大鳥外交：《芝麻街》環球46年

譯/徐莉莉

大鳥外交：《芝麻街》環球46年

Big Bird Diplomacy: Sesame Street’s 46-Year March Around the World

譯/徐莉莉

W ith the Arabic adaptation of Sesame Street returning after 25 years off the air, Vocativ looked at how the children’s show has been shaped by local politics in different countries.

[2] The Arabic adaptation of Sesame Street, called Iftah Ya Simsim (Open Sesame), returned to the Middle East after a 25-year hiatus. The show hadn’t aired since 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and bombed the television studios where the program was fi lmed.

[3] Many of the old, beloved characters returned to the new show, including No’maan, the overweight camel.

時隔25年，阿拉伯語版的《芝麻街》重獲播映，Vocativ新聞網由此報道了這檔兒童節目如何在不同國家受到當地政治的影響。

[2]阿拉伯語版《芝麻街》又名《芝麻開門》，在中東停播25年后重新開播。1990年，伊拉克入侵科威特，炸毀了《芝麻街》演播室，節目自此停播。

[3]許多深受喜愛的老角色回歸新劇集，比如胖駱駝諾曼。

[4]自1969年《芝麻街》在美國首播以來，目前已有20種不同語言的版本，在140多個國家播映。如今，這一節目已風靡全球，也因此常常觸及既危險又敏感的政治話題，如巴以關系、南非艾滋病等。有些國際版《芝麻街》面臨困境，常常是資金不足，迫使節目停播，但節目中獨一無二的角色和歌曲在很多地方仍很流行。

[4] Since Sesame Street premiered in the U.S. in 1969, there has been 20 versions in different languages broadcast in more than 140 countries. As the show has spread around the world, it has often tackled dicey and taboo political topics, from Israel-Palestinian relations to AIDS in South Africa. Some international adaptations of Sesame Street have facedhardship, often fi nancial, that have forced the show off the air, but in many places, the one-of-a-kind characters and musical numbers have prevailed.

Brazil’s Sesame wins for Best Dance Song

[5] Brazil’s version of Sesame Street, Vila Sésamo, premiered in 1972 but was cancelled in 1977 due to high production costs. Its Big Bird, whose name was Garibaldo, was actually blue, but children couldn’t see that until 1974 when the show began airing in color. Until then, children watching the show in black and white had a fun time guessing what color he was. The only characters the original Vila Sésamo took from the American show were ênio e Beto, or Bert and Ernie. Brazil revived the show in 2007, using more American characters and updating it with Cookie Monster and other newer faces.

巴西版《芝麻街》獲最佳舞曲獎

[5] 1972年，巴西版《芝麻街》開播，后因制作成本高，于1977年停播。劇中大鳥，名叫伽利保多，其實是藍色的，但直到1974年巴西播放彩色版，孩子們才知道這一點。此前播映的是黑白版，那期間孩子們一直都快樂地爭相猜測大鳥的顏色。巴西原版的《芝麻街》中，只有伯特和厄尼兩個動畫人物取材自美國版《芝麻街》。2007年，巴西重新開播該動畫片，吸收了美國版中的更多角色，增加了甜餅怪和其他新面孔。

俄羅斯版《芝麻街》教孩子使用電話

[6] 1996年，鮑里斯·葉利欽再次當選俄羅斯總統。這一年，全新的俄語版《芝麻街》亮相。主人公葉利保巴是一個七英尺高的怪物。很奇怪，葉利保巴和巴西版的伽利保多看上去很像。葉利保巴明顯擁有聞音樂的聯覺能力。2006年，俄羅斯版《芝麻街》開播十周年，當時俄羅斯移民人口不斷

增加，為反映這一現狀，節目

中新增了兩名來自哈薩克斯坦的移民——亞米拉和阿爾汀姐妹。

Russia’s Sesame teaches kids what a telephone is for

[6] In 1996, the year Boris Yeltsin won re-election, Russia aired its own Sesame offshoot, Ulitsa Sezam, with a seven-foot tall monster named Zeliboba as its main character. Oddly enough, Zeliboba and Garibaldo resemble each other. Zeliboba is apparently a synesthete: he can smell music. For its 10-year anniversary in 2006, the showadded two sisters, Yamila and Altin, immigrants from Kazakhstan, to keep relevant with the growing immigrant population in the country.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays out in Sesame

[7] A co-production of a Sesame Street branch by Israelis and Palestinians, inspired by the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, premiered in 1998. It showed characters living on separate streets but crossing over peacefully to meet each other once in a while. In 2002, after the second intifada, the show disappeared and was replaced by a new co-production with the Palestinian Authority called Hikayat Simsim. That show depicted characters confined to their own streets and nationalities.

巴以版《芝麻街》反映地區沖突

[7] 1993年，巴以簽署《奧斯陸和平協議》。在協議促動下，巴以合作版《芝麻街》于1998年首播。節目中芝麻街的小伙伴們雖然住在不同的街道，但偶爾碰面都和平相處。2002年，第二次巴以沖突爆發后，巴以版《芝麻街》停播，新的巴勒斯坦官方合作版《芝麻街》取而代之，只講述生活在巴勒斯坦街道的巴勒斯坦木偶們的故事。

[8]因巴勒斯坦申請成為聯合國觀察員國，美國停止對巴援助，之后，最新的巴勒斯坦版《芝麻街的故事》于2012年停播。2012年1月，美國明尼蘇達州民主黨議員基思·埃利森在美國眾議院發表演說，論及沒有《芝麻街》可看的巴勒斯坦兒童只能觀看哈馬斯制作的動畫片，片中主人公法爾富爾與米老鼠非常相像，極端抵制猶太民族。“這就是艾摩，不僅教會我們數數，還教我們學會寬容與理解。”埃利森說，“過去幾年，艾摩還教會了巴勒斯坦兒童同樣的東西。”埃利森認為要堅決抵制反猶思想，發揚寬容精神。

[8] The latest version of the show in the Palestinian territories, Sesame Stories, was suspended in 2012 after the U.S. froze its Palestinian aid in response to their bid for non-member observer status at the United Nations. In January 2012, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota gave a speech to the House of Representatives about how with no Sesame Street, Palestinian children were left watching an extremely antisemitic Mickey Mouse-looking creature named Farfour on a show created by Hamas. “This is Elmo. This guy taught us our 1, 2, 3’s, but he also taught ustolerance and understanding,” Ellison said. “For the past several years, he’s been doing the same thing for children in the Palestinian territories.” His argument fought to minimize Farfour and maximize tolerance.

Kosovo Sesame attempts to repair ethnic tensions

[9] Serbian and Albanian directors and producers worked together to create a Sesame show in Kosovo in 2004, called Rruga Sesam in Albanian and Ulica Sezam in Serbian, PBS reported. The show’s production came during a period of unrest in the region, when Albanians attacked Serbs in the most violent incident in the territory since the Kosovo War of 1998-99. The show teaches tolerance to Serbian and Albanian children after a decade of ethnic clashes.

科索沃版《芝麻街》意圖平復種族矛盾

[9]美國公共廣播公司報道，塞爾維亞、阿爾巴尼亞的導演和制片人共同努力，于2004年創作出科索沃版《芝麻街》，以塞爾維亞語和阿爾巴尼亞語播映。科索沃戰爭（1998—1999）后，因領土之爭，阿爾巴尼亞軍隊襲擊塞爾維亞人，科索沃版《芝麻街》便在這一動蕩時期誕生。種族沖突十年后，科索沃版《芝麻街》讓塞爾維亞和阿爾巴尼亞兒童學會了寬容。

South Africa’s Sesame creates first HIV-positive character

[10] Takalani Sesame, which fi rst aired in 2000, introduced the first ever HIV-positive Muppet, Kami, in 2002. South Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV or AIDS of any country in the world in 2011, with 5.6 million people living with HIV, according to UNAIDS numbers. Kami promotes acceptance for HIV-positive people by being relatable and intelligent, and she’s made several appearances at Peabody Awards and UNICEF events.

南非版《芝麻街》出現第一個患有艾滋病的木偶角色

[10] 2000年，南非版《芝麻街》首播。2002年，新增成員卡米——第一個患有艾滋病的木偶。聯合國艾滋病規劃署數據顯示，2011年南非是世界上感染艾滋病人數最多的國家，共有560萬艾滋病患者。卡米呼吁人們接納艾滋病患者，給予寬容與理解之心。卡米還曾參加皮博迪獎頒獎會和聯合國兒童基金會的活動。

（譯者單位：首都經貿大學）