道，大多数幸运饼纸条上的话，包括幸运饼本身，其实都是美国制造。”
As a fan of the books and films, Huang was surprised to learn that Charlie Chan was based on a real detective named Chang Apana, who was born to Chinese parents in Hawaii around 1871. Apana worked as a cowboy herding cattle, and in 1898, when Hawaii was annexed by the United States, joined the Honolulu police force.
作为陈查理畅销书和电影的粉丝，黄运特惊讶地了解到其实陈查理在现实生活中是有一个原型的。这位侦探叫张阿平，大约1871年出生于夏威夷一个华裔家庭。张阿平原本是一个牛仔，1898年，夏威夷成为美国领土后，张阿平成为檀香山的一名警察。
"And he almost immediately became a local legend because as a former cowboy," says Huang, "he would walk the most dangerous beats in Chinatown carrying a bullwhip. He never carried a gun. He didn't need that."
黄运特说：“张阿平很快成为当地一个传奇人物，因为他仗着自己当过牛仔，所以即使在唐人街里最危险的路段巡逻，他也只带一把牛鞭。他从来不带枪，他不需要枪。”
Biggers may have learned about Apana from Honolulu newspapers. His first Charlie Chan novel was published in 1925. The first film was released one year later. Apana died in 1933 as a local legend, his reputation enhanced by the exploits of his fictional counterpart.
毕格斯可能是从檀香山的报纸上了解到张阿平的。他1925年出版了第一本陈查理小说，第二年陈查理电影也和观众见面了。1933年，张阿平去世，他的声望因为陈查理的形象而得到提高。
But critics say the portrayal of Charlie Chan, with his broken English, is embarrassing for Asian-Americans. In early silent films, he was played by Asian actors, but later producers would cast Westerners in the part, first Warner Oland and later Sidney Toler. Chinese-American actors, including Keye Luke, who played Charlie’s "Number One Son," were relegated to supporting roles.
但是批评人士认为，陈查理的形像以及他那口破英文，让亚裔美国人非常尴尬。在早期的无声电影中，陈查理由亚裔演员扮演，但是后来却换成西方人扮演了，开始是华纳·奥兰，后来是悉尼·托勒。陆锡麒等华裔演员都只能出演配角。
But Huang isn't bothered by the casting of Western actors in the leading role.
但是黄运特不觉得让西方演员扮演陈查理有什么不妥之处。
"Growing up, for instance, in Chinese operatic culture, watching Chinese operas, cross-dressing, men playing women, or someone playing others, is taken for granted. It's almost a must. It's no fun doing yourself. So, coming from that kind of culture, I was quite comfortable, really, watching a white man playing an Asian character."
他说：“我是在中国的戏曲世界中长大的，中国的戏曲中的变装，角色反串，我们都习以为常了。这几乎是艺术表现中必须的，你自己来做就没意思了。在那样的一个文化氛围中长大，我一点都没觉得让一个白人演员扮演亚裔有什么不对。”
Huang notes that there is a history of what he calls "racial ventriloquism" in the United States, dating from early minstrel shows with white performers wearing black-face makeup. The practice was the result of racial prejudice and restrictions on non-whites, but Huang tells Asian-Americans that Charlie Chan fought racial prejudice with quiet dignity, regardless of who played him. The character outwitted both criminals and those who looked down on him because of his race.
黄运特强调说，他知道美国曾经有过所谓“种族口技”的历史，在早期的白人化装成黑人进行的滑稽表演中，白人演员要戴上黑色的头套，这是种族偏见和对非白人进行限制的直接后果。但是黄运特告诉华裔说，不管是谁出演陈查理，陈查理这个人物都在用他平静的高贵气质和种族偏见做斗争，他比罪犯以及因为他的种族而看轻他的人更有智慧。
"And I'm trying to convince them, you cannot dismiss Charlie Chan," says Huang. "If you dismiss him, basically you are dismissing American culture and what is most interesting - troubling, sometimes - but fascinating."
他说：“我试图告诉我的读者，你不能简单地把陈查理打发掉。如果你摒弃了他，你也就是摒弃了美国文化中最有意思、最令人着魔，有时候也是最令人不安的部分。”
For Huang, the fictional Charlie Chan is highly entertaining, while the real-life policeman, Chang Apana, is a Chinese-American success, whose story is worth telling.
黄运特说，虚构的陈查理有非常高的娱乐性，而现实生活中的张阿平则是美籍华人一个成功的典范人物，他的故事确实值得传颂。 |