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外刊原文
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Han Kang, the South Korean author best known for her surreal, subversive novel, “The Vegetarian,” was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday — the first writer from her country to receive the award.
“The Vegetarian,” published in Korea in 2007, won the 2016 International Booker Prize after it was translated into English. It centers on a depressed housewife who shocks her family when she stops eating meat; later, she stops eating altogether and yearns to turn into a tree that can live off sunlight alone. Porochista Khakpour, in a review of “The Vegetarian” for The New York Times, said that Han “has been rightfully celebrated as a visionary in South Korea.”
Han’s Nobel was a surprise. Before the announcement, the bookmakers’ favorite for this year’s award was Can Xue, an avant-garde Chinese writer of category-defying novels. But the news was celebrated by authors and fans on social media and greeted with fanfare in South Korea.
Some in the country were astonished to learn a Korean writer had won. “I could not believe my eyes when I saw this news,” said Park Sang-in, an office worker in Seoul. “No one had told us that we had a strong candidate this year.”
At the same time, many saw it as an appropriate choice. Han’s groundbreaking work has reshaped the literary landscape in South Korea, said Paige Aniyah Morris, co-translator of Han’s novel “We Do Not Part,” which will be published by Hogarth in the United States in January.
“Han’s work has inspired a generation of Korean writers to be more truthful and more daring in their subject matter,” Morris said. “Time and time again, she has braved a culture of censorship and saving face, and she has come out of these attempts at silencing her with stronger, more unflinching work each time.”
外刊精读
韩江获奖
be well known for sth 指「以…闻名」,可以替换小学生词汇be famous for sth。
be best known for sth 即「最以…出名」。顺便再补充一下:
well-known 为形容词,指「知名的」。
比如:a well-known writer 知名作家。
反义词为little-known 指「不出名的」,lesser-known 指「不太出名的」。
He‘s a well-known investigator.surreal [səˈrɪəl] 为形容词,指「超现实的,离奇的,荒诞的」(a situation or experience that is surreal is very strange and difficult to understand, like something from a dream)。
subversive [səbˈvɜrːsɪv] 为形容词,指「具有颠覆性的」(subversive ideas, activities etc are secret and intended to damage or destroy a government or an established system)。
这两个词比较抽象,大家仔细读一读英文解释。
✏️ 这里surreal, subversive是两个并列的形容词,修饰novel,指「超现实的、颠覆性的小说」。大家注意,逗号也可以连接两个并列的形容词,再举两个例子:
200 people are gonna be looking at you in a clean, white dress.And I hope you'll have a nice, long engagement. 多个形容词修饰名词有两种情况:「并列修饰」和「累积修饰」,我们在外刊精读社的答疑区讲过,再带大家复习一下: award sb sth 指「授予某人某物」。sb is awarded sth. 即「某人被授予某物」。
a news conference 指「新闻发布会」。
intense 为形容词,指「强烈的」。
poetic [poʊ ˈetɪk] 为形容词,指「有诗意的」。
prose 指「散文」。
confront sth 指「直面…,正视…」。比如:
We try to help people confront their problems. 我们试图帮助人们正视他们的问题。
再比如美剧《十三个原因》里有这样一句台词:I find it best to confront the issue head-on by saying "Parden me, but you really hurt my feelings." confront sb 则指「与某人对质」。
我们来看两个美剧《绝望的主妇》里的例子:So, what did Karl say when you confronted him?
historical traumas 指「历史创伤」。
expose sth 指「暴露…,揭露…」。
fragility 为不可数名词,指「脆弱」,来自形容词fragile。
#02
素食者讲了什么?
《素食者》2007年在韩国出版,被翻译成英文后,该书获得了2016年国际布克奖。这本书讲述了一名抑郁的家庭主妇因停止吃肉震惊了家人的故事;后来她完全停止进食,渴望变成一株只靠阳光生活的树。
center on sb / sth 是一个动词短语,指「以...为中心」,常用来引出电影、电视、节目、书籍的主要内容。
我们在贾玲携《热辣滚烫》走出国门,进军好莱坞 !| 外媒说也有遇见过这个词:
An adaptation of the 2014 Japanese movie 100 Yen Love, YOLO (aka You Only Live Once) centers on Le Ying (Jia), an unemployed woman in her 30s who still lives with her parents until one day, she meets a boxing coach who may just change her life.
《热辣滚烫》改编自2014年日本电影《百元之恋》,讲述了一位30多岁的女性乐莹(贾玲饰),没有工作,仍与父母同住,直到有一天,她遇到了一位可能改变她一生的拳击教练。
同样可用来引出电影、小说内容的表达还有:
tell the story of sb / sth,
revolve around sb / sth,
follow sth,
feature sth 等等。
我们在王家卫拍的《繁花》,外媒如何评价?总结过,大家可以点击链接复习一下。altogether 为副词,指「完全,全部」,表示强调,相当于completely。
stop sth altogether 即「完全停止...,彻底停止...」。yearn to do sth / yearn for sth指「渴望…,向往…」(to want something very much, especially when it is very difficult to get),相当于want sth very much。
比如美剧《致命女人》里有这样一句话:This painting may not be who I am, but it's who I yearned to be.
我们来看个英剧《王冠》里的例子:
I yearn for our perfect life together.
近义词还有:long for sth / long to do sth, crave sth, hunger for sth, covet sth等等。顺便再补充一下,yearning 为名词形式,指「渴望,向往」,相当于a strong and emotional desire。介词搭配为:a yearning for sb / sth, a yearning to do sth。
考研英语一2013年Part C里就出现过这个词:
In them we can see biophilia—a yearning for contact with nonhuman life-assuming uncanny representational forms.
从这些花园中,我们能看到人类热爱生命的天性,即一种亲近大自然的渴望,而这种天性呈现出各种离奇的表现形式。live off sth 指「靠…生活」。
Come on, you can't live off your parents your whole life.rightfully 为副词,指「正当地,合理地」。
文中rightfully 便是在说明韩江“在韩国被誉为预言者是合理的。
再比如:The property rightfully belonged to his brother, not to him.财产理所当然地属于他的兄弟,而不是他。celebrate 除了指「庆祝」,还有「赞美,歌颂」的意思。
celebrate sb as sth 指「把...誉为...」。
visionary [ˈvɪʒəneri] 这里为名词,指「有远见的人」。
That man is a goddamn visionary.
#03
外界反应
bookmaker 指「博彩公司」。 avant-garde [ˌævɑːŋ ˈɡɑːrd] 为形容词,指「先锋派的,前卫的」。 category-defying 是个合成的形容词,来自动词短语defy category:
defy sth 指「不可能…,无法…」。defy category 便指「无法分类」。
再比如:defy description无法描述 defy analysis 无法分析 defy belief 无法相信 defy logic 没有逻辑类似的表达还有 be beyond sth 也表示「无法...,不可能...」。
比如:What Jock had done was beyond my comprehension. 我无法理解乔克的所作所为。
Sweden is lovely in summer — cold beyond belief in winter.
瑞典的夏天非常宜人——冬天却冷得让人难以置信。
But by the year 2020 business computing will have changed beyond recognition.但是到了2020年,商业计算会变得面目全非。defy 还有两个高频含义,大家顺便记一记:
1)指「违抗...,反抗...,不服从...,蔑视...」法律、规则、权威等等。
比如:defy the law 抗拒法律 defy the teacher 违抗老师
我们在超短发、不化妆,为何中国女性拒绝“服美役”?| 外媒说 这篇文章也讲过这个词: defy beauty duty 便指「拒绝服美役」。考研英语也多次考到这个词: [B ]the authority of the NRC will be defied 核管理委员会的权威将会被藐视。 2)指「经受住,顶住,抗住」,相当于successfully resist sth。 The baby boy defied all the odds and survived.
这名男婴九死一生活了下来。greet [ɡriːt] 为动词,本来是指「打招呼,问候」。be greeted with / by sth是一个词组,指「受到...」,用于引出人们的反应。
《经济学人》一篇关于四川和重庆火锅的文章有这样一句话,很有意思:
News of other businesses reusing weeks-old oil in the broth is greeted with a shrug. The grubbiest hotpot joints are usually the best, young people often say with a grin.
有消息称,其他火锅店在汤里重复使用了几周的老油,人们对此只是耸耸肩。年轻人经常笑着说,最脏的火锅店通常是最好吃的。fanfare [ˈfænfer] 本义喇叭或号角嘹亮的吹奏声,比喻媒体上的「喧嚣」。
#04
韩国人怎么看?
be astonished to do sth 指「惊讶地…」。 learn 这里不是「学习」的意思,而是指「得知」。我们即可以说learn sth,也可以说learn of / about sth。
举个美剧《大小谎言》的例子:You learned of his infidelity just ten seconds before he went falling down a flight of stairs to his death. a strong candidate 指「很有希望的候选人,强有力的候选人」。
groundbreaking [ɡraʊndˌbreɪkɪŋ] 为形容词,指「开创性的,突破性的」。 reshape 为动词,由re(重新)+shape(形成,塑造)构成,指「重塑,改造」。 literary 为形容词,指「文学的」。 landscape 这里可不是「风景」的意思,而是指「形势,格局」。 比如:the political landscape 政治形势 the social landscape 社会形势 the employment landscape 就业形势。 今年《经济学人》的订阅费用大涨,它还专门寄了一封信给订阅者,其中有一句话就是:
In a chaotic, fractious media landscape, we are committed to bringing you rigorous, independent reporting and analysis of global events.在这个混乱嘈杂、剑拔弩张的媒体环境里,我们致力于为您带来严谨、独立的全球报道和分析。
daring 源自动词dare,指「大胆的,勇敢的」,是个褒义词。
我们在外刊如何花式表达「胆子大」?刚学过这个词:《经济学人》就曾用daring形容中国的改革开放:
Only since the 1990s, when China began its daring, deep-seated economic reforms, has it raced ahead.
1990年代中国开始了大胆、坚定的经济改革,自此才冲到了前头。daring 也可作名词,指「勇气,胆量」,相当于courage。
我在电影《死亡诗社》里也遇见过这个词:
Sure, there's a time for daring, and there's a time for caution.subject matter 指「题材,内容」。 time and time again 是个词组,指「一次又一次,反复多次」。 brave 这里为动词,brave sth 指「勇敢地面对…,冒着...的风险」(to have to deal with somebody/something difficult or unpleasant in order to achieve something)。
The firemen braved the flames to rescue the family.消防队员冒着火焰营救这家人。
外媒也曾用这个词描述人们冒雨排队买喜茶:
Customers braved the rain to try their first drinks.come out of sth指「从...中走出来」,这里sth一般都是不好的局面。
文中has come out of // these attempts at silencing her 直译便是「从这些让她闭嘴的企图里走出来」。
怎么走出来呢?后面作者用with sth引出方式:
stronger, more unflinching work 更强大、更坚定的作品。the attempt at doing sth / the attempt to do sth 指「对做某事的尝试」。 silence 作动词,使...安静,指「让...闭嘴,压制...」。
If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. But one word from you will silence me for ever.
How, when the government silences the press?
with sth 指「用...,以...」,用于引出方式。do sth with sth 便指「用...做某事」。
举两个美剧里的例子:She wanted to destroy me with words, literally. Anyway, dudes don't say it with words, they say it with actions. unflinching [ʌnˈflɪntʃɪŋ] 为形容词,指「坚定的,不畏缩的」(not changing or becoming weaker, even in a very difficult or dangerous situation)。
文中stronger, more unflinching 也是两个并列的形容词,修饰work,指「更强大的、更坚定的作品」。
比如:unflinching loyalty 坚贞不渝的忠诚
an unflinching stare 毫不畏惧的注视flinch 为动词,指「退缩,畏缩」(to move your face or body away from someone or something because you are in pain, frightened, or upset ),介词搭配为flinch at sth, flinch from sth。 我们来看两个美剧里的例子: But this guy, he doesn't even flinch.
He didn't even flinch.
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