访谈者：师淇

受访人NO.3: 小G （应当事人请求，姓名隐去）

 

长相：有点像成年版哈利波特
成长背景：西班牙出生，成长，拥有西班牙和美国的双重国籍
教育背景：国际政治系，正在申请法学院，和一般美国大学生不同，小G很努力，目标都是全A。
国民义务履行情况：在美军服役五年，先后去过阿富汗和伊拉克，去年退役，重返校园。
年龄：24

 

师淇注：小G是一个很内敛的人，在人群中大多数时候都很沉默。即使是两个人面对面，他也不像一半美国男生会主动找话题，所以有时和他对话是个挑战；然而从他的背景就可以看出，他绝对是个有故事的人，我也尝试问他在军中的见闻，然而他每次总是说"等咱们再熟一些再告诉你吧。军队里的经历通常我是不会主动提及的。"

 

关于从军，小G经常说到的就是，“觉得自己24岁的年龄和大学校园格格不入。”“感觉现在才开始规划自己的人生有些被耽误了。”

 

当小G有一天愿意向我倾诉他征战阿富汗和伊拉克的经历时，我会单独开一个系列给他。

 

关于identification身份认同感，小G有一个很有趣的"选择"理论。我问他觉得自己是美国人还是西班牙人，他说他已经选择了做美国人。原因呢，他讳莫如深，只说：

 

"It's just some day I felt myself more American than Spanish. Then I choose to be American. And then I choose to be a new Yorker. Even though I was born in Spain and raised up in Virginia."（“就是有一天我觉得自己更加是个美国人，所以我选择成为美国人。然后我再选择成为一个纽约人, 即使我在西班牙出生，在弗吉尼亚州长大。”）

 

在这个全球化，或者说西方式的价值观横扫全球的时代，我们看着和地球另一端同样的美国电影，用着同样的法国化妆品，在同样拥挤高度商业化的城市中过着漂泊的生活，即使生在华夏，我们同样也要为自己的身份做出选择。而作为中国人如何确认自己的身份，如何在日益统一的全球话语体系中找到自己的独特位置，也是一个重要的议题吧。

 

Let's find a way to be happy and proud Chinese. 让我们为成为快乐骄傲的中国人而寻找一条出路吧。

 

访谈正文：

 

Q: What are the things cross your mind when think of China/Chinese?
(such as things you most exposed to in daily life)
问：想到中国的时候你一般会想到什么？比如说你在生活中常常见到的东西。

 

答（认真想了一分钟，忽然开始闷笑）：I am really sorry. I know it was not right, I tried to dig deep into my memory so I recalled a representation of Chinese culture in a old cartoon. Well, now people don't do that as often as the old days.
真对不住，我知道想到这个不好。我试着往记忆深处仔细挖掘所以我想起了一个老动画片里对中国文化的展现。不过，现在做这样的事情越来越少了。（其实不是，看看绝望主妇里的小梅这个角色，我觉得比汤姆和杰瑞老卡通在脸谱化中国人方面还要严重。）

 

后来他发了链接给我，注意5：40分的中国舞蹈。如下：
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MiyAZA_aLdY

 

Ok, let's forget about the Chinese dance. First I will think of
communism, because china now is the one of the few communist country
in the world yet  with highly capitalized economy and great diplomatic
influence.  Its relationship with Russia and North Korea make US and
other western countries necessary to find ways to communicate with
china in political terms.

OK, 忘掉那个中国舞蹈。首先我会想起共产主义，因为中国现在是少数的共产主义国家，却拥有高度资本化的经济和强大的外交影响力。在政治上，它和俄国与北韩的关系使得美国和其它的西方国家必须找到和中国沟通的方法。

I would be curious to know what characteristic is actually communist in china.
我很好奇，想知道在中国，什么事情有真正的共产主义特征？

 

Q：Can you name a few channels you get information on China? (Movie,
Newspaper, etc.)
问：能不能举出几个你获取关于中国信息的渠道呢？报纸啦，电影啦

 

答： For general information I would go to New York Times, BBC, and
Washington post. If I wanted to understand an issue more thoroughly
and more objectively I would go find foreign policies journals such as the< Political Science Quarterly>.  Because to understand the inside and out of a certain issue you have to be informed of its history and current state from every aspects.
日常的消息我会去看纽约时报，BBC，和华盛顿邮报。如果我想深入和不受偏见地了解某个问题，我会去看关于国际政策的期刊，比如《政治学季刊》。因为要从里到外地了解某一个议题，必须要全面了解它的历史和现状。

 

Q: And what impression you have on China/Chinese culture based on
these information?
问：那你从这些信息里对中国得出了什么印象呢？

 

答：Basically people are the same. In different cultures, there are
maybe differences like how people eat, wear and talk, but people are
all driven by the same causes to live every day. To love, to be loved, to avoid death,  and to find happiness.

其实从根本上来说，人都是一样的。在不同的文化中，也许有一些像衣，食，言谈方面的差异，但是人从根本上都是被同样的理由驱使而或者。爱，被爱，逃避死亡，寻找幸福。

 

I'm sure there are deep supports of every culture. From what we see
from the news, even there are negative perspectives about China /
Chinese, so what? There are good and bad about every culture. It is
easier to point fingers at other country or culture because the bad
things are not happening to us, but I would rather think in this way:
would us do any better in their position? I will try to think what
challenges people have to solve problems than just simply requires
them to do that and stop this.  It's not fair.

 

每一个文化肯定都有背后深厚的根基。即使我们从新闻上看到关于中国负面的一面，那又怎样呢？每个文化都有它好和不好的一面。对别的国家或者文化指指点点很容易，因为事情没有发生在我们身上，但是我宁愿这样想：如果我们在他们的处境，会做得更好吗？我会试着去想象这些人们有怎样的难处使他们不能解决那些问题，而不是仅仅要求他们去做那样那样或者停止这样这样。这不公平。

 

Q：What you think of the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing?
对于即将到来的2008北京奥运会你有什么看法？

 

答： Things are getting very controversial these days and I think it is
the biggest challenge the Chinese and the government had in years.  In
the old times China had been more focused on its own development than
pleasing the outside world, however the past ten years China's
economical success had gradually turned around the world's attention,
the people had been more interactive with the world, the culture
especially the film industry had also attempted to let the outside
world to experience the fast evolving Chinese society together. All of
these efforts are highlighted by the host of Beijing Olympic Games.
The media here always describe the 2008 Olympics as "China's come out
party", indicating that by opening up to the world and letting outside
world stepping inside, China's potential as the world's major player
would be recognized.

 

最近事情变得很有争议，我认为这对中国人和政府来说是近年来遇到的最大的考验。在从前中国把注意力集中在自己的发展而非取悦外部世界，而过去的十年里，中国的经济成就逐渐的引起了世界的关注，中国的人民和世界的交流也越来越双向，而文化特别是电影工业也在尝试让外面的世界一起经历快速演变的中国的社会。而这些努力的高潮就是北京取得奥运申办权。这边的（西方）媒体总是把2008奥运会描述成"中国的成年舞会"（类似少女成年进入社交场合的正式介绍身份的舞会），喻为通过向世界敞开自己，让外面的世界走进来，中国的成为世界主要力量的潜力当被正式地承认。

 

However things may not be as what Chinese people expected, it is not
necessary to be disappointed yet because some people are trying to
attempt to destroy the party. I mean, we are more into parties, and
from my experiences, despite the chaos before the party, you never
judge whether you are going to have fun during the party. When
something is too big and the more you wanted it to be smooth and the
more you care about it, the more likely you would be likely to
experience some little disasters at the fore night.  But hey, you
never know, plenty of parties are fun no matter how many disasters had
occurred, let's just see what  is going to happen on August.

虽然事情不像中国人想象的那样，但是现在也没有必要感到失望仅仅因为某些人正试图破坏这个舞会。我的意思是，我们（美国人）更热衷舞会吧，而根据我的经验，不管舞会开始前有多混乱，你永远不能判断你会不会在舞会上享受到乐趣。有时候，当事情过于重要，你越希望它顺利，你越在乎它，你就越有可能在舞会前夜经历一些小灾难。但是，嘿，你猜不到的，不管多少个小灾难发生过，许多舞会是很有趣的。让我们拭目以待八月份会发生些什么吧。

 

Q：And will you go to Beijing for the Olympic Games if
situation (your schedule and budget) allows? Why and why not?
如果在有钱有时间的情况下，你会去北京看奥运吗？为什么？

 

答：I wouldn't go to Olympics since I am not a big fan of big parties.
But I do want to go to China just to see what is happening in China
now. Maybe I will go to small towns to see how the ordinary people
live and taste the real Chinese food there, and maybe I will have more
fun than going to Olympics by which many people are trying mess up.

我不会去看奥运会因为我不是大型舞会的狂热粉丝。但是我绝对想要到中国去看看现在中国正发生着什么。也许我会去一些小城镇去看看平常的中国人的生活，品尝真正的中国食物，而这样，比起去看正被一些人搞复杂的奥运会，我也许会享受到更多的乐趣。

About going to China, to be honest with you, China is not a prior
choice of country on the wish list for most people I know here. For
them, if they get a chance to travel, they would first like to go back
to Europe, their culture roots, to discover what they identify with.
Just like every Jewish would like to go to Jerusalem, every Hispanic
want to go to Spain.

关于造访中国，诚实的讲，对于很多人的旅行计划，中国并不是首选的国家。对他们来说，如果有机会旅行，他们首先想要重返他们文化的根基欧洲，来探索他们能共勉的文化。就像每个犹太人想要造访耶路撒冷，每个拉美人想要去西班牙一样。

 

Q：How do you imagine the life in China?
你想象在中国的生活是怎样的？

 

答：I don't know, there are no images in my head. Again, since I haven't
been there I would rather reserve my opinion. It should be me ask
questions to you not the opposite on the matter. What it feels like to
live in China? Is it stressful or peaceful? Is it happy? At this
moment, It must be hard for you guys because of all the outside
pressure. However you guys have survived for thousands of years, I am
sure you guys can make this.

我不知道，在我的脑海里没有图像。再次的，因为我从来没有去过，我宁愿保留我对中国生活的意见。相反的，在这个问题上应该由我来问你问题：在中国生活是什么感觉？很有压力呢还是很平静？有幸福感吗？在这个时期，因为外部的压力你们一定觉得很辛苦吧。不过你们已经经历了几千年的起伏，相信这个坎也能过得去。

 

Q： Please give a few words to describe your perception of China as a
world power.
请给出几个词形容一下你对中国这个世界强势力量的看法。

 

答：It is natural and neutral for china to become the world power,
unlike what many people say, I don't think China will mess up the
situation. Currently, there are four world powers in the world: US,
European Union, Russia and China. But I feel this judgment is mostly
based on the economical and military power, I think China's status as
a world power would be more solid if its culture and arts had matched
up more. I mean if people in the west had been talking about Chinese
literature, movies, or music, then everybody would truly admit that
China is a respected world power because it is influencing everybody's
daily life. Now, I haven't seen it happening.

中国成为世界强势力量是一件自然而且中性的事件，不像有的人说的，我不觉得中国会扰乱世界格局。目前，世界有四大强势力量：美国，欧盟，中国和俄罗斯。不过，这个判断主要建立在经济和军事力量的基础上，如果中国的文化和艺术能和其经济和军事潜力更相配的话，我觉得总过作为强势力量的地位将更加稳固。我的意思是，如果西方人一直谈论中国的文学，电影，音乐的话，那么这里的每个人都要承认中国是一个受尊重的世界强势力量了，因为它正影响着每个人的日常生活。目前来说，这个事情还没有在发生。