敢問路在何方？
——美國大選感言

文/葉子南 譯/蔡力堅

敢問路在何方？
——美國大選感言

What Lies Ahead?—Some thoughts on the 2016 U.S. presidential election1

文/葉子南 譯/蔡力堅

今天我們不是在慶祝任何一黨的勝利，而是在慶祝一個人的成功，它并不代表任何事物的終結，但卻預示未知的開端。不管你是特朗普的鐵桿，還是希拉里的粉絲，都去街角的酒店買一瓶威士忌，喝個酩酊大醉，或為勝利者歡笑，或為失敗者痛哭。

W e observe today not a victory of either party, but a celebration of the success of one man—which probably doesn’t symbolize an end to anything, but rather a beginning of the unknown.22作者寫這句話的時候也許想到了肯尼迪就職演說的開頭語：We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end as well as a beginning—signifying renewal as well as change. 句式有些相像，于是譯文也套用了相應的結構。Whether you are a Trump supporter or a Hillary fan, go to a liquor store, buy a bottle of whiskey and drink it to the lees, either to unleash your joy, or to soothe your broken heart.

[2]一年多來，這位商人盡管丑聞纏身，口出狂言，體制不在他那邊，傳媒不在他那邊，財團不在他那邊，民調不在他那邊，卻逆流而上，最終擊敗了身經百戰的政壇老將，打破了多少人期盼的女總統夢。你當然可以找到一些原因，比如性別歧視，比如境外干預，比如選民興趣缺缺，比如聯邦調查局致命的一擊，這些都多少影響了選情，但是特朗普現象絕不是這些技術因素可以完全解釋的。

[2] For over a year this business mogul has defied gravity3has defied gravity在這里表示“逆流而上”，行文安排的順序有調整。. Nothing could spell doom for his campaign, not devastating scandals, nor his politically incorrect fiery talk. And indeed, nothing could stop him, not the political establishment, or big media, orbig money, or sagging poll numbers.4在中文里重復使用“不在他那邊”，形成排比句式，不但不會給人以累贅的感覺，反而更加整齊有力，但在英語里似乎不宜如此重復，于是對整體結構作了調整。Against seemingly overwhelming odds, he pulled off a stunning upset5upset作為名詞使用時最常見的含義是a state of being disappointed（失意），但也經常用來表示an unexpected result or situation，用在此處是表示 surprise win。over a seasoned political high fl yer and dashed the dream many had entertained that a woman would for the first time in history be at the helm of the country. While you might be tempted to attribute his unstoppable surge to gender discrimination, alleged outside interference, voter fatigue6fatigue的基本含義是（因對某事接觸過多而變得）興趣索然（a lessening in one’s response to or enthusiasm for something, typically as a result of overexposure to it）。參觀博物館多了，會產生museum fatigue；悲劇見多了，會產生tragedy fatigue；到處呼吁捐款，會產生donor fatigue，如此等等。, or a lethal blow to his opponent dealt by the FBI Director, the Trump phenomenon cannot be satisfactorily explained by these technicalities alone.

[3]那么到底什么是特朗普現象的主因呢？答案在俄亥俄，在密歇根，在威斯康星，在賓夕法尼亞。在那里，大批依靠傳統行業維持生計的人在電子化和全球化的大潮沖刷下，失去了當年的小康生活，在風雨飄搖中艱難度日。他們等了好久，希望有所改善，但什么都沒有發生。于是民主政體中的這些老百姓拿起了一件最銳利的武器：選票。不是說，美國的政治都是財團控制、金錢左右的嗎？至少在這次選舉中，并非如此。他們無錢無勢，但卻認準了這位根本沒有總統“范兒”的商人，和其他也對現狀失望的人們一起，硬是把這位電視節目主持人送進了白宮。

[3] What exactly gave rise to the Trump phenomenon? The answer could be found in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, among other places7原文里雖然沒有用“例如”“等等”這樣的詞語，但實際上很明顯，作者并不是說只有這幾處，而是例舉了幾個地點。在英語里加上among other places是為了整句話更有邏輯性，更加符合原文的本意。, where the march of globalization in a digital age8許多譯者在翻譯“電子化”時很可能會死摳字面，將其譯成digitization或informatization。這兩種譯法都有問題：digitization是指把其他形式或格式（如紙質或模擬格式）的文檔轉化為電子格式；informatization是一個幾乎沒人用的冷僻術語。翻譯時我們也沒有必要按照中文的形式保留兩個“化”的對應結構。has inexorably eroded the middle-classexistence9不少人一見到“小康”可能就會想到鄧小平提出“小康”概念以及官方的標準譯法。“小康”的本意是可以廣義適用的，用來指他國民眾時其本意也不會有變，但需要指出的是那種“標準譯法”可不能隨便亂用。如果用在此處，那就格格不入。此處的“小康”，指的就是“中產階級生活”，故譯成middle-class existence。that thousands upon thousands of people in traditional industries used to enjoy. For too long they’ve been on the losing side10“在風雨飄搖中艱難度日”一語里的形象在英語里復制有困難，所以采用意譯方式譯成they’ve been on the losing side。and waiting for a change, which never comes. This prompted these people to take up a most powerful weapon made available by democratic institutions: votes. Isn’t true that America’s political landscape is dominated by business interests and big money? At least this year’s presidential election has proved otherwise. Most Trump supporters are at the lower end of the wealth and power spectrum. But these little guys identified with Trump’s proclaimed agenda, and, together with other voters also dissatis fi ed with the status quo, overcame seemingly unsurmountable hurdles11“硬是”的內在含義是這一行動極其艱難，所以用overcame seemingly unsurmountable hurdles來表示。and succeeded in sending this least “presidential”businessman cum reality TV host12原文里先提到“商人”，后提到“電視節目主持人”，所指的是同一人，在譯文里為了表達上的方便合并處理：businessman cum reality TV host。cum經常用來將兩件事物連在一起，例如a study-cum-bedroom（兼作書房的臥房）、 a cook-cum-dishwasher（兼作洗碗工的廚師），等等。to the White House.

[4]那么未來呢？特朗普能否給美國帶來一個嶄新的局面，還是說他也會和其他人一樣，進了白宮就擺脫不了體制的魔咒而無所作為？我們不得而知。但假如我們僅從日常事務的層面去尋求答案，那么就很可能治標不治本。特朗普現象不是日理萬機就可以解決的，走出困局需要高瞻遠矚，需要勇氣十足，需要讓絕大多數的人愿意跟你走，百分之五十出頭的選票并非共識，算不上是一次壯舉的授權，力挽狂瀾的領袖人物還沒有出現。在兩岸藍州過得不錯的社會與技術精英們，假如他們仍然想要繼續送子女進東岸的哈佛、耶魯，入西岸的斯坦福、伯克利，假如他們仍然想不時光顧亞歷山大牛排餐廳，買特斯拉汽車，住高級酒店，那么社會就必須解決俄亥俄州那邊藍領階層的困境。但是，我們目前沒有解決之道。這次石破天驚的選舉最終會是一次良好的開端嗎？還是說，它竟會成為美國政治上的“9·11”，給這個“相對良性”的帝國重重一擊，加速她緩慢衰落的進程？

[4] What does this bode for the future?13“那么未來呢？”根據上下文意思是（以上情況）對未來意味著什么？所以可譯成What does this bode for the future? bode的意思是to be a sign of (a future event or situation)，經常說bode well/ill，但bode也可以跟名詞，如：What has happened bodes disaster for all involved.（所發生的情況對所有相關的人都是災難。）Can a Trump presidency open a new chapter for America or will he slump into inertia as well after stepping into the White House, constrained by the institutional straightjacket14“魔咒”按字面譯應該是spell，但似乎在這個語境里譯成straitjacket更合適一些。, as did most of his predecessors? There’s no way we could tell now. A solution to the systemic ills that beset the current state of affairs cannot be found in palliative remedies. Any amount of effort at a micro level won’t be suf fi cient to tackle the Trump phenomenon. To fi x what’s been screwed up15“走出困局”可以有很多種譯法，從字面翻譯可以是to get out of the predicament、to overcome the dif fi culties等，但考慮到根據上下文，此處的“走出困局”主要是指解決前面提及的問題，我們或許可以說to fi x a broken system或to fi x what has been screwed up。requires vision and courage, plus endorsement of your agenda by an overwhelming majority of the people. With support of merely about 50 percent of voters, Trump didn’t really earn a mandate for drastic reforms. In a sense, a leader who is able to turn the tide has yet to emerge. If those in the blue states on both coasts who have bene fi ted from the technology revolution and globalization16“精英”通常的對應詞是elites，筆者避免使用該詞主要也是從語境角度考慮，作者在“社會與技術精英們”前面加了修飾詞“過得不錯的”，表明所指的人群范圍較大，而不局限于elite的概念所包含的極少數人（a select part of a group that is superior to the rest）。want to stay on the path to greater prosperity -continue to send their kids to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley or the like, enjoy fine dining at Alexander’s Steakhouse, drive luxury cars likeTesla, and stay in high-end hotels when travelling, the predicament blue-collar workers in places like Ohio have been dragged into would have to be relieved. A right prescription has so far seemed elusive17“解決之道”當然可以用solution，那么，“我們目前沒有解決之道”可以譯成A solution has yet to be found. 筆者在參考譯文里的譯法是另一種處理方式。. Will this stunning election result prove to be a promising fresh start or a political 9/11 that represents a relentless push to accelerate a protracted decline of this “relatively benign”empire?

[5]我們現在看到的是一艘在20世紀風光無限的巨輪，在歷史的緊要關頭，突然掉轉船頭，朝相反的方向駛去，拋下了諸多行之有年的自由主義價值觀，拋下了歷史上令人羨慕的光榮與夢想，卻沒有為船上的乘客展示揚帆遠航的路線。巨輪即將出發，但她要駛向何方呢？

[5] We now see a ship that embodies the pinnacle of 20th century American glory making an abrupt about-face at a critical historic juncture, leaving behind long cherished liberal values and dreams envied by many, yet presenting no roadmap for the journey ahead to its passengers. The ship is about to depart the harbor, but where is it heading?

1雖然原文里只提到“大選”，而沒有說“2016年大選”，但在譯文里加上年份似乎更加確切一些，因為大選很多。