王力宏牛津大學(xué)英語演講稿中英對照版
Thank you, Plena. Thank you, Jun. Thank you, Peishan for helping this set up.
謝謝波琳娜，謝謝君，謝謝珮姍幫我組織這一切。
Thank you all for being here today and the late comers as well. Thank you for coming in quietly.
謝謝在座的各位，謝謝晚來的同學(xué)，也謝謝你們悄悄的進來。
I wanna start off today just to take a moment of silence for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake and also for the victims of the Boston marathon bombing. So let’s just take a minute to pay our respect to that.
今天開始之前，我想要先為四川地震的災(zāi)民們以及波士頓馬拉松爆炸事件的受害者們默哀。讓我們用一分鐘時間，為他們祈福。
Thank you.
謝謝你們。
I never thought I would be addressing you, the esteemed members of the Oxford Union, without a guitar or an Erhu, without my crazy stage hair, costumes. But I did perform in the O2 Arena in London last week. I am not sure if any of you were able to make that. But in many ways, that was similar to what I’m talking about today, that is, introducing Chinese pop music here.
尊敬的各位牛津大學(xué)辯論會和牛津大學(xué)亞太學(xué)生會的同學(xué)們，萬萬想不到會以這樣的方式跟你們相聚。沒有吉他和二胡，沒有夸張的舞臺裝也沒有“火力全開”頭。不過上周確實在倫敦的O2體育館表演過了。不知道大家有沒有去看呢。 但是，從各方面來說，這些跟我們今天的話題都有密切的關(guān)聯(lián)。那就是-介紹華流音樂。
See, I am actually an ambassador of Chinese pop, whether I like it or not, both music and movies. And today I’m here to give you the state of union address. It’s not the Oxford Union. It’s the union of east and west. I wanna frankly, openly and honestly talk about how we’ve done a good job or how we’ve done a bad job of bringing Chinese pop to the west. And I also want to press upon all of you here today the importance of that soft culture, that soft power exchange and how each of us is involved in that exchange.
其實無論我喜不喜歡，我都被認為在代表者華流音樂以及電影。那么今天，我就要來做一次“國情咨文”報告了。但是，這個“國”不是牛津，而是東西方的一個聯(lián)合體。我想跟你們聊一聊，我們在將華語音樂引入西方社會方面所做的事情，無論是成就，還是不足。我都會坦誠布公。同時，我也想借此機會給你們留下這樣一個印記：軟實力交流的重要性以及它同我們每個人的相關(guān)程度。
Soft power, a term I am sure you are all familiar with this point
軟實力這個詞我相信大家都不陌生。這個概念是由Rhodes Scholar 和牛津校友Joseph Nye 提出的。
Coined by Rhodes Scholar and Oxford alumnus Joseph Nye is defined as the ability to attract and persuade.
被定義為一種“吸引”和“說服”的能力。
Shashi Tharoor called it, in a recent TED Talk, the ability for a culture to tell a compelling story and influence others to fall in love with it.
Shashi Tharoor 在最近的一次TED演講中把它定義為“一種文化讓其他文化在聽了他動人的故事之后受到影響并愛上這種文化”的能力。
I like that definition.
我很喜歡這個定義。
But I want to put it in collegiate term for all you students in the audience: The way I see it, east and west are kinda like freshman roommates.
但是我想用貼近你們在做大學(xué)生們的方式來解釋這個詞。在我看來，東方跟西方在某種程度上，像是兩個大一剛?cè)雽W(xué)的新生舍友。
You don’t know a lot about each other but suddenly you are living together in the same room. And each one is scared that the other’s gonna steal his shower time or wants a party when the other wants to study.
兩個幾乎陌生的人，突然來到同一個屋檐下，其中一個總是怕另一個會跟他搶洗澡的時間，或者在他想要學(xué)習的時候大開趴體。
It has the potential to be absolute hell, doesn’t it? We all had horrible stories of THAT roommate. We’ve all heard about those stories. I know a lot of students here in Oxford have your own separate bedrooms. But when I was a freshman at Williams College, I was not so safe and fortunate.
這種關(guān)系很可能就變成跟地獄一樣了，不是么?“我的室友是極品”的故事大家都講得出來。這些事我都有耳聞。還有我知道牛津這兒的很多同學(xué)都一人一間的對吧，但是，在我剛上威廉姆斯學(xué)院的時候，我并不幸運，而且人身安全堪憂。
(You are kidding me. Woo-hoo! All right, all right!Great. )
哇，你還真的是我們學(xué)校的!好吧，好棒!
Well, I had a roommate, and he was THAT roommate. Let’s just call him Frank. So Frank was my roommate and Frank liked nothing more than to smoke weed. And he did it every day.
我當時就有一個這樣的極品舍友，讓我們暫且叫他frank。這個frank 就是那種好像除了抽大麻沒有別的愛好的人。而且他每天都抽。
And Frank had a two-foot long bong under his bed that was constantly being fired up. For those Chiese speakers in the audience. Frank would “火力全開” on that bong every day.
他床底下有一個兩英尺長的煙斗，持續(xù)不斷的得點著。給在做講中文的同學(xué)們形容下，就是他每天會對著那個煙斗火力全開
All right
好吧。
So, I guess I was kinda of the opposite of Bill Clinton who “tried marijuana but didn’t inhale”. I didn’t try marijuana but I did inhale, every single day, second hand. And strangely enough every time I dwelt into our bedroom, I mysteriously end up being late for class. I don’t know how it happened. It was like “Dude, it is already ten o’clock?”.
我可能在這點上算是跟Bill Clinton 相反吧。Bill Clinton 是那種“我試過大麻，但我不上癮。”我不抽大麻，但是我每天都在吸啊吸，而且還是二手的。奇怪的是，只要我在我們的臥室里，我最后都會稀里糊涂地上課遲到。我也不知道怎么回事。我當時就是那副吸了大麻的樣子，嘿，已經(jīng)十點了嗎?
So, how many of you have lived with the Frank, or could be a Frank Gat? Having a roommate can be a recipe for disaster, but it also has the potential for being the greatest friendship you’ve ever had. See, Frank, he didn’t make it the second year. And I got two new roommates second year, Stephen and Jason. And in this day, the three of us are the best friends.
你們中有多少人有過frank那樣的舍友呢?或者，你們也像他一樣。所以有一個室友可能是一場災(zāi)難的開始。但也可能會釀造一段非凡的友誼。Frank第二年就輟學(xué)了。于是我換了兩個新的舍友，Stefan 和 Jason。如今，我們?nèi)齻�是鐵哥們。
So going back to my analogy, of east and west as roommates. Do we want to be Frank, or do we want to be Stephen and Jason? And I think, in this day and age of 2013, we should all be striving for the latter, should we…I mean I’m assuming that we all agree that this is the goal we should all be striving for.
回過頭來看我的那個類比，我們東方和西方的舍友。是應(yīng)該成為frank那樣的存在，還是想像Stefan 和 Jason那樣呢?我認為在當時當下，在2013，我們應(yīng)該努力成為后者。我們應(yīng)該， 我是說，我想在這一目標上我們是可以達成共識的，對吧?
Let’s look at where we are in reality. Recent headlines in the media include, Foreign Policy Magazine: China’s victim complex. Why are Chinese leaders so paranoid about the United States? Or the AFP, the Agence France-Presse, human rights in China worsening US finds. Bloomberg says, on the cover of its magazine, “yes, the Chinese Army is spying on you.”
那么，回過頭來，正視我們在現(xiàn)實中的處境。看看最近的新聞頭條：《外交政策》雜志上的，“中國的受害者情節(jié)：為何中國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人如此猜忌美國”或者法新社的財經(jīng)雜志《彭博商業(yè)周刊》上說，“沒錯，中國軍隊正在測探你。”
And it’s such a great one that I just want to show you the cover of the magazine. Yes. Be very afraid! Ok, is it shown to you right? OK. So there’s actually an extremely high amount of negativity and fear and anxiety about China, sinophobia, that I think is not just misinformed, but also misleading and ultimately dangerous, very dangerous.
這個特別逗，我來給你們展示一下這封面。是的，特別恐慌有木有!方向那對的吧，嗯，對的。當今對于中國有太多的負面東西�？秩A情緒很嚴重。我覺得這種現(xiàn)象不僅是一種誤傳同時也是一種誤導(dǎo)。這是很可怕的，超級可怕。
And what about how westerners are viewed by Chinese? Well, we have terms for westerners. The most common of which are gweilo in Cantonese, which means “the old devil”, lao wai, meaning the old outsider in mandarin, ang moh, which means the “red hairy one” in Taiwanese. The list goes on and on. So are these roommates headed for a best friend relationship? I think we need a little help. And as China rises to be global power, I think it is more important than ever for us to be discerning about what we believe, because after all, I think that’s the purpose of higher education.
那么，中國人又是如何看待西方的呢?我們對西方人的稱呼五花八門。大家熟知的有：香港人叫他們“鬼佬”，字面上就是“老妖”。大陸人叫他們老外，字面上就是“蠻夷”。還有臺灣人叫他們“紅毛”。還真說不完呢。這看上去像是能發(fā)展成一段最佳友誼的舍友關(guān)系嗎?我認為我們得治治病。隨著中國實力不斷強大，看清楚應(yīng)該相信什么這一點空前重要。因為，歸根結(jié)底，這就是高等教育的目的。
And that’s why we are all here: to be able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions. China’s not just those headlines, the burgeoning economy of the unique politics. It’s not just the world’s factory or the next big superpower, it’s so much more. A billion people with rich culture, amazing stories and as a product of both of those cultures, I want to help foster understanding between the two, and help create that incredible relationship.
這就是我們坐在這里的原因：有能力獨立思考，自主選擇。中國當然不能通過那些新聞頭條來定義。也不只是所謂的特殊政策下快速增長的經(jīng)濟。中國不僅僅是一個世界工廠，也不僅僅是未來超級大國。中國的意義價值遠大于此。一個擁有十幾億人口，豐富悠久的歷史文化與傳奇故事的民族。作為中西兩種文化的共同產(chǎn)物，我特別想要幫忙在兩種文化之間培養(yǎng)起一種互相的理解，建立起一種很美好的情誼。
Because knowing both sides of the coin, I really think that there is a love story waiting to be told, waiting to unfold. And I am only half-joking when I said love story because I believe it is, the stories that will save us, will bring us together. And my thesis statement for today’s talk is that, the relationship between the east and west needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture. That’s a big fat plan. And I am gotta trying to back it up!
但凡事都有兩面，所以我認為這背后蘊含著一個亟待講述的愛情故事。我說“愛情故事”不完全在說笑。因為我相信，這些關(guān)于愛的故事能夠拯救我們，把我們凝聚在一起。我今天講的主題就是，通過流行文化修復(fù)東西方世界的關(guān)系。好宏偉的計劃有木有啊!我會想辦法講明白的。
The UN Secretary general Bunki Boo said: “There are no language required in musical world.” That is the power of music. That is the power of the heart. Through this promotion of arts, we can better understand that the culture and civilizations of other people. In this era of instability and intolerance, we need to promote better understanding through the power of music.
聯(lián)合國秘書長潘基文說過，在音樂的世界里，溝通時無需語言的。這就是音樂的力量。這就是人心的力量。通過發(fā)揚藝術(shù)，我們才能夠更好的了解其他民族的文明與文化。在這個動蕩不安，人與人之間不甚寬容的年代，我們需要利用音樂的力量來更好的了解彼此。
Now the UN Secretary General thinks we need more music, and I think he is right. Music and arts have always played the key role in my life in building relationships, replacing what once was the ignorance, fear and hatred with acceptance, friendships and even love. So I have a strong case for promoting music between cultures because it happened to me early in life.
聯(lián)合國秘書長認為我們需要更多的音樂。這一點我很贊同。音樂和藝術(shù)一直在我的生命中占據(jù)著很重要的地位。音樂和藝術(shù)的力量能夠幫助建立人與人之間的關(guān)系，用包容，友誼和愛來驅(qū)逐因為無知的仇恨而產(chǎn)生的恐懼。在不同文化之間推廣音樂這一點上，我自己的童年時期的經(jīng)歷是一個最好的例證。
I was born and raised in Rochester, New York. I barely spoke a word of Chinese. I didn’t know the difference between Taiwan or Thailand. I was… That’s true. I was as American as apple pie. Until one day, on a third grade playground, the inevitable finally happened. I got teased for being Chinese. Now every kid gets teased or made fun on the playground, but this was fundamentally different. And I knew it right then and there. This kid, let’s call him Bryan M. He started making fun of me, saying “ Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these.” I can’t believe you are laughing at that and that hurts. OK, I am just kidding. I can still remember how I felt. I felt ashamed. I felt embarrassed.
我在紐約的羅切斯特長大，幾乎不會說中文。我連“臺灣”和“泰國”這兩個詞都分不清楚。那是真的!我那時是個地地道道的美國人。直到我上了三年級，有一天在操場上，不可避免的事情終于發(fā)生了。因為中國人的血統(tǒng)，我第一次被人嘲笑了。當然一起玩的小孩都會互相戲弄開玩笑，但這次絕對不同。這點當時我立馬就感覺到了。我們暫且管那個孩子叫Bryan M吧。它開始嘲笑我說，中國人，日本人，臟膝蓋，快來看。(英文還押韻)你們居然還笑，我太受傷了!好吧，我只是開個玩笑。我依然能夠記得我當時的感覺。我感覺特別丟臉，特別尷尬。
But I laughed along with him, with everyone. I didn’t know what else to do. It was like having a out-of-body experience, as if I could laugh at that Chinese kid on the playground with all the other Americans because I was one of them. Right? Wrong. On may levels.
但是我當時跟著所有其他人一直在笑。年幼的我并不知道該怎么辦。當時感覺好像靈魂出竅一樣。好像我能夠和操場上其他美國孩子一起嘲笑中國人，我就是他們當中一員了。這種想法可取嗎?當然不可取，而且是大錯特錯。
And I was facing in front of the first but definitely not the last time, the harsh reality that I was minority in Rochester, which in those days had an Asian population of one percent.
那是我第一次感受到一件殘酷而現(xiàn)實的事實。我屬于一個少數(shù)群體，但那絕不是最后一次。在那個時代的羅切斯特，亞洲人口特別少，幾乎之占當?shù)厝丝诘陌俜种弧?br />
And I was confused. I wanted to punch Brian. I wanted to hurt him for putting me in that situation. But he was faster than me and he was stronger than me. And he would kick my butt and we both knew that. So I just took it in. And I didn’t tell anyone or share with anyone these feelings. I just held them in and I let them fester. And those feelings would surface in a strangely therapeutic way for me through music. And it was no coincidence that around that time I started getting good with the violin, the guitar, and the drums. And I would soon discover that by playing music or singing, other kids would, for a brief moment, forget about my race or color and accept me and then be able to see me for who I truly am, a human being who’s emotional, spiritual, curious about the world and has a need for love, just like everyone else.
我當時心里很亂，我很想把bryan 打一頓。他讓我陷入那種窘境，因此我也要讓他難過。但是他身材比我壯，出手也比我快。如果和他打架，我一定會被揍得更慘。這一點我們都知道。所以我就忍了下來。我從來沒有告訴過別人。也沒發(fā)泄什么感受。一直自己忍著，想讓他們爛在心底就好了。后來慢慢地，這些感受在音樂里竟然十分巧妙地把我治愈了。我那個時候?qū)π√崆�，吉他，鼓都越來越得心�?yīng)手，當然不是巧合。我漸漸發(fā)現(xiàn)，當我演奏或者唱歌的時候，其他孩子便會忘記我的種族或我的膚色。而真正接受我，了解真正的我，哪怕只是一小會。每當這個時候，他們就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，我跟他們都是一樣的人。我也對世界充滿感性的好奇和想象，我也需要愛。
And by the six grade, guess who asked me if I would be the drummer for his band? Brian. And I said yes. And that’s when we together formed the elementary school rock band called Nirvana. I am not kidding. I wan in the rock band called Nirvana before Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana was ever known. So when Nirvana came out, Bryan and I were like “Hey, he’s stealing our name.” But, really what attracted me to music at this young age was just this and it’s still what I love about music is that it breaks down the walls between us and shows us so quickly the truth that we are much more alike than we are different. Then in high school, I learned that music wasn’t just about connecting with other, like Bryan and I were connected through music. It was a powerful tool of influence and inspiration.
到了六年級的時候，猜猜誰拉我加入他的樂隊當鼓手?對，就是Bryan，我答應(yīng)了。于是Bryan跟我一起，組成了我們小學(xué)的搖滾樂隊：涅槃樂隊。是真的我沒開玩笑。我們的樂隊在科特柯本的涅槃樂隊之前就有了。所以后來涅槃樂隊出道的時候，我跟Bryan還嚷嚷，嘿，他盜用我們的名字!所以在那么小的時候，我就發(fā)現(xiàn)了音樂的迷人之處。當然這迷人之處也是我至今熱愛音樂的原因之一。那就是，音樂能打破人與人之間的隔閡，能讓我們那么快就看到彼此的相似點，而不是那些不同之處。后來上了高中，我學(xué)到了更多，音樂不僅僅能夠溝通彼此，就像我跟Bryan通過音樂結(jié)緣一樣。它同時也是一股強大的影響他人，激勵他人的力量。
Sam Wayne was my high school janitor. He was an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English. Sam scrubbed the floors and cleaned the bathrooms in our school for twenty years. And he never talked to the kids and the kids never talked to Sam. But one day, before the opening night of our school’s annual musical, he walked up to me, holding a letter. And I was taken aback. I was thinking, “Why is Sam the janitor approaching me? And he gave me this letter that I have kept to this day. It was scrawled in a shaky hand written in all in capitals. And I read: “In all my years of working as a genitor at Sutherland, you are the first Asian boy that played the lead role. I am gonna bring my six-year-old daughter to watch you perform tonight because I want her to see that Asians can be inspiring.” And that letter just floored me. I was fifteen years old and I was absolutely stunned. That’s the first time I realized how music was so important.
Sam Wayne是我們學(xué)校的門衛(wèi)。他是越南僑民。幾乎從來不說英語。Sam在我們學(xué)校做了二十幾年的清潔工，擦地板，掃廁所。卻從來沒跟學(xué)生們說過話。學(xué)生們也從不跟他說話。但是一天，我們學(xué)校一年一度的音樂節(jié)前夕，sam找到我，手里拿著一封信。我嚇壞了，心里琢磨，門衛(wèi)sam找我會有什么事?于是他遞給了我那封我至今保存的信。一看就是用顫抖的手寫下的潦草字跡。全都是大寫字母，信上寫著，我在這個學(xué)校當了那么多年門衛(wèi)，你是我見過的第一個擔綱主唱的亞洲男孩。我今晚要帶我六歲的女兒來看你的演出。因為我想要她看到，我們亞洲人也可以帶給人好多正能量。我真的被那封信震驚了。十五歲的我當時就驚呆了。我第一次意識到，原來音樂如此重要。
With Bryan, music helped two kids who were initially enemies become friends. But with Sam, music went beyond the one-on-one. It was even a higher level. It influenced others I didn’t even know in ways I can never imagine. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to Sam, the janitor, to this day. He really is one of the people who helped me discover my life’s purpose. And I had no idea that something I did could mean more than ever imagined to an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke English. Pop culture, music, and the other methods of story telling, movies, TV dramas, they are so key and they do connect us like me and Bryan and do influence us and inspire us.
在Bryan那兒，他讓兩個本來是敵人的孩子成為了朋友，然而在sam這里，音樂的意義超過了個體的范疇，達到了一個更好的層次。音樂以我想不到的方式影響到我甚至完全不認識的人。我從頭至尾對門衛(wèi)sam的感激是無法用語言來形容的。他真的算是幫助我發(fā)掘人生目標的人之一。我從來不知道我的一個小小的行為，能夠?qū)@樣一位甚至從來不說英文的越南僑民產(chǎn)生如此大的影響。流行文化，音樂以及任何一種講述故事的方式包括電影，電視劇，他們都是如此的重要，連接著我們。比如Bryan和我，又真的在影響著我們，激勵著我們。
Then let’s take another look at this State of Union the east, west union, with this soft-power bias. How is the soft power exchange between these two roommates? Are the songs in English that become hits in China? For sure. How about movies? Well, there are so many…that China has had to limit the number Hollywood movies imported into the country so that local films can even have a chance at success. What about the flip side of that? The Chinese songs that have a hit in the west? Well…(YES!)
回過頭來再看看這個東西方的聯(lián)合體，是存在一種軟實力偏向的。東方和西方這兩個“舍友”之間的軟實力交流會是什么樣子的呢?有沒有在中國很紅的英文歌呢?當然有。英文電影呢?那就太多了。多到中國不得不限制好萊塢電影的引入，來給本土電影制造些成功的機會。那么反過來，又在西方很紅的華語歌曲嗎?
Heheha,Yeah, and movies. Well there was Crouching Tiger, that was thirteen years ago. And, well I think there is a bit of an imbalance here. And I think it’s a soft-power deficit, let’s call that. I mean look in this direction. That is to say, the west influences the east more than vice versa. And forgive me for using east and west kind of loosely but I think it’s a lot easier to state this than English-speaking language or the Asian speaking language… Chinese, or Cantonese specifically, I think I’m making a generalization I hope you can go with me on this.
觀眾：江南style!王：哈哈，沒錯，還有電影。比如臥虎藏龍，那也是十三年前的事了。我覺得這當中有一種不平衡存在。我認為這是一種軟實力赤字，就這么叫吧。當我們放眼這個方向的時候，也就是說，西方對東方的影響遠遠大于東方對西方的。原諒我這里把東方和西方這兩個詞用的這么隨意。因為這比說，以英語為第一語言的國家，講中文或講粵語的地區(qū)，這樣的話方便點。我在使用一種概況化的表達方式。希望你們能理解。
And it’s interestingly a problem with this imbalance in pop cultural influence. And I think so. I think in any healthy relationship or friendship or marriage, isn’t it important for both sides to make an effort to understand the other? And that this exchange needs to have a healthy balance.
這種在流行文化影響方面的不平衡其實是個很有趣的問題。試想在任何一段健康的關(guān)系中，無論是友誼還是婚姻，雙方彼此努力去了解對方都再重要不過了，對嗎? 這種軟實力交換需要一種平衡。
And how do we address this? As an ambassador for Chinese pop music and movies, I have to ask myself the question, Why does this deficit exist? Is it because Chinese music just is lame? Don’t answer that, please. Yeah I can just see some of you are really like: “Stop complaining! Write a hit song! Psy did!” you know.But actually there is truth in that.
那么如何做到這一點呢?作為中國流行文化大使，我必須問自己這樣一個問題，為什么會存在這種軟實力赤字?是因為華語音樂真的很爛嗎?求你們了別回答這個問題。我看得出你們當中肯定有人在嘀咕：別發(fā)牢騷了!寫首勁歌吧!鳥叔不就做到了嗎?事實上這背后是有點道理的。
And the argument being that the content we’ve created just isn’t as internationally competitive. And why shouldn’t be? Well, look at Korean pop, look at K-pop for example. Korean is an export-based economy and they are outward looking.
一種說法是，我們所創(chuàng)作的內(nèi)容，沒有足夠的國際競爭力。為什么就沒有呢?那么，我們以韓流音樂為例。韓國的經(jīng)濟是以出口為導(dǎo)向的。他們的眼光是面向世界的。
And they must be outward looking. Chinese pop, on the other hand, can just kind of stay domestic, tour all over Chinese-speaking territories and comfortably sustained. So when we are, that big and powerful, there’re over 160 cities in China with a million or more people. You tend to kind of turn inward and be complacent(自滿的).
事實上他們也必須面向世界。而華語流行音樂，僅憑借在中國國內(nèi)發(fā)展以及在華語國家和地區(qū)舉辦巡演，就能夠堅挺下去。而中國，正是由于是一個泱泱大國，市場潛力巨大，又有著160萬個人口超過百萬的城市，華語音樂確實有內(nèi)化和固步自封的傾向。
So this certainly can be an argument made for Chinese pop being not marked with international sensibilities in mind. But the other side of the argument, I think is more interesting and thought-provoking and even more true that western ears aren’t familiar with, and therefore don’t really understand how to appreciate Chinese music. Ouch!
所以華語流行音樂缺乏在國際市場競爭的敏感性這一觀點是成立的。不過我認為這一議題的另一方面，更為有趣，更發(fā)人深省也更為真實。那就是西方聽眾并不熟悉華語音樂。因此并不懂得如何去欣賞華語音樂。哦好傷人啊!
OK, the reason I think that argument holds water though is because that’s exactly what I went through. So I happen to know a thing or two about learning to appreciate Chinese pop as a westerner. Cause as I was 17 years old when I went from being the Asian kid in America to being an American kid in China. And the entire paradigm suddenly got flipped on its head.
我之所以認為這種論調(diào)其實站得住腳，是因為我本人恰巧有過這般經(jīng)歷。因此我對“西方人如何學(xué)著欣賞華語流行音樂”這個問題還是要一定發(fā)言權(quán)的。在17歲之前，我是一個身處美國的亞洲小孩。17歲之后，我變成了一個身處亞洲的美國孩子。情況完全顛倒了過來。
I grow up listening to Beatie Boyz, Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses. Then I found myself in Taiwan, listening to the radio and thinking, where’s the beat? Where is the screeching(呼嘯聲) guitar solos? And here I am an American kid in Asia, listening to Chinese music for the first time and thinking “this stuff is lamb. I don’t like it.” I thought it was cheesy, production value was low. The singers couldn’t belt like Axl Rose, or Mariah Carey. But then one day, I went to my first Chinese pop concert and it was Yu Chengqing, Harlem Yu, performing in 臺北社教館the Taibei Music Center.
以前我是聽著Beatie Boyz, Led Zeppelin，槍花長大的。但是到了臺灣之后，我常邊聽音樂邊想， 這音樂怎么一點節(jié)奏感沒有!華麗的吉他獨奏在哪里!所以，作為一個在亞洲的美國孩子，我剛開始接觸到華語音樂的時候心里的想法是，這音樂太遜了，我不喜歡。我覺得這些歌都太不給力了。制作價值太低。這些歌手就是沒有Axl Rose (槍花主唱)或者Mariah Carey 那么會飆高音。直到有一天，我聽了人生中第一場華流演唱會。是庾澄慶，哈林。在臺北音樂中心的那場。
And as he performed, I looked around the audience and I saw their faces and the look in their eyes, their responsiveness to his music. And it was clear to me, finally, where the problem lay. It wasn’t that the music was lacking. It was my ability to appreciate it and to hear it in the right way. The crowd, they would sing along and be totally emerged in his music and I had this epiphany(頓悟) that I was missing point. And from now on, I was going to, somehow, learn how to get it.
當他表演時，我看到臺下觀眾臉上的表情，眼神 和他們對音樂的那種熱烈響應(yīng)。我總算知道問題出在哪里了。并不是華語音樂缺少什么，而是我不能夠正確的聆聽和欣賞它�？吹脚_下的人群跟著哈林一起唱并且完全沉浸在他的音樂里的時候，我頓悟到，我起初沒有很好的理解。我現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該開始學(xué)著如何領(lǐng)悟它們。
I was going to learn how to hear with local ears and I deconstructed and analyzed what it was that made Chinese audiences connect with certain types of melodies and rhythms and songs structures and lyrics. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past almost twenty years. And it took me a long time and I am still learning.
如何用“當?shù)氐?rdquo;耳朵去聽音樂。我開始解構(gòu)，分析，是什么讓華語聽眾對某種旋律，歌曲的結(jié)構(gòu)或者歌詞產(chǎn)生共鳴。在過去二十年我一直在做這樣的工作。真是路漫漫，至今我還在學(xué)習中。
But at some point, I not only began to be able to appreciate the music, but I started being able to contribute to it. And I created my own fresh spins on the tried and true. And I think this happens to everyone, really, who is on the outside looking in, it always looks strange if you look at things from your perspective. You’re always gonna think that these people are weirdoes(古怪的人).What’s wrong with them? Why are they listening to this stuff? And I am saying that you can make an effort and get it. It can be done and I am a living proof for that. And as an ambassador of Chinese pop, I am trying to get people to open up to a sound that they may not feel as palatable(使人愉悅的，隨人心愿的) at the first time listen. What else should we do to reduce imbalance in our popular cultures?
而從某刻開始，我不僅能欣賞華語音樂了，而且能夠開始做出自己的貢獻。開始嘗試和創(chuàng)造自己的風格。作為外觀者，每個人都會這樣。如果僅從自己的角度出發(fā)看問題，你總是會覺得外面的世界很奇怪。你總會覺得別人是異類。他們是怎么了?怎么會聽這些東西?而我想說的是，只要你跨出去一步，就會有收獲。并且我用自己的親身經(jīng)歷證明，這是能夠做到了。作為華語音樂大使，我一直在努力讓人們開放接受，那些也許最初聽上去并不喜歡的音樂，那么我們還能做些什么，來減少這種流行文化中的不平衡呢?
Well, maybe give a talk of the Oxford union, tour more outside of China? But seriously, actually I think the tides are already starting to change very slowly, very cautiously, almost calculatingly. You see more cross-cultural exchange now, more interest in China, definitely a lot of joint ventures, a lot of co-productions in recent years, Iron Man 3, Transformers Fifty Three, Resident Evil… Really it’s beginning to be kind of a world pop. And that’s what I am looking forward to, and that’s what I am focusing on these days. There was J-pop, there was K-pop, there‘sC-pop. And there’s like this W-pop, that’s kind of starting to emerge. This world pop. And I think. Yeah, I love that idea. It’s not world music. It’s not. It’s world pop. And I think… yeah I love that idea that it’s not world music. It’s not like… there used to be section HMV called world music Now it’s like ethnomusicology (人種音樂學(xué)) musical class in college.
比如說，為牛津亞太學(xué)生會做演講，或者在中國以外的地方開演唱會?但說真的，其實我覺得這種不平衡的趨勢，正在開始發(fā)生微妙的，緩慢的，小心的，謹慎的變化。你們能夠看到目前中國有很多跨文化的交流，外商漸漸視中國為寶地，近年來不乏很多跨國公司和合作成果，鋼鐵俠3，無數(shù)部變形金剛，生化危機……真的已經(jīng)形成一種世界流行文化了。這正是我期待看到的，也是我最近專注的內(nèi)容。之前我們有日流，韓流，華流，現(xiàn)在這種世界流正在慢慢興起。這就是世界流，我覺得。。。是的，我很喜歡這么個說法，就是世界流并不是世界音樂，不是像。。。HMV之前有一個類別叫世界音樂。有點像音樂學(xué)院的“民族音樂學(xué)”課程的分類方式。
No, but world pop is more about breaking and turning down age-old stereotypes, the artificial confines that have kept us apart for way too long. It’s a melting pot and it’s mosaic that even when we look up close, we’d still see the colors and flavors of each culture in detail. And where can we go to listen to world pop? I don’t think there is a world pop station or a magazine, unfortunately, there are none- there should be.
但世界流不是這樣的，這個概念打破了陳規(guī)舊俗，沖開了藝術(shù)上那些一直阻礙在我們之間的界限。這就像一個大熔爐，一個馬賽克拼圖。如果我們仔細看，是可以領(lǐng)略到每種文化的不同風格和特色的。那么我們通過什么途徑可以聽到“世界流”音樂呢?并不存在這樣一本世界流音樂雜志或一個平臺，很不幸，當然這些是應(yīng)該有的。
But there is the Internet and YouTube has proven to be a driving force for world pop. Britain’s Got Talent made Susan Boyle the hottest act in the world. And she achieved that not through the record labels or the networks but through grassroots sharing. Gangnam Style is another great example how that just took over and became a huge worldwide world pop phenomenon. So world pop also suggests a worldwide pop culture and something that can be shared by all of us and give us a lot of common ground.
不過還好，我們有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，比如油管就是一個推廣世界流音樂的中堅力量。蘇珊大媽是通過英國達人秀走紅的，她的成功不是通過唱片公司或者音樂圈的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，而是走的草根路線。江南style也是一個很棒的范例，能成為一種掀起全球狂潮的文化現(xiàn)象。所以世界流，意味著一種世界范圍內(nèi)的流行文化，能讓全人類共享，給我們提供了一個共通點。
So today, what’s my called action? I wanna improve a multicultural exchange between the east and the west. I think I have made that clear, but how? I think… you can all become pop singers. Really…I think that’s the answer. No, I am just kidding. Unless that’s what you really wanna do. My called action is this: build and protect that roommate relationship between the east and the west. Value this relationship and take ownership of it. Don’t come to Oxford as an exchange student from Taiwan and only hang out with other Chinese students. Why would you do that? You could do that back in Wuhan or Nanjing or wherever you came from.
于是今天，我的號召是什么呢?我想要幫助推進東西方之間的多元文化交流。這一點我想我已經(jīng)表達的很清楚了，但是如何做到呢?我覺著吧，你們都可以出道嘛，這樣就好了。我開個玩笑。不過如果成為歌手真的是你想做的事情那就另當別論了。我在此，號召各位，請務(wù)必在東方與西方橫亙的隔閡間，建立一種室友般的情誼。并且能盡所能及的保護這份情誼，珍惜它，擁有它。千萬不要千里迢迢從臺灣跑來牛津大學(xué)當交換生還一天到晚只和中國學(xué)生聚一塊。你說你這是干嘛對吧?這些事你在武漢，在南京，在老家的時候都能做對吧。
Don’t buy into the headlines or the stereotypes or into the hyper nationalism. Think for yourselves, and this goes for the East and West both. Get to know one another and think for yourselves and don’t believe the hype. For a moment, if we could just disregard the governments, and what the media are saying, just for the sake of the argument, with our own tools of critical thinking, can we build relationships that actually see one another as individual human beings and not faceless members of a particular ethnicity or nationality? Of course we can do that. And that’s the goal and dream, I think of the romantic artists and the musicians. I think it’s always been there. And that’s what I wish for, and that’s what makes music and art so powerful and so true, and breaks down instantly and disintegrates all the artificial barriers that we’ve created between each other, government, nationality, black, brown, yellow, white, whatever color you are, and shows each other our hearts, our fears, our hopes and our dreams. And it turns out in the end the East isn’t that far after all. And the West, well, ain’t so wild.
那些標題黨，那些陳詞濫調(diào)，那些超民族主義，別買他們的賬。你應(yīng)當學(xué)會自己判斷，這個原則同樣適用于研究東西方。把一件件來龍去脈搞清楚，獨立思考，對那些天花亂墜的東西不要偏聽則信。要是哪一天，你能做到漠視政府的鼓吹，忽視媒體的通稿，據(jù)理力爭只為真理，動用“批判思維”的武器，是不是就能建立起那份情誼了呢?到那時，每個人都是獨立的個體，個人不再是隸屬于某個種族或是國家的無臉人?我們當然能做到。這是目標，也是理想。這是浪漫藝術(shù)家和音樂人亙古不變的初心。也是我想要極力撮成的一種情誼。正因如此，音樂和藝術(shù)的力量才這樣強大，這樣真切。正是這些力量讓橫亙期間的壁壘土崩瓦解。那些我們在彼此之間人為制造的隔閡，政府或者國籍，膚色。黑色，棕色，黃色和白色，無論哪一種膚色。也是這些力量讓我們能夠單程我們的內(nèi)心，我們的恐懼，我們的希望，我們的夢想。最終我們就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，“遠東”也并沒有那么遙遠。西方也并非都是蠻荒一片。
And through understanding each other’s popular cultures, we gain insight in each other’s hearts and true selves. For those of you who are just beginning that journey, the West and East, I want to invite you today on this amazing journey with me. And I, as an experienced traveler on this road, on the West and East road, I’ve prepared a mix-tape for all of you today, of then songs that I love, there, that’s a C-pop mix-tape. That you can check out. I was going to bring you all CDs, but my publicist reminded me lovingly that would be illegal. So because I’m a professional recording artist, I shouldn’t do that. But actually the link works out nicely, because you get to see the music videos as well on a lot of these songs.
通過了解彼此的流行文化，探到彼此的內(nèi)心，觸碰彼此的靈魂。如果你們正想踏上這條貫通東西的征途，我誠摯的邀請你們和我一起加入這場奇幻之旅。作為在這條聯(lián)通東西方之間的路上還算有點經(jīng)驗的人，我為你們準備了一只合集的卡帶，里面收錄了十首我愛的華語流行音樂�？矗銈兏惺芤幌�。本來今天我是給你們每人準備了CD的，但是我的團隊好心提醒我說，這么做是不合法的。作為專業(yè)的專輯制作人，我可不能做這種事。不過這里的鏈接還是很好用的，因為這樣你們還能看到這些歌曲相應(yīng)的MV。
And these ten songs are songs that I love and ten different Chinese artists to start you off on getting to know and love Chinese pop. I think these guys are awesome and I hope you do too. I just wanna wrap up by saying that being here on the Oxford campus really makes me nostalgic for my days at Williams. And when I look back on those four years, some of my fondest memories are spending time with my roommates Stephan Papiano and Jason Price. In fact, Jason is here in the audience today and nake this special trip form London just to see me. And I suppose in the beginning we were strangers. We didn’t know much about each other and sometimes we die compete for the shower. There were time when we did intrude on each other’s privacy. But I always loved listening to Stephen’s stories about growing up in a Greek family and his opinions on what authentic Greek food really was. Or Jason’s stories about wanting to make violins and to live in Cremona, Italy like Antonio Stradivari and he did do that.
這10首我最愛的歌曲，來自不同的很棒的中國音樂人。我們就從他們開始了解入手中國的流行音樂吧!我覺得這些音樂人都很棒，希望你們也能喜歡。最后的最后，我只想說，現(xiàn)在置身于牛津大學(xué)校園，真的讓我不由的回憶起我在威廉姆斯大學(xué)的那段時光。當我回首那四年，我發(fā)現(xiàn)最值得回憶的，就是于室友Stephan Papiano和Jason Price共處的時光了。事實上呢，Jason就在觀眾席中。他專程從倫敦趕來看我。我在想，剛開始大家還是陌生人，我們對彼此不了解，有時候我們還會搶淋浴，甚至互相侵犯別人的隱私。但是我一直喜歡聽Stephen講他在一個希臘家庭里成長的故事。還有他眼里原汁原味的希臘菜應(yīng)該長什么樣子。或是Jason的故事，說他渴望以做小提琴為生，生活在意大利的克雷默那，像安東尼奧特拉迪瓦那樣，而他的夢想后來真的實現(xiàn)了。
And I will never forget many years later when I played a Jason Price handmade violin for the first time and how that felt. They were always attentive and respectful when I tell them about what it was like for me growing up in a Chinese household with strict parents who made me study. So we shared stories, but the strongest bonds between us were formed just sitting around and listening to music together. And I really do see that as
「標簽: 大學(xué)生英語演講稿」
