TED英语演讲：我的阅读世界年

英语演讲我的阅读世界年TED安.摩根认为自己擅于阅读，直到她在自己的书架上发现到不得了的文化盲点;在众多的英、美作家之列，极少作品出自英语世界以外的作家所以她订出一个豪情万丈的目标-「在一年的历程阅读世界各国的一本书」；现在她鼓励其他的崇尚英风者们去阅读翻译作品下面是我为大家收集关于英语演讲我的阅读世界年，欢迎借鉴参考TED演说题目我的阅读世界年！演说者Ann MorganItsoften said that youcan tella lotabout aperson bylookingat whatson theirbookshelves.What domy bookshelvessay aboutme Well,when Iasked myselfthis questiona fewyears ago,I madean alarmingdiscovery.Id alwaysthought ofmyself asa fairlycultured,cosmopolitansort ofperson.But mybookshelves tolda ratherdifferent story.Prettymuch allthe titleson themwere byBritish orNorth Americanauthors,andthere wasalmost nothingin translation.Discovering thismassive,cultural blindspot inmy readingcame asquite ashock.And when I thoughtabout it,it seemedlike areal shame.I knewtherehad to be lots of amazingstories outthere bywriters我不得不面对这么一个现实就是我可能无法获取每个国家书籍的英文版大约在英国出版的有翻译版本的书籍仅占全部的对于

4.5%世界上讲英语的其他地区来说，这个数字也差不多尽管在许多其他国家翻译出版的书籍的比例要高很多对刚开始来说虽然足够但这个数

4.5%字并没有告诉你的是这些书中很多会来自拥有强大出版网络的国家而且当中很多专业人士也很想把这些书卖给英文出版社例如，虽然每年有超过本的法语书会译成英文在英国发行但大部分是来自法国或瑞100士另一方面，在非洲讲法语的地区则几乎没有机会涉及到结果就是，有很多很多国家根本进不了英文文学的商业区根本进不了英文文学的商业区对世界上发行语言受众最多的读者来说这些国家的书籍鲜为人知但当谈到阅读世界这一做法时对我来说最大的困难就是我不知道从何入手我这一生几乎都在阅读英国和北美的书籍我根本不知道该怎么搜索寻找去选择世界上大部分其他地方的作品我没办法告诉你要怎么去搜索斯威士兰的文学作品我不知道纳米比亚有哪些好的文学作品这些作品并没有被藏起来我在文学上就是一个外盲那么我到底要怎么去阅读这个世界呢？我不得不寻求帮助在年月，我注册了我的博客202110然后我发了一条简短的求助我解释我是谁我ayearofreadingtheworld.com的阅读面有多窄我问有没有人愿意给我留言，建议我应该去读这个世界上其他地方的那些书我当时不知道有没有人会给我留言但在我发了求助后的几个小时内人们开始给我回复了一开始，是朋友和同事然后就是朋友的朋友很快，就是陌生人在我在网上留了那条求助之后的第四天我收到了一条消息它来自一位在吉隆坡叫的女士她说她很喜欢我这个项目的意义问Rafidah她能不能去当地的英文书店然后帮我选马来语书籍然后发给我？我满腔热情地接受了几个星期后包裹来了，里面不是一本，是两本Rafidah选的一本是马来西亚的书还有一本也是她选的，来自新加坡的书当时，我都惊呆了一个远在英里之外的陌生人会如此用心去帮一个她6000从未见过的陌生人但的善良，成了那一年的常规一次又一次，人们用他Rafidah们的方式来帮我有些人帮我做了研究有些人在假期或出差的时候专门跑一趟书店帮我找书事实证明，如果你想阅读这个世界如果你想用开放的思维去与之交流那么整个世界都会帮你对于那些在商业上没什么机会进入英文文学界的国家来说人们会更努力地去帮我这些书籍的来源经常让我出乎意料举个例子，我的巴拿马阅读，是来自推特上我和〃巴拿马运河这个账号的对话是的，巴拿马运河在有推特账号的当我在推特上发布我这个项目的消息时它建议说，我可能会想要去读一读一位叫的巴拿马作家的作品我找到Juan David Morgan了作家的网站，然后给他发了一条消息问他，他的西语小说有没有被翻译成英文的他答复说目前还没有出版但他确实有一份未出版的英文译文一本名叫《金马》的小说他用邮件把译文发给我允许我成为第一批阅读这本书的英文版本的读者之一并不是唯一一个愿意用这种方式和我分享他的作品的作Morgan家从瑞典到帕劳作家和翻译家给我发来他们自己出版的书籍还有未被以英文为母语的出版商挑中的或者是不再有机会发表的所有未出版的手稿这让我有机会一窥某些精彩的世界比如说，我读了关于南非国王的书籍他在世纪领导反抗葡萄牙人我也读了土库曼斯坦Ngungunhane19的里海岸边那些偏僻村庄的结婚仪式我还读了科威特版本的《单身BJ日记》我还读了安哥拉一场树上狂欢在人们想尽办法帮我去阅读这个世界的例子中可能最让人惊奇的出现在我网上求助的最后时期当时我在找一本书它来自来自说葡萄牙语的圣多美岛和普林西比岛非洲小岛国花了好几个月，用尽所有我能想到的办法去找一本从别的国家翻译成英文的书（但都找不到）我觉得剩下的唯一方式就是看能不能重新去翻译我当时也没什么把握不知道是否有人愿意帮我愿意花时间来为我做这样的事但，就在我在推特和脸书上发出寻找会讲葡萄牙语的人这一消息的一周内我找到的人多到超乎预期包括有在她领域的杰出人才她翻译了获诺贝Margaret Juli Costa,尔奖的文学作品《若泽萨拉马戈》然后带着位志愿者我找到了一本9出自圣多美岛作家的书然后在网上买了几本这是其中的一本我给每个志愿者都发了一本他们各自从这个系列中选几个短故事然后开始翻译，然后把译文发给我在六周内，我已经拥有一本可读的书了类似的情况在我阅读世界那一年经常发生我的不知，以及无畏自己的局限成了一个巨大的机遇说到圣多美岛和普林西比岛不单是一个学习新知识的机会探索新文学作品的机会还是将人们聚集起来团结起来创新努力的机会我的局限反倒成了这个项目的优势那一年我看过的书开拓了我的视野那些享受阅读的人就能体会书籍有着强大能力把你带出自我进入别人的思想众所以，至少有一段时间你能看到别人眼中的世界这或许不会是一段好过的经历尤其是你在读一本文化上与自己的观念大为不同的书但它却可能很有启发性与不熟悉的想法产生碰撞能帮你更好认识自己的想法也能帮你告诉自己在你看到这个世界的方式上有哪些盲点当我回头看我从小到大读过的大多数英文文学相比世界上其他书籍的丰富程度这些书籍确实太狭隘了每翻一页便长一智积少成多我年初列出的国家列表从一些列枯燥充满学术的地名变成了活生生会呼吸的实体现在，我并不想建议说单靠读一本书就能大致了解一个国家但积少成多，那一年我读过的故事它们的对这个世界展示的丰富性,多样化性，和复杂性让我更有存在感就好像是这些世界性的故事以及那些想办法帮我阅读这些书籍的人们是他们让我变得真实这些天来，当我看着我的书架的时候或者在我的电子阅读器上思考这些作品时它们在诉说这一个不一样的故事这是一个关于书籍的故事书能将我们联系在一起，跨越政治，区域，文化，社会，宗教的隔阂它是人们拥有协同工作的潜能的故事还有，它是一个证明的故事证明了我们现在的这个时代，由于有互联网让一切变得前所未有的方便让一个陌生人来与来自地球另一半素未谋面的另一陌生人分享一个故事，一种世界关，一本书我希望这是一个我阅读这么多年所追求的故事我也希望会有更多的人可以与我同阅如果我们都扩宽我们的阅读面，那么对于出版商来说就更有动机去翻译更多书籍我们就有机会更广地阅读了谢谢working inlanguages otherthan English.And it seemed reallysad tothinkthat my reading habitsmeant Iwould probablynever encounterthem.So,I decidedto prescribemyself anintensive courseof globalreading.2021was setto bea veryinternational yearfor the UK;it wasthe yearof theLondonOlympics.And soI decidedto useit asmy timeframe to try to reada novel,short storycollection ormemoir from every countryin the world.And soI did.And it was veryexciting and I learnedsome remarkablethingsand madesome wonderfulconnections that I want to sharewith youtoday.But itstarted withsome practicalproblems.After Idworked outwhichof themany differentlists ofcountries in the worldto usefor myproject,I endedup goingwith thelist ofUN-recognized nations,to whichIadded Taiwan,which gaveme atotal of196countries.And after Id workedouthow tofit readingand bloggingabout,roughly,four booksa weekaroundworking fivedays aweek,I thenhad toface upto thefact thatI mighteven notbe ableto get booksin English fromeverycountry.Only around

4.5percent oftheliterary workspublished each year in the UKare translations,and thefiguresare similarfor muchof theEnglish-speaking world.Although,theproportion oftranslatedbooks published in manyother countriesis a lot higher.

4.5percent istinyenough to start with,but whatthat figuredoesnt tell you is thatmany ofthose bookswill come from countries with strongpublishingnetworks andlotsofindustry professionalsprimed to go outand sellthosetitles toEnglish-language publishers.So,for example,although wellover100books aretranslated fromFrench andpublishedintheUKeachyear,most of them willcome fromcountries likeFrance orSwitzerland.French-speaking Africa,on theother hand,will rarelyever geta look-in.The upshotisthat there areactually quitealotof nationsthatmay havelittle oreven nocommercially availableliterature inEnglish.Their booksremain invisibleto readersof the worlds mostpublishedlanguage.But whenit came to readingthe world,the biggestchallenge ofallfor me was thatfact thatI didntknow wheretostart.Having spentmylife readingalmost exclusivelyBritish andNorth Americanbooks,I hadno idea how to goabout sourcingand findingstories andchoosing themfrommuch of the restof the world.I couldnttellyouhowtosource astoryfrom Swaziland.I wouldntknow agood novelfrom Namibia.There wasnohiding it——I wasa cluelessliterary xenophobe.So howon earthwas Igoing toread theworldI wasgoing tohave toask forhelp.So inOctober2021,Iregistered myblog,ayearofreadingtheworld.com,andIposted ashortappeal online.I explainedwho I was,how narrowmyreadinghad been,andI askedanyone whocared to to leavea messagesuggesting whatI mightreadfrom otherparts of the planet.Now,I hadnoideawhether anyonewouldbe interested,but within a fewhours ofme postingthat appeal online,people started to getin touch.At first,it was friends andcolleagues.Then it wasfriendsof friends.And prettysoon,it wasstrangers.Four daysafterIput thatappealonline,I gota messagefroma womancalled Rafidahin KualaLumpur.She saidshe lovedthe soundofmy project,could shego toher localEnglish-language bookshopand choosemyMalaysian bookand postit to me Iaccepted enthusiastically,and afewweeks later,a packagearrived containingnot one,but twobooks一一Rafidahs choicefrom Malaysia,and a book fromSingapore thatshe hadalsopicked outfor me.Now,at thetime,I wasamazed thata strangermore than6,000miles awaywould goto such lengths to help someoneshe wouldprobablynever meet.But Rafidahskindness provedtobethe patternfor that year.Timeand again,people wentout oftheir waytohelp me.Some took on researchonmy behalf,and othersmade detoursonholidays andbusiness tripsto goto bookshopsfor me.It turnsout,ifyou want toread theworld,if youwant toencounter itwith anopen mind,theworldwill helpyou.When itcame tocountrieswithlittle ornocommercially availableliterature inEnglish,people wentfurther still.Books oftencame fromsurprising sources.My Panamanianread,forexample,came througha conversationI hadwith the Panama Canalon Twitter.Yes,thePanamaCanal hasa Twitteraccount.And when I tweetedat itaboutmy project,it suggestedthatImight liketotryand get hold ofthe workofthe Panamanianauthor JuanDavidMorgan.I foundMorgans websiteandI senthim amessage,asking ifany of his Spanish-language novelshad beentranslated into English.And hesaidthatnothing had been published,buthe didhave anunpublished translationofhisnovel TheGolden Horse.Heemailed thisto me,allowing meto becomeone ofthe firstpeople evertoread thatbook inEnglish.Morgan wasby nomeans theonly wordsmithto sharehis workwithme inthis way.From Swedento Palau,writers andtranslators sentmeself-published booksand unpublishedmanuscripts ofbooks thathadnt beenpickedup byAnglophone publishersor thatwere nolonger available,givingme privilegedglimpses ofsome remarkableimaginary worlds.I read,forexample,about theSouthern Africanking Ngungunhane,who ledthe resistanceagainstthe Portugueseinthe19th century;and aboutmarriage ritualsin aremotevillage on the shoresoftheCaspian seain Turkmenistan.I metKuwaitsanswer toBridget Jones.And I read aboutan orgyinatree inAngola.But perhapsthe mostamazing exampleofthelengths thatpeoplewere preparedtogototohelpmereadtheworld,came towardsthe endofmy quest,whenItried togetholdof a book fromthe tiny,Portuguese-speaking Africanisland nationof So Tom and Prncipe.Now,having spentseveral monthstrying everythingI couldthink ofto findabook thathadbeentranslatedintoEnglishfromthe nation,itseemedasthough theonly optionleft tomewasto seeif Icould getsomethingtranslated formefromscratch.Now,Iwasreally dubiouswhether anyonewasgoing towanttohelp withthis,and giveup theirtime forsomethinglike that.But,within aweek ofme puttinga callout onTwitter andFacebookfor Portuguesespeakers,I hadmore peoplethan Icould involveinthe project,including MargaretJuliCosta,a leaderin herfield,whohas translatedthe workof NobelPrize winnerJos Saramago.With myninevolunteers inplace,I managedto finda bookby aSo Tomanauthor thatIcould buyenough copiesof online.Heres oneof them.AndI senta copyout toeach ofmy volunteers.They alltookona coupleofshort storiesfrom thiscollection,stuck to their word,sent theirtranslationsback tome,and withinsix weeks,I hadthe entirebook toread.In thatcase,as Ifound sooften duringmy yearof readingtheworld,my notknowing andbeing openabout mylimitations had become abigopportunity.When itcametoSoTomandPrncipe,itwasa chancenot onlytolearn somethingnew anddiscover anew collectionof stories,but alsotobring togethera groupof peopleand facilitatea jointcreative endeavor.My weaknesshadbecomethe projectsstrength.The booksI readthat yearopened my eyes tomany things.As thosewhoenjoy readingwill know,books havean extraordinarypower totake yououtof yourselfand intosomeone elsesmindset,so that,for awhile atleast,you look attheworld throughdifferent eyes.That canbe anuncomfortableexperience,particularly ifyoure readingabookfrom aculturethat mayhave quitedifferent valuesto yourown.But itcan alsobereally enlightening.Wrestling withunfamiliar ideascan helpclarifyyour ownthinking.And itcan alsoshow upblind spotsintheway youmighthave beenlooking attheworld.When Ilooked backat muchoftheEnglish-languageliterature Idgrown upwith,for example,I beganto seehow narrowa lotofitwas,compared tothe richnessthat theworld hasto offer.And asthepages turned,something elsestartedtohappen,too.Little bylittle,that longlist ofcountries thatId startedthe yearwith,changed froma rather dry,academic registerof placenames intoliving,breathingentities.Now,I dontwanttosuggest thatits atall possibletogetarounded pictureof acountry simplyby readingone book.But cumulatively,the storiesIreadthatyearmade memore alivethan everbefore totherichness,diversity andcomplexity ofour remarkableplanet.It wasasthough theworlds storiesand thepeople whodgone tosuchlengthsto helpmeread themhad madeit realtome.These days,whenIlookatmy bookshelvesorconsider theworks onmye-reader,they tellaratherdifferent story.Its thestory ofthe powerbooks haveto connectus acrosspolitical,geographical,cultural,social,religious divides.Its thetale ofthepotential humanbeings haveto worktogether.And,its testamenttotheextraordinary timeswe livein,where,thanks tothe Internet,its easierthan everbefore fora strangerto shareastory,a worldview,abookwith someoneshe maynever meet,ontheotherside ofthe planet.I hopeits astory Imreading formany yearsto come.And Ihope manymorepeople willjoin me.If weall readmore widely,thered bemore incentiveforpublishers totranslate morebooks,and wewould allbe richerfor that.Thank you.常说看一个人的书架就能了解到这个人很多事情那么我的书架是怎么展现我的呢？嗯，当几年前我问自己这个问题时我被自己吓了一跳我一直觉得自己是一个有教养的比较与时俱进的人但我的书架展现的却是另一回事大部分的书都是英国或北美的基本没什么翻译过来的书在我的阅读里，我发现了这个庞大的文化盲点确实挺惊人的当我仔细去想的时候，真的挺遗憾的我知道在这个世界上除了英语一定还有很多其他语言的有趣的故事而我的阅读习惯意味着我估计永远也不会去接触这一类书这想起来让人有点伤心所以我下定决心把自己的阅读范围扩大到世界级的范围年对于英国来说是非常国际2021化的一年这一年伦敦举办了奥运会所以我决定把它当成一个时间段去尝试从世界上不同的国家里选一本小说来读，不管是短篇的还是自传的所以我这么做了非常刺激我学到很多有用的东西也了解到很多有趣的联系让我很想今天跟大家分享但万事开头难当我整理出这个世界不同国家的列表后我又对照了联合国认证的国家列表所以我增加了台湾（中国）所以总共有个国家在我算出如何在一周内一周五天的时间内读完并记录日志后，196。