Why do millions of Chinese people want to be“Spiritually Finnish”

河南 張 玉

語篇概要

“精芬”指的是那些不喜歡社交的人，他們對待自己的個人空間“極度嚴肅”。在個人隱私容易遭到侵犯的今天，“精芬”的出現，說明人們在害怕孤獨的同時，更渴望得到個人空間和隱私的尊重。對于許多中國人來說，這將是一種真實的情緒。

A Finnish cartoon about a socially awkward stickman has become a hit in China—even inspiring a new word in Mandarin.Why has itstrucksucha chord?

Privacy is something of a luxury in China,a land with a population of 1.4 billion.Personal space is not a concept that ordinary Chinese are familiar with.Pushing andshovingis a basic survival skill in cities.If you fail to push with fellow commuters to get on apackedunderground train,you'll be met with impatient stares.

Theconceptof “private property” or“private space”used to be seriously criticized formerly—and this ideal is very much alive today.Throughout China,people are happy to lie down for a nap just about anywhere：in an office pantry（食品貯藏室）,on a park bench,even in a museum or concert hall foyer（門廳）,looking as comfortable as if the public space were their own living room.

So it is a surprise to see Matti,a socially awkward Finnish cartoon character in the Finnish Nightmares comic series become something of a celebrity in China's cyberspace（網絡空間）.A new term in Mandarin has even beencoinedto describe people who are like the hero： jingfen, or “Spiritually Finnish”.According to a widely distributed definition on social media,jingfen broadly refers to people who dislike socialising—like the Finns,apparently and take theirpersonalspace“extremely seriously”.

Matti's fear of crowds and small talk and his tendency to be easily embarrassed has struck a chord with many Chinese readers,who seem relieved that theirlonging forprivacy has finally been voiced—via the medium of a stick figure from a faraway country.But it's Finnish culture itself—of which privacy andpersonal space have long been part—that has also struck a chord.

“Finland is a paradise for people with social anxiety disorder,”wrote WeChat user Zhang Yanmei in a post.“I am a jingfen,please do not disturb me unnecessarily！”wrote an anonymous（匿名的）user in the title of his essay on the website Douban.“Can you see yourself in Matti?”he asked.“He is shy and introspective（好反省的）and the trials and tribulations（苦難）of life are not just Matti's nightmare.We're all afraid of loneliness,but wecraveeven more for our personal space and privacy to be respected.”It is a sentiment（情緒）that willring truefor many people in China.

語言學習

Ⅰ.詞匯掃描

1.chord n.弦；和弦；和音

She played some random chords.她隨意演奏了幾個和弦。

2.strike/touch a chord(with sb)引起同情或共鳴

His arguments struck a chord with Europe's two most powerful politicians.他的論點引起了歐洲兩位最有影響的政治家的共鳴。

The speaker had obviously struck a chord with his audience.講演者顯然已引起了聽眾的共鳴。

3.shove vt.&vi.猛推；亂放

It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure projects,so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere.在數十億英鎊的基礎設施項目中很難引起關注，所以人們關注的焦點就自然地轉到其他方面了。

Shove it！ 去他的，沒門兒。

—The boss wants that report now.

—Yeah?Tell him he can shove it.

—老板現在要那份報告。

—是嗎？你告訴他沒門兒。

4.packed adj.異常擁擠的；擠滿人的

The BIO recently held a convention which included sessions to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents.Each meeting was packed.生物技術工業組織最近召開了一次會議，該會議包括一系列的小會議，針對不斷變換的專利案對律師進行培訓。每場會議都座無虛席。

5.coin vt.制造硬幣；杜撰；創造

The term “cardboard city”was coined to describe communities of homeless people living in cardboard boxes.人們創造了“紙箱街區”一詞，用來指居住在紙板棚屋里無家可歸者的居住區。

be coining it（in）；be coining money 暴富；賺大錢；發大財

Many private colleges are coining it.很多私立大學正在大發其財。to coin a phrase套用一句老話；用老話來說

Oh well,no news is good news,to coin a phrase.噢，常言道，沒有消息就是好消息。6.long for渴望；羨慕；憧憬

I'm longing for news of him.我正在盼望著得到他的消息。

7.crave vt.&vi.渴望；懇求；請求

I've been craving different foods each day.我一直想要每天吃得不一樣。

8.ring true聽來真實可靠；聽上去是真的

His words ring true.他的話聽起來似是真的。

Ⅱ.難句分析

But it's Finnish culture itself—of which privacy and personal space have long been part—that has also struck a chord.但芬蘭文化本身——隱私和個人空間一直是芬蘭文化的一部分——也引起了人們的共鳴。

本句是一個強調句，被強調的部分是Finnish culture itself—of which privacy and personal space have long been part。

譯文助讀

為什么數百萬人想成為“精芬”

芬蘭一部關于社交尷尬的火柴人漫畫已經成為中國的熱門話題——漢語中甚至出現了一個新詞。那為什么它會引起如此強烈的共鳴呢？

在擁有14億人口的中國，隱私是一種奢侈。個人空間不是普通中國人所熟悉的概念。推搡是城市生存的基本技能。如果你沒能和其他通勤者擠上一列擁擠的地鐵，你就會遇到不耐煩的目光。

“私有財產”或“私有空間”的概念在過去被抨擊——而這種理想在今天依然存在。在中國，人們樂于在任何地方躺下小睡一會兒：在辦公室的食品儲藏室里，在公園的長椅上，甚至在博物館或音樂廳的門廳里，看上去公共空間就和他們自己的客廳一樣舒適。

因此，在《芬蘭人的噩夢》系列漫畫中，我們很驚訝地看到：馬蒂，一個有著社交尷尬癥的芬蘭卡通人物，在中國的網絡空間里成了名人。漢語中甚至出現了一個新詞，用來形容像那主角一樣的人：精芬，也就是“精神芬蘭人”。在社交媒體上廣泛流傳的一種定義是，jingfen指的是那些不喜歡社交的人，比如芬蘭人，他們對待自己的個人空間“極度嚴肅”。

馬蒂對人群和閑聊的恐懼，以及他容易感到尷尬的傾向，引起了許多中國讀者的共鳴。他們似乎松了一口氣，因為他們對隱私的渴望終于得到了表達——通過一個來自遙遠國家的火柴人的媒介。但芬蘭文化本身——隱私和個人空間一直是芬蘭文化的一部分——也引起了人們的共鳴。

“芬蘭是患有社交焦慮癥的人的天堂，”微信用戶張艷梅在一篇帖子中寫道。“我是精芬，請不要打擾我！”一位匿名用戶在豆瓣上的文章標題中寫道。“你能在馬蒂身上看到你自己的影子嗎?”他問道。“他害羞、內省，生活的考驗和磨難不只是馬蒂一個人的噩夢。我們都害怕孤獨，但我們更渴望得到個人空間和隱私的尊重。”對于許多中國人來說，這將是一種真實的情緒。