《地下鐵道》斬獲普利策獎

US author Colson Whitehead’s new novel, The Underground Railroad, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on April 9. And it’s not hard to see why. But while it doesn’t require any great historical knowledge to be enjoyed, there are a couple of things the reader should bear in mind.

美國作家科爾森·懷特黑德的最新小說《地下鐵道》于4月9日獲得了普利策獎。而獲獎原因也顯而易見。讀懂這本小說雖無需豐富的歷史知識，但有幾點讀者們應(yīng)當銘記。

The book’s title, The Underground Railroad, is also the name for the people – some black, some white – who ran the network of secret routes and safe houses, through which slaves in America were helped to freedom.

這本書的書名，《地下鐵道》同時也是一些人的名字 —— 有的是黑人，有的是白人 —— 他們?yōu)閹椭绹`獲得自由，守護著秘密的線路和安全的居所。

The initial setting of the story is a slave plantation (種植園) in Georgia, in the south of the US. It is a horrific place, and every slave there wants to escape. Only a few of those who try succeed.

故事一開始發(fā)生在美國南部佐治亞州的一個奴隸種植園里。那是個所有奴隸都想逃離的恐怖之地。但只有一小部分人能成功逃脫。

One such is Cora, taken by slavers from West Africa. To get to her freedom in Indiana, Cora has to escape from a long list of dangerous people. Her escape gets the attention of notorious slave catcher Ridgeway, who not only wants to recover (追回) her but destroy the underground railroad at the same time.

被奴隸販子從西非帶來美國的科拉便是其中之一。為了能在印第安納州獲得自由，她必須得從一長串危險人物的手下逃脫。她的逃跑引起了臭名昭著的獵奴者里奇韋的注意。他不光想追回科拉，同時還想摧毀地下鐵道。

The basic structure of The Underground Railroad comes from the classic “slave narrative (敘事體)” – accounts written by former slaves of their struggle to free themselves.

《地下鐵道》一書的基本框架來源于經(jīng)典的“奴隸敘事體” —— 昔日的奴隸們?yōu)榻夥抛晕?，將自己的痛苦掙扎記錄了下來?/p>

But although the terrible lives of the slaves are described very believably, The Underground Railroad is not a realist novel that sticks to the facts. The story makes great use of Whitehead’s imagination. While the “Underground Railroad” is a metaphor (隱喻), Whitehead makes it an actual railway. The train travels through wormhole-style black tunnels (隧道) – like something out of science fiction – taking Cora to different realities within the US.

雖然奴隸們的悲慘生活(在書中)被描繪得栩栩如生，但《地下鐵道》這本書卻并非是嚴格遵循事實的現(xiàn)實主義小說。懷特黑德在其中運用了大量的想象。盡管“地下鐵道”一詞是個隱喻，但懷特黑德卻將其寫成了一條真正的鐵路。火車通過一節(jié)節(jié)蟲洞般的漆黑隧道 —— 就像科幻小說里描寫的那樣 —— 將科拉帶往美國境內(nèi)完全不同的現(xiàn)實環(huán)境。

The reader does not expect this, because stories about slaves very rarely depart from the truth. But however inventive he allows himself to be, The Underground Railroad remains a story of slavery and an attempt to understand this awful thing whose impact is still felt in the US today.

讀者并沒預料到這一點，因為奴隸故事很少脫離現(xiàn)實。但無論懷特黑德有多么地別出心裁，《地下鐵道》這本書還是一個關(guān)于奴隸制的故事，試圖讓人們了解這個至今仍在影響美國的可怕制度。