紀(jì)念拉爾夫·埃里森百年誕辰

Robert Siegle （Host）： Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel，“Invisible Man，” is a 1）searing exploration of race and identity. It won the National Book Award and was named one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century by Time magazine and the Modern Library.

A 2）monument outside 730 Riverside Drive in Harlem， Ellison’s longtime home， lists his birth year as 1914. So do many biographical sources. In fact， he was born a year earlier. Still events in Oklahoma City， his birthplace， and New York City are celebrating Ellison’s 3）centennial this year. Tom Vitale has his appreciation of his life and work.

Tom Vitale （Byline）： 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard， Harlem. Ralph Ellison walked the streets in 1938 interviewing people for a history of African-Americans for the Federal Writers’ Project. Almost half a century later， Ellison told me that experience was essential in shaping the writer he became.

（Soundbite of archived broadcast.）

Ralph Ellison： Some of those interviews affirmed the stories that I had heard from my elders as I grew up. They gave me a much richer sense of what the culture was. I might say it was like taking a course in history.

Vitale： The history of African-Americans in the first half of the 20th century provides the 4）backdrop for his novel “Invisible Man.” The unnamed narrator grows up in the rural South， attends a 5）prestigious black university， then travels north to Harlem where his first embrace and then rejected by 6）leftist 7）intellectuals. The novel’s opening lines reflect the themes that run throughout the story.

Gibran Muhammad： （reading） I am an invisible man. No， I am not a 8）spook like those who haunted [1]Edgar Allan Poe， nor am I one of your Hollywood movie 9）ectoplasms. I am a man of substance， of flesh and bone， fiber and liquids. And I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible， understand， simply because people refuse to see me.

Vitale： The reader is Kahlil Gibran Muhammad， director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the great-grandson of the late Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammed. He says Ellison’s treatment of race in the 1952 novel anticipated questions about the future of African-Americans that still 10）resonate.

Muhammad： Whether we look at the invisibility of a[2]Trayvon Martin or the invisibility of a [3]Magic Johnson， in light of the most recent controversies over [4]Donald Sterling， or even the ways in which the 11）contemporary art world for black visual artists turn on whether they have a responsibility to 12）depict blackness through traditional narratives are all themes that Ralph Ellison brought to his work.

Vitale： To mark Ellison’s centenary， the Schomburg Center in Harlem where the novelist did some of his research， presented a day of readings from “Invisible Man.”

Nelaja Muhammad： （reading） The whole of Harlem seemed to fall apart in the swirl of snow.

Vitale： 17-year-old Nelaja Muhammed， who is no relation to the Schomburg director， read a scene in which the narrator buys a baked 13）yam from the corner stand. And the aroma releases a Proustian flood of memories. Nelaja Muhammad， a high school junior who lives in Harlem says even though the book was written more than 60 years ago， its narrator endures the same challenges as African-Americans today.

Muhammad： If he wants other people to believe that he’s his own person， he has to believe in it himself. So I kind of relate to that because everyone goes through struggles， everyone goes hardships， and at times people give up on themselves. But at that one moment where you realize that you are worth it， you have to be able to realize that you’re not alone.

Vitale： Ralph Ellison drew on his own struggles to create“Invisible Man.” He was born in Oklahoma City to Lewis and Ida Ellison， who named him Ralph Waldo Ellison after the 19th-century American writer， [5]Emerson. When he was 3， his father died after an accident delivering ice to a grocery store.

Arnold Rampersad： I think the death of his father when he was 3 was the decisive event of his earlier life. Vitale： Arnold Rampersad is author of a 600-page biography of Ralph Ellison.

Rampersad： Because it plunged his family into poverty. Although he had influential， upstanding friends and 14）patrons in his youth， he really was always aware that he had virtually nothing and was dependent on others.

Vitale： Rampersad says Ellison spent the rest of his life trying to 15）redress his impoverished beginnings. He became something of a 16）renaissance man， turning to sculpture， photography and music. He studied the 17）cornet and then 18）trumpet and piano. In 1933， he attended the Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama intent on becoming a composer. 3 years later， he traveled to New York to earn money to pay his tuition. There he met writers [6]Langston Hughes and[7]Richard Wright.

Rampersad： He started late as a writer. He was 22 or so before Richard Wright turned to him one day and said， why don’t you try a short story？ And he worked very hard over a period of seven years to produce a masterpiece. And he succeeded.

Vitale： In 1983， Ralph Ellison said he wasn’t writing only about the black experience in “Invisible Man，” he was writing about the human experience.

（Soundbite of archived broadcast.）

Ellison： When I was a kid， I read the English novels. I read Russian translations and so on. And always. I was the hero. I identified with the hero. Literature is integrated， and I’m not just talking about color or race. I’m talking about the power of literature to make us recognize—and again and again—the wholeness of the human experience.

Vitale： “Invisible Man” was published to rave reviews in 1952. A year later， the novel won the National Book Award， beating out works by Ernest Hemmingway and John Steinbeck.

Muhammad： （reading） Being invisible and without substance—a 19）disembodied voice， as it were—what else could I do？ What else but try to tell you what was really happening when your eyes were looking through？ And it is this which frightens me.

Vitale： After “Invisible Man，” Ralph Ellison spent the rest of his life working on a second novel. When he died from 20）pancreatic cancer in 1994， he left behind 1，600 pages of an unfinished manuscript. It was eventually published under the title “Juneteenth.”

羅伯特·西格爾（主持人）：拉爾夫·埃里森于1952年發(fā)表的小說(shuō)《看不見(jiàn)的人》是對(duì)種族和人性作出的震撼人心的探索。它曾贏得“國(guó)家圖書(shū)獎(jiǎng)”，被《時(shí)代》雜志和現(xiàn)代文庫(kù)評(píng)為20世紀(jì)最好的100部小說(shuō)之一。

（紐約市）哈萊姆區(qū)河濱快車(chē)道730號(hào)，曾是埃里森長(zhǎng)期居住的地方，在這之外的一座紀(jì)念碑上刻著他的出生年份為1914年，如同眾多傳記資料上所記載的一樣。事實(shí)上他早一年出生。今年，埃里森百年誕辰紀(jì)念活動(dòng)在他的出生地俄克拉荷馬市以及紐約市進(jìn)行。湯姆·維達(dá)來(lái)接下來(lái)將評(píng)價(jià)埃里森的一生及其著作。

湯姆·維達(dá)來(lái)（記者）：（我現(xiàn)在在）哈萊姆區(qū)第135街馬爾科姆愛(ài)克斯大道。1938年，拉爾夫·埃里森走在這些大街上采訪人們，為的是完成聯(lián)邦作家計(jì)劃中關(guān)于非裔美國(guó)人歷史的部分。差不多半個(gè)世紀(jì)之后，埃里森告訴我，那一經(jīng)歷對(duì)他成為作家影響深遠(yuǎn)。

（廣播錄音片段）

拉爾夫·埃里森：在我成長(zhǎng)中從長(zhǎng)輩那里聽(tīng)來(lái)的故事在其中一些采訪中得到印證。它們讓我對(duì)什么是文化有了更為豐富的認(rèn)知。我可以說(shuō)，它就像是在上一堂歷史課。

維達(dá)來(lái)：20世紀(jì)前50年非裔美國(guó)人的歷史為他的小說(shuō)《看不見(jiàn)的人》提供了背景。（小說(shuō)中）沒(méi)有名字的敘述者在南部農(nóng)村長(zhǎng)大，上了一所頗有聲望的黑人大學(xué)，之后一路向北來(lái)到哈萊姆區(qū)，一度被左派知識(shí)分子接納而后拒絕。小說(shuō)一開(kāi)篇就映射出貫穿故事始末的主題。

紀(jì)伯倫·穆罕默德：（朗讀）我是個(gè)你們看不見(jiàn)的人。不，我并非埃德加·艾倫·坡筆下神出鬼沒(méi)的幽靈，也不是好萊塢電影中虛無(wú)縹緲的幻影。我是一個(gè)實(shí)實(shí)在在的人，有形有骸，有血有肉，甚至還可以說(shuō)擁有心靈。要知道，別人看不見(jiàn)我，只是因?yàn)樗麄儾辉敢饪吹轿摇?/p>

維達(dá)來(lái)：朗讀者是哈里利·紀(jì)伯倫·穆罕默德，他是尚博格黑人文化研究中心的負(fù)責(zé)人、伊斯蘭國(guó)家派領(lǐng)袖伊利賈·穆罕默德的曾孫。他說(shuō)埃里森1952年的小說(shuō)對(duì)種族問(wèn)題的態(tài)度預(yù)示了至今仍能使非裔美國(guó)人產(chǎn)生共鳴的問(wèn)題。

穆罕默德：我們看到，無(wú)論是隱身的特雷沃恩·馬丁還是“魔術(shù)師”約翰遜，或是根據(jù)最近唐納德·斯特林引發(fā)的爭(zhēng)議，或者甚至是黑人視覺(jué)藝術(shù)家開(kāi)啟了他們是否有責(zé)任遵循傳統(tǒng)敘述來(lái)描寫(xiě)黑人的當(dāng)代藝術(shù)世界，這些主題都在拉爾夫·埃里森的作品中得到體現(xiàn)。

維達(dá)來(lái)：埃里森曾在位于哈姆萊區(qū)的尚博格中心作過(guò)調(diào)研，為了紀(jì)念他的百年誕辰，這里舉辦了一天的《看不見(jiàn)的人》讀書(shū)會(huì)。

內(nèi)拉賈·穆罕默德：（朗讀）整個(gè)哈姆萊區(qū)仿佛散落在紛紛揚(yáng)揚(yáng)的雪花中。

維達(dá)來(lái)：17歲的內(nèi)拉賈·穆罕默德與尚博格中心負(fù)責(zé)人并非親故，他朗讀了敘述者在路邊攤買(mǎi)烤紅薯的一幕，撲鼻的香氣觸發(fā)了普魯斯特式的回憶。內(nèi)拉賈·穆罕默德是住在哈萊姆區(qū)的一個(gè)高中少年，他說(shuō)，即使書(shū)中所描述的情節(jié)發(fā)生在60多年前，當(dāng)中的敘述者忍受著和如今非裔美國(guó)人所承受的同樣的挑戰(zhàn)。

穆罕默德：若他想要?jiǎng)e人相信他是一個(gè)實(shí)實(shí)在在存在的人，他就必須先相信他自己。因此我對(duì)這有些共鳴，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都曾奮斗過(guò)，每個(gè)人都會(huì)經(jīng)歷艱難的日子，有時(shí)放棄的恰恰是他們自己。但是在那時(shí)那刻，你要意識(shí)到你值得那么做，你就必須意識(shí)到你不是孤單一人。

維達(dá)來(lái)：拉爾夫·埃里森也是在他的奮斗中創(chuàng)作了《看不見(jiàn)的人》。他在俄克拉荷馬市出生，是劉易斯·埃里森和艾達(dá)·埃里森的兒子，他們給他取名拉爾夫·沃爾多·埃里森，這名字來(lái)自于19世紀(jì)美國(guó)作家艾默生。3歲時(shí)，他父親在運(yùn)送冰塊去雜貨店路上的一場(chǎng)意外中喪生。

阿諾德·拉伯賽德：我認(rèn)為3歲喪父是他早年的決定性事件。維達(dá)來(lái)：阿諾德·拉伯賽德是長(zhǎng)達(dá)600頁(yè)的拉爾夫·埃里森傳記的作者。

拉伯賽德：因?yàn)檫@使他的家庭一下陷入拮據(jù)之中。盡管年輕時(shí)有一些有權(quán)勢(shì)的、正直的朋友和贊助人，他總是銘記著自己實(shí)際上一無(wú)所有，需要靠別人的資助度日。

維達(dá)來(lái)：拉伯賽德說(shuō)埃里森余生都在努力改變貧窮的出身。他成為一個(gè)多才多藝的人，會(huì)雕刻、攝影和音樂(lè)。他學(xué)短號(hào)，后來(lái)又學(xué)小號(hào)和鋼琴。1933年他考入阿拉巴馬州的塔斯基吉學(xué)院想要成為一名作曲家。3年后，他到紐約掙學(xué)費(fèi)，在那兒，他結(jié)識(shí)了作家蘭斯頓·休斯和理查德·賴(lài)特。

拉伯賽德：他是個(gè)大器晚成的作家。大約22歲那年的一天，理查德找到他說(shuō)，為什么你不試試寫(xiě)短故事？他筆耕不輟，花了7年時(shí)間完成了一部杰作。他做到了。

維達(dá)來(lái)：1983年，拉爾夫·埃里森說(shuō)《看不見(jiàn)的人》不僅僅是寫(xiě)黑人的經(jīng)歷，而是寫(xiě)人類(lèi)的經(jīng)歷。

（廣播錄音片段。）

埃里森：當(dāng)我還是個(gè)孩子時(shí)，我就閱讀英文小說(shuō)，閱讀俄語(yǔ)翻譯版本等等，并且一直在閱讀。我是英雄，我對(duì)英雄感同身受。文學(xué)是個(gè)整體，我不只是在說(shuō)膚色或是種族，我是在說(shuō)文學(xué)的力量，讓我們認(rèn)識(shí)到，不斷地認(rèn)識(shí)到整個(gè)人類(lèi)的經(jīng)歷。

維達(dá)來(lái)：《看不見(jiàn)的人》在1952年發(fā)表后好評(píng)如潮。一年后，該小說(shuō)一舉擊敗歐內(nèi)斯特·海明威和約翰·斯坦貝克的作品，贏得了“國(guó)家圖書(shū)獎(jiǎng)”。

穆罕默德：（朗讀）別人看不見(jiàn)我，不是個(gè)實(shí)實(shí)在在的人——一如既往空洞的聲音在回響——我還能做什么？除了當(dāng)你雙眼一掃而過(guò)時(shí)告訴你真真切切發(fā)生的一切，我還能做什么？這也是我所畏懼的。

維達(dá)來(lái)：發(fā)表《看不見(jiàn)的人》之后，拉爾夫·埃里森余生都在創(chuàng)作第二部小說(shuō)。1994年，他因胰臟癌去世，留下了長(zhǎng)達(dá)1600頁(yè)未完成的作品遺稿，最終（由其遺產(chǎn)執(zhí)行人John Callahan整理加工出版的）以《六月慶典》為書(shū)名面世。

注：

[1] Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加·艾倫·坡，19世紀(jì)美國(guó)詩(shī)人、小說(shuō)家和文學(xué)評(píng)論家，以神秘故事和恐怖小說(shuō)聞名于世。

[2] Trayvon Martin 特雷沃恩·馬丁，美國(guó)邁阿密地區(qū)的一名黑人高中生，17歲時(shí)被槍擊身亡，隨后警察當(dāng)局對(duì)行兇者的延遲拘捕和法律的正義在美國(guó)和國(guó)際社會(huì)引起廣泛關(guān)注。

[3] Magic Johnson “魔術(shù)師”約翰遜，本名埃爾文·約翰遜，NBA洛杉磯湖人隊(duì)的傳奇后衛(wèi)。

[4] Donald Sterling 唐納德·斯特林，NBA洛杉磯快船隊(duì)老板，曾流出含有大量種族歧視言論的錄音帶。

[5] Emerson 全名拉爾夫·沃爾多·艾默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson），美國(guó)思想家、詩(shī)人，被稱(chēng)為“美國(guó)文明之父”。

[6] Langston Hughes 蘭斯頓·休斯，美國(guó)黑人作家、詩(shī)人，被稱(chēng)為“美國(guó)黑人的桂冠詩(shī)人”。

[7] Richard Wright 理查德·賴(lài)特，美國(guó)黑人作家。