在他者语言中求生存

Cla im for Existence in Another Language : An Interview with Ha Jin C he n A im in Abstract: Few writers have appeared on the American literary scene to such sudden acclaim as the Chinese imm igrant writer Ha J in. J in was born in 1956 in China and moved to the United States to study American literature in 1985. He got his Ph. D. in 1993, and has ever since been living in the States and p roved him self a p rolific and successful writer. So far he has published three books of poetry, three short story collections and five novels. He has won numerous awards such asNational Book Award for Fiction in 1999 for hisW aiting. This interview in 2004 discusses many issues, covering the authenticity of J in’s stories, the reason for his declining an offer of p ro2 fessorship in the English Department at Yale University, his attitude towards the achievements made by Chinese American writers in recent years, and his expectation about A sian American lit2 erature. He reveals his three reasons for writing in English—to claim for existence in another lan2 guage, to survive as individual, and to earn an identity as an American writer. Key words: Ha J in　existence　authenticity　nostalgia Author: Chen A im in, Ph. D. and a visiting scholar at University of California, Irvine, from 2000 - 2001, is associate p rofessor at the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University (Nanjing 210097, China). He is author of Iden tity and A liena tion—V iew ing Chinese Am erican L itera tu re from the Perspective of O rien ta lism (2007) and more than 30 academ ic essays. Email: chaim2905@ yahoo. com. cn 目 :在他者语言中求生存 :哈金访谈 内容提要 : 很少有作家像美国华人移民作家哈金这样在美国文学界突然声名大噪 ,便受关 注。哈金出生于 1956年 , 1985年去美国留学 ,攻读美国文学 , 1993年获得博士学位。毕业 后 ,留在了美国。哈金是个多产作家 ,到目前为止他出版了 3部诗集、3部小说集、5部长篇 小说。这些作品给他带来各种各样的奖项 ,其中最有名的是他凭借小说《等待 》获得 1999 年“美国图书奖 ”。这次 2004年进行的访谈涉及了许多话题 :他作品中的事件是否真实 ? 他为什么谢绝耶鲁大学英文系给他的教授职位 ? 他对待华裔作家在美国文学界获得的成功 以及亚裔文学未来前景的展望 ? 这次访谈中哈金坦露了他用英文创作的三点理由 : 1. 为了 明他在英语中的存在 ; 2. 为了个人的生存 ; 3. 为了谋求美国作家的身份。 关键词 :哈金 　存在 　真实性 　思乡 作者简介 :陈爱敏 ,文学博士 ,南京师范大学外国语学院副教授 , 2000 - 2001年间曾赴美国 加州大学尔湾分校理论批评研究所访学 ,出版有专著《认同与疏离 :美国华裔文学的东方主 义视野 》(2007) ,发表 30余篇。 　 CHEN: For my dissertation, I have chosen to exp lore the relationship between Chinese Ameri2 can literature and Chinese, Chinese Americans and Chinese Culture. I’d like to know how it has been develop ing so fast in the mainstream and for what reason it has survived and is holding the readers’attention. In my dissertation some of the p rom inent writers and their works are dis2 cussed. I have divided Chinese American writers into two group s: W riters like Jade Snow Wong, Maxine Hong Kinston, Amy Tan, Frank Chin and Henry David Huang are included in one group; while another group include some new imm igrant writers (writers who went to the States after the Great Cultural Revolution and who write in English) , like you, Anchee M in, N ien Cheng, Heng L iang, Bao Ma. ( In fact, those were what I could lay my hand on while I was in the States). Can I put the latter group in the list of Chinese American writers? Some regard the second group as the D iaspora writers. I don’t know what you think about the issue. 　 J IN: The second group of writers are still in a develop ing state. Their identity will depend on whether they will p roduce works related to the American experience. If they write only about Chi2 na, they will remain as writers of the Chinese diaspora. 　 CHEN: Before I left the USA in the June of 2001, I had bought all your books , and later on I found Iwas quite right in doing that, for I could not find any at home. The first time I heard of you it was from one of the American p rofessors who showed me your book W aiting while Iwas in the States, which made me go deeper to find more. I have got an imp ression that the main theme of your novels and poem s is about the Great Cultural Revolution and that most of the events are based on your m ilitary career, which made your writing quite different from the other Chinese A2 merican writers. Then my questions are: 　 A re these stories based on your real life or say“your fam ily members’life experiences”? O r in other words, are these stories true or just some of them are real? For examp le, in The B ridegroom there are some chap ters like“The Woman from New York”and the story about another guy called “Huang Baowen. ”I don’t know why Huang is arrested. In my m ind there is seldom the case of homosexuality in China. And those stories from the army like the story of“Flame, ”did they real2 ly occur in life? Could it be possible that a m ilitary comm issar had a romance with the nurse and had an abortion? 　 J IN: A llmy stories are based on actual happenings. A t least 95% of the details did happen in life. My job was to organize them and create a dramatic form for the happenings. I don’t write a2 bout myself and never feel comfortable about autobiographical writings. “The B ridegroom”is the last story Iwrote for the volume. I wrote it mainly to make the collection richer and broader in scope. Since homosexuality was a rare top ic, I deliberately p icked it a theme. The rest was re2 search and work. In the seventies, many homosexuals were arrested once they were exposed. It used to be viewed as a crime. 　 CHEN: I like“The B ridegroom, ”but I have little knowledge about the following: W hat did you want to convey through the story“The B ridegroom”? Has“The B ridegroom”won any p rize? 　 J IN: I just wanted to tell a good story. The book won the A sian American L iterary Award and the Townsend Fiction Prize. 　 CHEN: From your interview with Dave W eich, I can see that you once worked in Emory Uni2 versity. W hen Iwas in Tennessee, I p lanned to visit you, but later I found time was not enough. So I gave up the idea. W here do you work now? A re you still teaching the students to write? Have 2 外国文学研究 　2008年第 3期 you ever got a job to teach American Students Chinese or Chinese literature? 　 J IN: Currently I am teaching at Boston University. I teach literature and creative writing, but because of my training, without a degree in Chinese literature, I don’t teach Chinese literature. In the fall I teach a course in m igrant literature, and in the sp ring, I teach a novella workshop to graduate students only. I met Prof. W ang N ing at Yale in the sp ring. I was at a job interview there, and he encouraged me to take a job offer at Yale. It was a chair p rofessorship in the Eng2 lish Department. Iwas temp ted, but in the end decided not to take the offer, mainly because I wanted to have more time for my own writing. Please let Prof W ang know I declined the offer. 　 CHEN: So far your writings are mainly about China. Once you said you will deal with the subject of imm igrant experiences. Then what area do you want to focus your attention on? Since Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston and some others have already talked a lot about the life of Chi2 nese Imm igrants in America. W ill it be possible for you to write about the new imm igrants? 　 J IN: I am a first2generation imm igrant, so my subjects will not overlap with those writers. In fact, I belong to their parents’ generation. I think that language, English, will be a major theme in my future works. 　 CHEN: China has taken on a new look since the 1980 s. If it’s possible, do you want to have a trip back to China, especially a visit to Shandong University, with your fam ily? The university, I think, feels p roud of you and will welcome you very warm ly. If there is anything I can do, p lease let me know. 　 J IN: W ell, I don’t know. I am not sure whether Shanda takes me as an alumnus. I used to m iss home a lot but I couldn’t have my passport renewed. Some years later when I was natural2 ized, the nostalgia was somehow gone. I guess Iwas numbed. 　 CHEN: W hat do you think of those Chinese American writers who are also successful in the mainstream? Here I refer to some female writers like Jade Snow Wong, Amy Tan, Kinston, Gish Jen and Ng, Fae Myenne and some male writers like Frank Chin, Henry David Huang, Russell Leong and David Wong Louie. W ho stands/ stand out for you? 　 J IN: Kingston’sW om an W arrior is an ambitious book, a founding text of A sian American lit2 erature. W hether peop le like it or not, it has its position. Gish Jen is a fabulous writer, a stylist. I like Amy Tan’s first book. A s for the rest, they are still develop ing. I don’t think they have written their best work yet. 　 CHEN: During my writing of the dissertation, these questions kep t com ing out: How could Chinese American writers make such rap id p rogress and won so many p rizes in the States? From the angle of a writer, then what kind of stories from Chinese or from Chinese Americans can hold the western readers’attention? 　 J IN: This has never been an issue for me. For instance, my novel The C razed is about a mad Chinese p rofessor. Such a top ic m ight not have market at all, but I had to write it. My job is to make a book as good as possible, to give it a strong heart. Once the book is published, it starts its own life. I always believe a good, strong book can overcome a lot of barriers and find its read2 ers. This the m inimum idealism an author should have, or we shouldn’t write at all. 　 CHEN: Is there any possibility that Chinese American literature /A sian American literature will take a p rom inent position among ethnic literatures in the States in the near future? W hat do you think of its p resent status and future situation in the American literature? 　 J IN: I don’t think that as a group A sian American writers will stand out in American letters. W hen we talk about literature, only individual talent counts. There will be great books written by A sian American authors, but they are all individuals and do not join forces with each other. 　 CHEN: Can you exp lain your favorite sentence: “the ultimate goal for a p iece of literature is 3Chen A im in: Claim for Existence in Another Language: An Interview with Ha J in to transcend time to some degree, not to vacate it but to go through it?”Have you app lied the rule in your works? 　 J IN: L iterature is meant to conquer time, but it is only through time that time is conquered, as T. S. Eliot said in Four Q uartets. W e begin within history and try to go beyond history. 　 CHEN: A t home in some literary reviews, some critics have made comments on your works like W aiting, U nder the R ed F lag and In the Pond. They analyzed your works from the angle of O rientalism , pointing out that some of your p ieces were created to satisfy the westerners’needs. Then what do you think of their commentary? 　 J IN: To date, I have written to a kind of ideal reader, who doesn’t have to be a W esterner. My work can be understood and accep ted by the Chinese once they are translated into Chinese. I believe translatability is a standard of literature. Those critics you mentioned are p rejudiced a2 gainst my writings. They jump at conclusion mainly because I write in English. On the other hand, I do belong to a different tradition, the tradition established by Joseph Conrad and Nabokov in the English language. In this sense, the term“O rientalism”is irrelevant. I write in English and mean to claim my existence in this language. A ll this is due to the fact that I simp ly cannot write in Chinese here. I have to survive as an individual and as a writer. If Iwrote in Chinese, I would be at the mercy of the Chinese authorities. In this sense, English does mean freedom, though I always feel cripp led in this language. The tragedy is that I never devoted my energy and life to Chinese. God knows what kind of work I could have p roduced if I had worked that hard in Chinese. 　 CHEN: Just as some western critics said, most of your works are“personal being political. ” Do you think this is a very sensitive top ic? And do you have any attemp t to move away from it? 　 J IN: I have left contemporary China in my writing. I have to write about American experi2 ence, to earn myself an identity as an American writer. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to be a Chinese writer. The truth is that if I don’t become an important American writer, China will nev2 er want me. In Chinese literature, language decides the writer’s identity, so if you don’twrite in Chinese, you are not counted as a Chinese writer. But this concep tion is conservative and old2 fashioned. Joseph Conrad never wrote in Polish, he is regarded as a Polish writer. Nabokov is viewed as both English and Russian writer. Samuel Beckett is an English writer, though he wrote in French. A ll those writers exist in different languages. So I believe the Chinese canon is not i2 ron2clad. A ll depends on the value of the writer’s. If the work is good enough to enrich an litera2 ture, it w ill be claimed by different literatures. 　 CHEN: W aiting is a marvelous p iece. Then if someone wants to translate it into Chinese, are you interested in the idea? (Maybe someone has already done that, I don’t know. ) Have you been writing any new novels or poem s recently? A t home we can only get information from the Google. I didn’t find any new books com ing out afterW reckage. Is there any new one to be pub2 lished in the near future? 　 J IN: The C razed is published two years ago. Its Chinese translation was just out in Taiwan. This fall my new novel, W ar Trash, will be published. It’s a novel in the form of a memoir, told by a Chinese POW in the American p rison camp in Korea. 责任编辑 :罗良功 4 外国文学研究 　2008年第 3期