為什麼你該讀《使女的故事》？ - 娜歐蜜·R·默瑟 (Naomi R. Mercer)：英語精讀講義

In Margaret Atwood's near-future novel, 用詞

在瑪格麗特·愛特伍設定的近未來小說

The Handmaid's Tale,

《使女的故事》裡，

a Christian fundamentalist regime called The Republic of Gilead 文化背景

一個名為基列共和國的基督教基本教義派政權

has staged a military coup 片語搭配

發動了一場軍事政變，

and established a theocratic government in the United States. 文化背景

並在美國建立了一個神權政府。

The regime theoretically restricts everyone, 表達脈絡

這個政權在理論上限制所有人，

but in practice a few men have structured Gilead

但在實際操作中，少數男性建構了基列國，

so they have all the power, 文法

讓他們掌握所有的權力，

especially over women.

尤其是針對女性的權力。

The Handmaid's Tale is what Atwood calls speculative fiction, 文化背景

《使女的故事》被愛特伍稱為推想小說，

meaning it theorizes about possible futures.

意思是它對各種可能的未來進行了理論推演。

This is a fundamental characteristic shared by both utopian and dystopian texts.

這是烏托邦和反烏托邦文本所共有的一個基本特徵。

The possible futures in Atwood's novels are usually negative or dystopian,

愛特伍小說中可能的未來通常是負面的或反烏托邦的，

where the actions of a small group have destroyed society as we know it. 慣用語

在那裡，一小群人的行為摧毀了我們所知的社會。

Utopian and dystopian writing tends to parallel political trends.

烏托邦和反烏托邦寫作往往與政治趨勢相呼應。

Utopian writing frequently depicts an idealized society

烏托邦寫作經常描繪一個理想化的社會，

that the author puts forth as a blueprint to strive toward. 講解

作者將其作為努力實現的藍圖提出來。

Dystopias, on the other hand,

另一方面，反烏托邦

are not necessarily predictions of apocalyptic futures, 表達脈絡

未必是對世界末日的預測，

but rather warnings about the ways in which societies can set themselves on the path to destruction. 慣用語

而是對社會如何走向毀滅之路的警告。

The Handmaid's Tale was published in 1985,

《使女的故事》出版於1985年，

when many conservative groups attacked the gains made by the second-wave feminist movement. 文化背景

當時許多保守派團體不斷攻擊第二波女性主義運動取得的成果。

This movement had been advocating greater social and legal equality for women since the early 1960s. 文法

該運動自20世紀60年代初以來，一直倡導女性在社會和法律上獲得更大的平等。

The Handmaid's Tale imagines a future in which the conservative counter-movement gains the upper hand 慣用語

《使女的故事》設想了一個保守派反制運動佔據上風的未來，

and not only demolishes the progress women had made toward equality, 文法

他們不僅摧毀了女性在追求平等道路上取得的進步，

but makes women completely subservient to men. 用詞

還讓女性完全屈從於男性。

Gilead divides women in the regime into distinct social classes

基列政權將政權下的女性劃分為不同的社會階級，

based upon their function as status symbols for men. 用詞

依據是她們作為男性地位象徵的功能。

Even their clothing is color-coded. 用詞

甚至她們的衣服也用顏色進行了嚴格的區分。

Women are no longer allowed to read or move about freely in public,

女性不再被允許閱讀，也不允許在公共場合自由走動，

and fertile women are subject to state-engineered rape 用詞

有生育能力的女性還要遭受國家安排的強姦，

in order to give birth to children for the regime.

以便為該政權生兒育女。

Although The Handmaid's Tale is set in the future,

儘管《使女的故事》設定在未來，

one of Atwood's self-imposed rules in writing it 片語搭配

但愛特伍在創作時給自己定下的規則之一是：

was that she wouldn't use any event or practice

她不會使用任何

that hadn't already happened in human history. 文法

人類歷史上未曾發生過的事件或做法。

The book is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts,

這本書的故事背景設定在麻薩諸塞州的劍橋市，

a city that during the American colonial period

這座城市在美國殖民時期

had been ruled by the theocratic Puritans. 文化背景

曾被實行神權統治的清教徒所控制。

In many ways,

在許多方面，

the Republic of Gilead resembles the strict rules that were present in Puritan society. 用詞

基列共和國的規矩類似於清教徒社會中存在的嚴酷法則。

Rigid moral codes,

嚴苛的道德準則、

modest clothing,

樸素的衣著、

banishment of dissenters, 用詞

驅逐異議者，

and regulation of every aspect of people's lives and relationships. 用詞

以及對人們生活和人際關係方方面面的嚴格管制。

For Atwood,

對愛特伍來說，

the parallels to Massachusetts Puritans were personal as well as theoretical.

與麻薩諸塞州清教徒的相似之處不僅是理論上的，也是切身的。

She spent several years studying the Puritans at Harvard,

她曾在哈佛大學花了好幾年時間研究清教徒，

and she's possibly descended from Mary Webster, 片語搭配

而且她很可能是瑪麗·韋伯斯特的後裔，

a Puritan woman accused of witchcraft 文化背景

這是一位被控使用巫術的清教徒女性，

who survived her hanging.

她在絞刑中奇蹟般地倖存了下來。

Atwood is a master storyteller.

愛特伍是一位說故事的大師。

The details of Gilead,

基列國的細節，

which we've only skimmed the surface of, 慣用語

我們剛才僅僅觸及了皮毛，

slowly come into focus through the eyes of its characters, 慣用語

會透過人物的眼睛慢慢變得清晰起來，

mainly the novel's protagonist,

主要是透過小說的女主角——

Offred,

奧芙雷德（Offred），

a handmaid in the household of a commander. 文化背景

一位大主教家中的使女。

Before the coup that established Gilead,

在建立基列國的政變發生之前，

Offred had a husband,

奧芙雷德有一個丈夫、

a child,

一個孩子、

a job,

一份工作，

and a normal middle-class American life.

以及美國中產階級的正常生活。

But when the fundamentalist regime comes into power, 片語搭配

但當基本教義派政權上台後，

Offred is denied her identity, 文法

奧芙雷德被剝奪了身份，

separated from her family,

與家人被迫分離，

and reduced to being, 片語搭配

並被貶低為，

in Offred's words,

用奧芙雷德自己的話說，

a two-legged womb 慣用語

一個兩隻腳的子宮，

for increasing Gilead's waning population.

專門用來增加基列國日益減少的人口。

She initially accepts the loss of her fundamental human rights

起初，她接受了基本人權喪失的事實，

in the name of stabilizing the new government. 片語搭配

名義上是為了穩定新政府。

But state control soon extends into attempts to control the language, 片語搭配

但國家控制很快就延伸到了試圖控制

behavior,

行為、

and thoughts of herself and other individuals.

以及她本人和其他個體的思想、語言。

Early on,

在小說早期，

Offred says,

奧芙雷德說：

"I wait.

「我等待著。

I compose myself. 表達脈絡

我重塑自己。

Myself is a thing I must compose as one composes a speech."

我自己是一件我必須重塑的東西，就像人寫演講稿那樣。」

She likens language to the formulation of identity. 片語搭配

她把語言比作身份的重塑。

Her words also acknowledge the possibility of resistance.

她的言語也承認了抵抗的可能性。

And it's resistance, 文法

而正是這種抵抗，

the actions of people who dare to break the political, 片語搭配

即那些敢於打破政治、

intellectual,

思想

and sexual rules,

和性別規則的人的行動，

that drives the plot of The Handmaid's Tale.

推動了《使女的故事》的情節發展。

Ultimately,

最終，

the novel's exploration of the consequences of complacency 表達脈絡

這部小說對自滿後果的探討，

and how power can be wielded unfairly 片語搭配

以及權力如何被不公平地濫用，

makes Atwood's chilling vision of a dystopian regime ever relevant. 片語搭配

使得愛特伍對反烏托邦政權那令人不寒而慄的設想至今仍具現實意義。

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你可以透過造訪 audible.com/teded 下載本書的音訊版，或 TED-Ed 推薦書單上的其他書籍。

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每一次免費試用都會鼓勵 Audible 繼續支持我們的非營利性使命。

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感謝您的觀看，

and thanks for your support.

也感謝您的支持。