作家名片 | 苏童：我在远方送上文学的祝福
编者按
近年来，中华文化“走出去”的影响力不断扩大，在全球文化多元化发展日益兴盛的背景下，中国文化译研网(CCTSS)联合中国作家协会《小说选刊》杂志社，启动“新世纪中国当代作家、作品海外传播数据库”项目，将100位中国当代优秀作家的简介、代表作品以及展示作家风采的短视频翻译为10种语言，集结成1000张中国作家名片向全球推介。千张“作家名片”将鲜明地向世界宣告：我是中国作家，我在进行中国创作。
此种形式和规模是中国故事走向世界的一大创新，会让世界更加全面、客观、公正地了解中国优秀作家作品，同时也是打通中国文化走向世界的“最后一公里”。
苏童，男，1963年1月生于苏州，原名童忠贵，中国当代著名作家，江苏省作协副主席，北京师范大学教授。苏童少年时期多病的经历，使得苏童在作品中对童年的这种感受寻找着各式各样的突破口。著名作家莫言说：“苏童作品中对女性的把握，我觉得好像是天生的，所以有的作家真的需要天分。对女性微妙的情感把握准确，是我望尘莫及的。”《黄雀记》获第九届茅盾文学奖，《河岸》获第三届曼布克亚洲文学奖。《妻妾成群》被著名导演张艺谋改编成电影《大红灯笼高高挂》，获威尼斯电影节银狮奖，并获提名奥斯卡最佳外语片奖，他的小说被翻译成英、法、德、意、日等多国语言。
苏童的创作融合了历史和现实双重因素，在重构历史的同时，也体现着现代人对历史的严峻审视，他将历史脉络和人性形态紧密连接起来，在历史和人性的聚焦扫描中形成独有的历史悲剧观。在不可抗拒的历史力量面前，人的个人意志，尤其是处于新旧交替时代中的女性意识的瓦解是不可避免的悲剧。苏童的女性系列小说淡化“先锋”的痕迹，将历史的悲哀和女性的无奈叹息融为一体，将女性的生命体验淹没在历史的长河之中。
苏童的《妻妾成群》主要讲述了一个家遭不幸、无奈嫁人为妾的“新知识青年”女大学生颂莲,在带有浓厚封建宗法制度的陈家大院、在这尔虞我诈的、压抑窒息人性的封建家庭中,如何步步为险,挣扎求存，但最后还是没能逃脱妻妾者悲惨命运的故事。《红粉》中的秋仪和小萼由“茫茫世界难以改变”的姐妹关系，因一个男人而变成不共戴天的仇人。小说展示出了苦苦挣扎在生存底线的边缘化女性始终面临着一个永远无法逃避的“课题”——情感抉择。《河岸》是一部让生命在磨砺中体验的中国乡村长篇小说，它在叙述上保持着苏童的细腻与灵动。苏童向读者讲述了一个关于信仰、关于生存的故事。主人公库文轩是烈士邓少香之子，在那个动荡的年代，烈属的头衔遭到了诸多质疑，经历了诸多磨难，故事以儿子库东亮背起母亲的纪念碑投河自尽收场。小说充满了神秘与伤感，困苦与无奈。《黄雀记》是一部关于罪与罚、关于自我忏悔与救赎、关于灵魂的寻找与安放、关于绝望与期望的复杂故事。书名的隐喻与文本中诸多的隐喻、象征相呼应。螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后。
自八十年代成名以来，苏童一直以充沛、稳健的创作姿态活跃于当代文坛，是最受读者欢迎，也是国内外评论界最为关注的作家之一。
苏童
Su Tong
Su Tong, real name Tong Zhonggui, was born in Suzhou in January 1963. In addition to as a renowned contemporary Chinese writer, he is also the Vice Chairman of the Jiangsu Writer's Association and a professor at Beijing Normal University. Su Tong was afflicted by different illnesses for most of his childhood. As a result, he searches for original ways to approach the theme of childhood in his works. Celebrated author Mo Yan once said: "I believe that Su Tong has a natural knack for female characterization, so I think that certain authors really do need natural talent. His precise mastery of the subtle female psyche is something that I can only aspire to." Su's book Yellowbird Story (Huang Que Ji) won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize, while his book The Boat to Redemption (He An) won the 3rd Man Asian Literary Prize. Wives and Concubines (Qi Qie Cheng Qun) was adapted into the film Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao Gua) by the esteemed director Zhang Yimou, which won the Silver Lion Prize at the Venice Film Festival, as well as being nominated for an Oscar Best Foreign Film. Su Tong's novels have been translated into a number of languages, including English, French, German, Italian and Japanese.
By evoking the social realities of highly special historical and geographic contexts, Su Tong's works authentically recreate certain passages of history at the same time as critically appraising them from a contemporary perspective. In this way, his works form a uniquely pessimistic view of history based on acute observations of the intersection between history and the human experience. His works speak of members of old establishments who find that their individual willpower cannot resist the inexorable passage of time and the way it erodes certain mentalities — in particular, those concerning women. Su Tong's novels featuring female protagonists tend to minimalize the "forefront" of the zeitgeist to focus on the helpless women who find themselves stuck in outdated institutions. They elegize the way in which these women's stories have been swallowed up by the course of history.
Su Tong's Wives and Concubines tells the story of Lotus, a university student and member of the "new intellectual youth" of 1930s China, who, due to the bankruptcy of her father's business, finds herself forced to become a concubine at Chen Manor, a rich household where the spirit of imperial China is still very much alive. Lotus must learn how to tiptoe around danger and ensure her survival in this stiflingly feudalistic and deceitful household, but she ultimately cannot escape from the tragic historic fate that all concubines eventually faced.
In Rouged Beauties (Hong Fen), Qiuyi and Xiao'e are able to maintain their sisterly relationship despite the uncertainties of a changing world, but ultimately become irreconcilable enemies all because of one man. Throughout the novel, these two marginalized women who struggle at the very bottom rung of society cannot escape the intemporal problem of choosing between a lover and a friend.
The Boat to Redemption evokes a life of hardships in rural China and exemplifies Su's typically subtle and evocative style. In this novel, Su Tong tells a story about beliefs and survival. The novel's protagonist, Ku Wenxuan, is thought to be the descendant of Deng Shaoxiang, a martyr of the Revolution. During this tumultuous chapter in China's history, Wenxuan's true ancestry is called into question, with devastating consequences. The story culminates in Wenxuan's son, Ku Dongliang, jumping to his death in the river, carrying his mother's gravestone. The story is full of mystery and melancholy; of adversity and helplessness.
Yellowbird Story is a complex story — about crime and punishment; about repentance and redemption; about searching for souls and laying them to rest; about despair and hope. The book's title is an allusion to a common proverb that reflects the themes of the story. "The mantis catches the cicada, and the siskin [known in Chinese as huang que or "yellow bird"] is not far behind."
After rising to fame in the 1980s, Su Tong has been consistently active in the literary world. He is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed authors — both in China and abroad.
英文审校 | 咸慧
编辑 | 朱贺芳
“文化互译，沟通世界”