| 阅读上一个主题 :: 阅读下一个主题 |
| 作者 |
留言 |
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
 发表于: 星期日 十二月 30, 2007 6:30 pm 发表主题: Another Pnin (short short story, revised) |
 |
|
Reading, Writing, and Life on the Page
Another Pnin
"Next in line."
"Tan-ride ticket to Toronto."
"What?"
"Tan-ride tic-ticket to Toronto."
"What did you say?" She raised her voice.
"Tan-lide tic-ticket to To-toronto, please."
"I don't know what you were saying." She answered impatiently.
Her black co-worker, from whom I bought tickets several times, avoided eye contact with me. The GO* riders standing behind me waited patiently.
"What do you want?"
I took out the notebook from my backpack, and I wrote down “I want a ten-ride ticket to Toronto” on a blank page. I showed it to her and gave her my Visa card.
While waiting for my ticket, I felt something inside me fraying, something I had draped my dreams in.
Note:
GO Transit is Ontario's interregional public transit system, established to link Toronto with the surrounding regions of the Greater Toronto Area. It carries 47 million passengers a year in an extensive network of train and bus services.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul
最后进行编辑的是 ericcoliu on 星期日 二月 24, 2008 3:24 pm, 总计第 10 次编辑 |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
 |
fanfan[FFFFFF]
fanfan作品集
四品府丞
（封疆大吏也！）
注册时间: 2007-12-27
帖子: 353
来自: Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期日 十二月 30, 2007 8:40 pm 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
| ericcoliu 写到: |
Another Pnin
"Tan-lide tic-ticket to To-toronto, please."
"What did you say?" She raised her voice.
Her black colleague, from whom I bought tickets several times, avoided eye contact with me.The GO riders standing behind me waited patiently.
|
The narrator's halting English exposes him to the linguistic bullies in his adopted country.
Another Pnin uncovers the more subtle aspects of racism Canadian-style, which most writers find so difficult to express.
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon. |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期日 十二月 30, 2007 10:31 pm 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
| fanfan 写到: |
The narrator's halting English exposes him to the linguistic bullies in his adopted country.
Another Pnin uncovers the more subtle aspects of racism Canadian-style, which most writers find so difficult to express. |
"The organs concerned in the production of English speech sounds are the larynx, the velum, the lips, the tongue (that punchinello in the troupe), and, last but not least, the lower jaw; mainly upon its overenergetic and somewhat ruminant motion did Pnin rely when translating in class passages in the Russian grammar or some poem by Pushkin. If his Russian was music, his English was murder." (Pnin, p.66)
In an interview with Dave Weich of Powell's City of Books, Chinese American writer Ha Jin once said that
"Because I failed to do something else, writing in English became my means of survival, of spending or wasting my life, of retrieving losses, mine and those of others. Because my life has been a constant struggle, I feel close in my heart to the great Russian masters, including Chekhov, Gogol, and Babel. As for poetry, some ancient Chinese influences are Tu Fu, Li Po, and Po Chu-I… .
If I am inspired, it is from within. Very often I feel that the stories have been inside me for a long time, and that I am no more than an instrument for their manifestation. As for the subject matter, I guess we are compelled to write about what has hurt us most….
I haven't returned to China since I've been here. China is distant. I don't know what contemporary Chinese life is like now. I follow the news, but I don't have the mature sensation--I can't hear the noise, I can't smell the place. I'm not attached to it anymore. What's meaningful to me is the immigrant experience, the American life."
The most important work of immigrant literature for him is Nabokov's Pnin, which, as he said, "deals with the question of language, and I think that's at the core of the immigrant experience: how to learn the language--or give up learning the language!--but without the absolute mastery of the language, which is impossible for an immigrant. Your life is always affected by the insufficiency."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
星子[ANNA]
星子作品集
酷我！I made it！
注册时间: 2004-06-05
帖子: 13192
来自: Toronto
|
| 发表于: 星期一 十二月 31, 2007 9:26 am 发表主题: |
|
|
In " A Free Life" Ha Jin used a lot the same style of dialogue.
It is very common that local people have difficult to understand us.
I have the same issule but most of Canadian people are friendly.
_________________
 |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
Lake[Lake]
Lake作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2006-10-10
帖子: 1341
来自: Sky Blue Water
|
| 发表于: 星期一 十二月 31, 2007 4:13 pm 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
It is a vivid scene. Surely, it raised some questions to the readers.
| ericcoliu 写到: |
Another Pnin |
I know I should check this word 'Pnin' up, and I don't even know how to pronounce it. But thanks for the replies which helped understand the meaning of it.
| ericcoliu 写到: |
Her black colleague, from whom I bought tickets several times, avoided eye contact with me. |
It makes me wonder why her black coworker didn't come up to help, but avoided eye contact with the narrator.
The word 'colleague' often times refers to a member in an academic or a professional field. Usually, we use 'coworker' here in this kind of situation. But 'colleague' may work in your area.
| ericcoliu 写到: |
I took out the notebook from my backpack, and I wrote down “I want a ten-ride ticket to Toronto” on a blank page. I showed it to her and gave her my Visa card.. |
I have to give the credit to the narrator as he acted so calmly. 
Apparently, he is well educated.
| 引用: | | "deals with the question of language, and I think that's at the core of the immigrant experience: how to learn the language--or give up learning the language!--but without the absolute mastery of the language, which is impossible for an immigrant. Your life is always affected by the insufficiency." |
I certainly can relate to this. Well said.
. |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
Champagne[Champagne]
Champagne作品集
四品府丞
（封疆大吏也！）
注册时间: 2007-09-15
帖子: 394
来自: Nowhere & Everywhere
|
| 发表于: 星期二 一月 01, 2008 10:39 am 发表主题: |
|
|
| 星子 写到: |
It is very common that local people have difficult to understand us.
|
Yes, sometimes, they have great difficulty to understand accented or non-standard English that English learners utter; however, oftentimes, they use this language insufficiency to exert their linguistic power to bully those English learners.
In the context of buying tickets and limited ticket types available, do you really think the character “She” found it so difficult to understand the narrator’s accented English.
| Lake 写到: |
Apparently, he is well educated.
|
Yes. And he can write English perfectly.
| ericcoliu 写到: |
Another Pnin
"Tan-ride ticket to Toronto."
"What?"
"Tan-lide tic-ticket to To-toronto, please."
"What did you say?" She raised her voice.
|
For a non-English speaking person , especially for a non-English person who is well-educated, it’s, mentally not necessarily linguistically, difficult to express his/her opinion in his/her adopted tongue in the face of a hostile native English speaker. Usually, a powerful shame or unease or tangled feelings with English will block his/her thinking and thus spoken words. I think that’s why when the narrator was challenged by “she” for the second time, he/she was not able to break a barrier of sound, to speak freely, only uttering halting, hiccupping sounds that betrayed his/her linguistic capability.
_________________
I'm Champagne,
Bottled poetry with sparkling joy. |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期二 一月 01, 2008 8:31 pm 发表主题: |
|
|
| 星子 写到: |
In " A Free Life" Ha Jin used a lot the same style of dialogue.
It is very common that local people have difficult to understand us.
|
It's a common writing technique used in immigration/diaspora literature. Ha Jin is a newcomer in this field of literary work with his latest novel, A Free Life.
The way he uses this writing technique is mainly to deals with the question of language insufficiency that Chinese immigrants face in their newly adopted country. Throughout A Free Life, he never tackles the issue regarding the unbalanced linguistic power relations between his main characters while I confront it head-on.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期二 一月 01, 2008 8:49 pm 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
| Lake 写到: |
The word 'colleague' often times refers to a member in an academic or a professional field. Usually, we use 'coworker' here in this kind of situation. But 'colleague' may work in your area.
|
Thanks. You're right.
| Lake 写到: |
Surely, it raised some questions to the readers.
|
It's my true intent, and hopefully, my piece can stir up a discussion on this issue, which is, I think, highly relevant to our life here.
| Lake 写到: |
It makes me wonder why her black coworker didn't come up to help, but avoided eye contact with the narrator.
|
Good, it does raise a question to you.
Her black coworker is the only person I mention of his/her skin colour.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期二 一月 01, 2008 9:05 pm 发表主题: |
|
|
| Champagne 写到: |
Yes, sometimes, they have great difficulty to understand accented or non-standard English that English learners utter; however, oftentimes, they use this language insufficiency to exert their linguistic power to bully those English learners.
|
Yes, especially people who harbour latent racism are more inclined to use their linguistic power to bully non-white English learners.
| Champagne 写到: |
especially for a non-English person who is well-educated, it’s, mentally not necessarily linguistically, difficult to express his/her opinion in his/her adopted tongue in the face of a hostile native English speaker. Usually, a powerful shame or unease or tangled feelings with English will block his/her thinking and thus spoken words.
|
Another Yes.
In an afterword to Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, author of Pnin, concludes with a reference to his beloved first language, which he abandoned as a writer once he moved to the United States in 1940:
"My private tragedy, …… is that I had to abandon my natural idiom, my untrammelled, rich, and infinitely docile Russian tongue for a second-rate brand of English."
The story of Another Pnin is a Nobokovian tragedy which is made public.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
Lake[Lake]
Lake作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2006-10-10
帖子: 1341
来自: Sky Blue Water
|
| 发表于: 星期二 一月 01, 2008 10:41 pm 发表主题: |
|
|
You know what, as a matter of fact I find that native English speakers understand accented English much better than those who speak with an accent. Especially in a situation like this (as Champ has already pointed out); what else can you expect to hear: destination, types of tickets...
This reminds me of another story:
A friend of mine went to a clinic to have her sore forearm treated. (She speaks fine English but has some difficulty understanding some medical terms as we all do. ) She asked the nurse to repeat or explain in ordinary language the cause of the problem and the treatment. Then the nurse asked abruptly :" Do you understand English?" My friend was irritated hearing this for she felt the question was an insult. Instead of answering 'yes' or 'no', she said:" I work in the Office of Human Resources at the University..."
. |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
fanfan[FAFAFA]
fanfan作品集
四品府丞
（封疆大吏也！）
注册时间: 2007-12-27
帖子: 353
来自: Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期三 一月 02, 2008 9:46 am 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
| Lake 写到: |
She asked the nurse to repeat or explain in ordinary language the cause of the problem and the treatment. Then the nurse asked abruptly :" Do you understand English?" My friend was irritated hearing this for she felt the question was an insult. Instead of answering 'yes' or 'no', she said:" I work in the Office of Human Resources at the University..."
|
It's a blatant racist attitude.
| ericcoliu 写到: |
Good, it does raise a question to you.
Her black coworker is the only person I mention of his/her skin colour.
|
Discriminated against by White North America, the North Americans of African descent should have known the unjust and humiliation caused by a racist attitude. Morally speaking, he/she should stand up to the character "She,” or at least, he/she can say to "She," "Mary (Lisa, or whichever name you have), a ten-ride ticket to Toronto."
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon. |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期四 一月 03, 2008 5:31 pm 发表主题: Re: Another Pnin (short short story) |
|
|
| fanfan 写到: |
Discriminated against by White North America, the North Americans of African descent should have known the unjust and humiliation caused by a racist attitude. Morally speaking, he/she should stand up to the character "She,” or at least, he/she can say to "She," "Mary (Lisa, or whichever name you have), a ten-ride ticket to Toronto."
|
Yes, her black coworker, like the Go riders standing right behind the narrator, didn't stand rightly behind the narrator, complicit in her prejudiced attitude against the narrator.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
ericcoliu[ericcoliu]
ericcoliu作品集
二品总督
（刚入二品，小心做人）
注册时间: 2007-05-29
帖子: 1393
来自: GTA, Canada
|
| 发表于: 星期四 一月 03, 2008 7:38 pm 发表主题: |
|
|
I've revised it.
A sublime champion of his native tongue, Timofei Pnin appears on the Anglophone stage as a tragicomedic protagonist.
The narrator of my piece is another Pnin.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul |
|
| 返回页首 |
|
|
|
|
您不能发布新主题
您不能在这个论坛回复主题
您不能在这个论坛编辑自己的帖子
您不能在这个论坛删除自己的帖子
您不能在这个论坛发表投票
|
本论坛欢迎广大文学爱好者不拘一格地发表创作和评论.凡在网站发表的作品，即视为向《北美枫》丛书, 《诗歌榜》和《酷我电子杂志》投稿(暂无稿费, 请谅)。如果您的作品不想编入《北美枫》或《诗歌榜》或《酷我电子杂志》，请在发帖时注明。
作品版权归原作者.文责自负.作品的观点与<酷我-北美枫>网站无关.请勿用于商业,宗教和政治宣传.论坛上严禁人身攻击.管理员有权删除作品.
Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
phpBB 简体中文界面由 iCy-fLaME 更新翻译 |
常见问题与解答 (FAQ)
搜索
成员列表
成员组
注册
个人资料
登陆查看您的私人留言
登陆
