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精選書評:American Born Chinese

作者:Gene Luen Yang
出版社:First Second Books
中譯本:《美生中國人》簡體中文 / 中英對照版,陝西師範大學出版社

  • 本書為2006年Amazon最暢銷繪本,並入選Time時代雜誌當年度十大漫畫。
  • 作者自2016年起擔任美國青少年文學大使,致力於使用繪本的方式推廣青少年教育。
  • 作者本身為華裔美國人,在本書巧妙融合美國漫畫和西遊記等元素,敘述移民華人的內心掙扎和困境。

預估閱讀時間:03:23
文章難度:★★★☆☆

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel about growing up and being an outsider. The reader experiences this perspective from 2 characters: Jin Wang, an American-born Chinese boy and his best friend, Wei-Chen Sun, a Taiwanese boy who moved to America with his family. Both of these characters struggle with their ethnic identities and experience life as minorities in high school. What’s truly unique about this book is how it simultaneously tells two other stories: a version of the famous Monkey King myth and a sitcom-inspired story about a Chinese relative named "Chin-kee" visiting America. By the end of the novel these 3 stories intersect in the most unexpected, wonderful way, using the medium of graphic fiction to its full potential.

《美生中國人》是以繪本的方式,描述人的成長與身為局外人游離於不同文化的故事。讀者將從兩個角色的視角深入劇情:華裔美國人王謹和跟著家人移民美國的孫偉成,兩個高中生都在身份認同和身為少數族群被隔閡的經驗中掙扎。這本書真正獨特之處在於同時闡述兩個故事:一邊描述家喻戶曉的西遊記,一邊敘述主人翁的中國親戚—欽西拜訪美國的趣事。在故事接近尾聲時,這三個故事會出奇不意地串聯在一起,將繪本的特長發揮地淋漓盡致。

The Chin-kee storyline is written and illustrated to be as offensive as possible. On display here are all of the most racist stereotypes of Chinese people: Chin-kee has pale, yellow skin and slanted eyes; he is constantly embarrassing his hosts by overachieving academically and engaging in socially repulsive behavior; one of his sayings is: "Ah, as Confucius say, razy dog make for good stew." This part of the book is presented as a comedic television sitcom with a laugh track. This differentiates it from the other 2 stories, but also demonstrates how just 15 or 20 years ago this type of content was acceptable for Western network television, and advertisers were happy to sponsor it.

欽西的故事線被刻意設計來羞辱華人,讀者會在書中看到所有歧視華人的刻板印象:欽西有著瞇瞇眼和蒼白泛黃的膚色。故事中,欽西還不斷做出自認高尚且令人反感的行徑,使得接待的主人丟臉到家,其中一句話便是:「哈哈,子曰,懶狗能拿來做好菜。」欽西的故事使用了罐頭笑聲伴隨情境喜劇的表現手法,是為了區隔出另外兩個故事,同時,更深的意涵在於這種內容在十五至二十年前,是如何廣為西方電視媒體採納,甚至有廣告商願意投資贊助。

註解:Razy是欽西發音錯誤,正確應該是Lazy。

When I ask Taiwanese citizens about stereotypes, many aren't immediately aware of any. One response I've received is "people think we work very hard", which is one of the stereotypes on display in Chin-kee's character: the "model minority" myth. This is the assumption that Asian students are better at math or sciences because they come from less privileged circumstances and a strict family. Even this is a harmful stereotype, causing anxiety and depression for both parents and children of immigrant communities.

當我問及台灣人對這些刻板印象的想法,很多人當下並沒有太多想法。但我收到的其中一個回應是「大家認為我們很勤奮。」這就是欽西所表現的刻板印象:「模範少數族裔」的迷思。這樣的迷思是建立在亞洲學生比較擅長數學或科學的預想上,因為他們來自社經地位比較不優越且家教嚴格的家庭。但即使是這樣的假設也會造成傷害,導致移民家庭的父母與孩子出現焦慮及憂鬱的現象。

註解:模範少數族裔 (model minority):1950至1960年代時,美國媒體上出現了有關亞裔被視為「模範少數族裔」(model minority)的言論,當時許多報章雜誌也時常誇讚亞裔美國人是勤勞守法、為人低調且任勞任怨的好公民。

This book tells a story about racial stereotypes and how, left uninterrogated, they might be internalized. Having this knowledge is valuable because it can help you anticipate other people's impressions of you, and even lead to an advantage in some situations. Finally, reading this type of fiction can help you become more familiar with the challenges of other people living abroad and offer insight into the psychology of racism.

本書訴說種族的刻板印象如何在未經深究探討之下內化的故事。能擁有這樣的認知非常有意義,因為這份認知能幫助你去預想他人對你的印象,甚至藉此取得優勢。最後,閱讀這種故事能幫助你更了解海外移民的困境,並培養讀者對於種族歧視心理學的洞察力。

 


 文/ Peter Gibbon

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2019年2月號
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