CATTI+MTI高斋翻译TransElegant
Hidden WithinTechnology’s Empire, a Republic of Letters
隐藏于技术帝国的文学界
In support of this argument, Mr. Teachout cites the ominous drop in the volume of book sales and the great increase in movie attendance: “For Americans under the age of 30, film has replaced the novel as the dominant mode of artistic expression.” To this Mr. Teachout adds that popular novelists like Tom Clancy and Stephen King “top out at around a million copies per book,” and notes, “The final episode of NBC’s ‘Cheers,’ by contrast, was seen by 42 million people.”
为了支持这一观点，蒂奇奥特先生指出，图书销量不幸下降，而电影观众却大幅上升。“对30岁以下的美国人来说，电影已经取代小说，成为艺术表达的首要模式。”蒂奇奥特先生补充道，汤姆·克兰西和斯蒂芬·金等畅销小说家“每本书最多也就卖到一百万册左右，”还说，“相比之下，全国广播公司的《欢乐酒店》的最后一集，观众达4200万之多。”
On majoritarian grounds, the movies win. “The power of novels to shape the national conversation has declined,” says Mr. Teachout. But I am not at all certain that in their day “Moby-Dick” or “The Scarlet Letter” had any considerable influence on “the national conversation.” In the mid-19th century it was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” that impressed the great public. “Moby-Dick” was a small-public novel.
就数量多寡而言，电影赢了。“小说左右国民言谈的力量已经削弱，”蒂奇奥特先生说。但我丝毫不敢肯定，当初《白鲸》或《红字》对“国民言谈”有过什么重大影响。19世纪中期，打动大众的是《汤姆叔叔的小屋》。《白鲸》是一部小众小说。
The literary masterpieces of the 20th century were for the most part the work of novelists who had no large public in mind. The novels of Proust and Joyce were written in a cultural twilight and were not intended to be read under the blaze and dazzle of popularity.
20世纪的文学杰作大多出自没有大众意识的小说家之手。普鲁斯特和乔伊斯的小说，创作于暗淡的文化暮色之中，本来就无意让人在大众化的耀眼光焰下阅读。
Mr. Teachout’s article in The Journal follows the path generally taken by observers whose aim is to discover a trend. “According to one recent study 55 percent of Americans spend less than 30 minutes reading anything at all…. It may even be that movies have superseded novels not because Americans have grown dumber but because the novel is an obsolete artistic technology.”
蒂奇奥特先生在《华尔街日报》上的文章，沿用了观察家们旨在发现某种倾向的套路，指出“根据最近一项调查，55%的美国人阅读时间不超过30分钟……甚至可以说，电影取代了小说，不是因为美国人变傻了，而是因为小说这种技艺已经过时。”“我们还不习惯把艺术形式看成技术，”他说，“但事实上艺术形式就是技术，也就是说，艺术形式已经因为新技术的发展而濒临死亡。”
Hidden WithinTechnology’s Empire, a Republic of Letters
隐藏于技术帝国的文学界
In support of this argument, Mr. Teachout cites the ominous drop in the volume of book sales and the great increase in movie attendance: “For Americans under the age of 30, film has replaced the novel as the dominant mode of artistic expression.” To this Mr. Teachout adds that popular novelists like Tom Clancy and Stephen King “top out at around a million copies per book,” and notes, “The final episode of NBC’s ‘Cheers,’ by contrast, was seen by 42 million people.”
为了支持这一观点，蒂奇奥特先生指出，图书销量不幸下降，而电影观众却大幅上升。“对30岁以下的美国人来说，电影已经取代小说，成为艺术表达的首要模式。”蒂奇奥特先生补充道，汤姆·克兰西和斯蒂芬·金等畅销小说家“每本书最多也就卖到一百万册左右，”还说，“相比之下，全国广播公司的《欢乐酒店》的最后一集，观众达4200万之多。”
On majoritarian grounds, the movies win. “The power of novels to shape the national conversation has declined,” says Mr. Teachout. But I am not at all certain that in their day “Moby-Dick” or “The Scarlet Letter” had any considerable influence on “the national conversation.” In the mid-19th century it was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” that impressed the great public. “Moby-Dick” was a small-public novel.
就数量多寡而言，电影赢了。“小说左右国民言谈的力量已经削弱，”蒂奇奥特先生说。但我丝毫不敢肯定，当初《白鲸》或《红字》对“国民言谈”有过什么重大影响。19世纪中期，打动大众的是《汤姆叔叔的小屋》。《白鲸》是一部小众小说。
The literary masterpieces of the 20th century were for the most part the work of novelists who had no large public in mind. The novels of Proust and Joyce were written in a cultural twilight and were not intended to be read under the blaze and dazzle of popularity.
20世纪的文学杰作大多出自没有大众意识的小说家之手。普鲁斯特和乔伊斯的小说，创作于暗淡的文化暮色之中，本来就无意让人在大众化的耀眼光焰下阅读。
Mr. Teachout’s article in The Journal follows the path generally taken by observers whose aim is to discover a trend. “According to one recent study 55 percent of Americans spend less than 30 minutes reading anything at all…. It may even be that movies have superseded novels not because Americans have grown dumber but because the novel is an obsolete artistic technology.”
蒂奇奥特先生在《华尔街日报》上的文章，沿用了观察家们旨在发现某种倾向的套路，指出“根据最近一项调查，55%的美国人阅读时间不超过30分钟……甚至可以说，电影取代了小说，不是因为美国人变傻了，而是因为小说这种技艺已经过时。”“我们还不习惯把艺术形式看成技术，”他说，“但事实上艺术形式就是技术，也就是说，艺术形式已经因为新技术的发展而濒临死亡。”
