Fantasy: The Blueprint of the World奇幻文学：世界的蓝图

文/露西·豪森 译/陈天怡

By Lucy Hounsom

Fantasy sinks its figurative talons1talon（鸟类，尤指猛禽的）爪。into us all. Its origins are ancient, with roots in the epic IcelandicEddur2《埃达》，冰岛史诗，中古时期流传下来的最重要的北欧文学经典，也是在古希腊、古罗马以外的西方神话源头之一。and Old English poems likeBeowulf3《贝奥武甫》，古英格兰叙事长诗，讲述了斯堪的纳维亚的英雄贝奥武甫的英勇事迹，欧洲文学的三大英雄史诗之一。. It owes a debt to Shakespeare, to the adventure narratives of the eighteenth century, to the Gothic movement, Romanticism,the medievalism of the Pre-Raphaelites4拉斐尔前派，19世纪中叶出现于英国的画派，崇尚浑厚、扎实的写实画风，厌弃浅薄的实用主义艺术时尚，注重油画的精神内涵和中古时期的情调。and to thefin de siècle5原为法语，意思是世纪之末，指19世纪末期，尤指当时的艺术、文化和道德氛围。. But perhaps it didn’t begin to be shaped as a distinct genre until authors such as George MacDonald (1824—1905), William Morris (1834—1896) and Lord Dunsany(1878—1957) popularised the creation of fantasy worlds. Among others, they mined the imaginative concepts that J.R. R. Tolkien would later forge into the first real commercial epic fantasy.

[2] This short summary alone reveals how deep fantasy runs in the human psyche6psyche心灵，精神。, how it drives human creativity.It is an elemental force, a willing immersion7immersion沉浸于，陷入。in the mythic8mythic如同神话般的。. We—and the stories we write—are shaped by its archetypes9archetype源自心理学家卡尔·荣格的名词，指神话、宗教、梦境、幻想、文学中不断重复出现的意象，它源自民族记忆和原始经验的集体潜意识。这种意象可以是描述性的细节、剧情模式或角色典型，能唤起观众或读者潜意识中的原始经验，使其产生深刻、强烈、非理性的情绪反应。, allegories10allegory讽喻，指故事、剧本等作品中，以具体角色或情节来象征抽象的思想或品质，如真理、死亡、邪恶。and emotions.So what attracts us to fantasy? What rough magic compels us to walk in the footsteps of heroes?

[3] I’d like to use a favourite quote fromMiddlemarch11全称《米德尔马契——当地生活研究》，乔治·艾略特的代表作，描述了作者虚构的英国省城“米德尔马契”发生的一出人生悲喜剧。, George Eliot’s classic, as a starting point to explore this rather enormous question. She writes:

If we had a keen feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.

[4] Of course, even “ordinary”human life is anything but silence.Beneath that silent surface, hidden by what we do not or cannot say, there is a fast flowing current of the emotions,thoughts and perceptions that are a human’s birthright. It’s a dangerous current, were we to be swallowed by it. Our conscious mind protects us;truth distilled12distill吸取精华，提炼浓缩。in the unconscious is imparted13impart透露，传达。gradually, with caution.Humans are complex beings, driven by powerful forces: desire, ambition,our spiritual and aesthetic principles,and we are constantly aware of our mortality.

[5] To understand why we’re drawn to fantasy, I think it’s first necessary to understand that the human mind functions on many levels, not all of them easily labelled or accessible.Creativity allows us to access the subconscious; to express the archetypes that we unknowingly utilise in our comprehension of the world. Alan Garner said,Mythis not entertainment,but rather the crystallisation of experience, and, far from being escapist, fantasy is an intensification of reality.Myths survive the passage of time because they embody14embody具体表现或体现（思想或品质）。the archetypes of essential human behaviour. Our strengths, weaknesses,wisdoms and follies are recorded in stories that hopefully equip us with a better understanding of each other and our place in an ever-changing world.

[6] Fantasy expresses this in its purest form, uncluttered15uncluttered不包含过多繁琐事物或细节的。by contemporary living. Archetypes are present in every creative endeavour, but in fantasy they tend to be unclothed:clarifiednotsimplified. Like myth, we can tap into fantasy and are rewarded with comprehension on the most important,fundamental level. Fantasy doesn’t shroud16shroud隐藏，遮盖。itself in intellectualisms17intellectualism理智主义，唯智论。.It doesn’t use metaphor for the sake of metaphor. It goes much deeper to uncover and bring to light the very essence of progress, the determination to shape our environment, to undertake the journey across distant, perilous lands in a quest to understand the Self.

[7] This is why we identify with the hero archetype. They are on the same quest as us; they strive to shape their destinies as we do. We live and die beside them. We mourn their passing as we mourn our own. And we rejoice in their accomplishments because therein lies the possibility of coming that little bit closer to grasping the elusive truth at the heart of existence.

[8] There is a place of wonder and danger just beyond our sight, a life of intensity that calls to those who listen. Some of us catch glimpses of it in dappled sunlight, or in the cloud shadows that darken the hills. We yearn towards that life. Surrounded by it, we can confront the aspects of ourselves that frighten or confuse us. Characters have the ability to guide us, Dante-esque18这里应为作者借用但丁《神曲》的故事情节。后缀-esque指“如……一般的”。, through the internal challenges we face. They show us that we’re not alone.Our thoughts have been thought before.

[9] The camaraderie19camaraderie（同事或长时间想处的人之间的）友情，情谊。we feel with well-crafted characters—of shared trials while questing—is one of the reasons I started reading fantasy. The physical and psychological transition from childhood to adulthood is the hardest we face as individuals, and many of us find ourselves reaching out to others in the same situation. I found myself reaching out to characters that lived in entirely different worlds.

[10] Unlike Garner, I won’t deny that there is an element of escapism involved. The fantasy genre is not alone in offering us a means to briefly transcend everyday life, but it is famously suited to that purpose.

[11] The number ofWorld of Warcraftsubscribers for example(7.7 million at last count), reveals a compelling desire to create an alter-ego and then to invest real time and money inhabiting it. I think that this kind of investment in a fantasy alter-ego is different to roleplaying games set in carbon copies of modern society.

[12] The things that drew me toWoWfirst and foremost were its fantasy characters and fantasy world…and all the adventures they engendered.

Who wouldn’t want to fly on drakes,be a warlock or warrior and kick ass in Naxxramas for epics? This kind of immersion fulfils us on several psychological levels, but it is also dangerously addictive.

[13] The same addiction runs throughout fantasy as a genre. Once you embark on that quest, it’s hard to pause in your exploration, or retain a sense of perspective20a sense of perspective理智、客观地看待问题的能力。. Fantasy deals in powerful symbols and exploits the most inescapable yearnings of human nature.It is a bridge over the river Imagination,whose far bank tempts us with the impossible.

[14] Why should we not enjoy being able to fly, possess super-powers, speak to magical creatures? We can interact with history. Past ages appeal by virtue of21by virtue of由于，凭借。their being not now. But that distant bank promises darker, more morally complex things like immortality or apotheosis22apotheosis尊奉为神，神化。, even control over time itself. This is the realm where normal rules do not apply. This is the realm where you can live forever, be rich, rule an empire, heal or kill with a thought. In a realm such as this, it’s about holding onto your humanity in the midst of chaos. Thus stories are born.

[15] I began this article by saying that fantasy has its talons in us all.Even if you don’t feel an affinity with the genre, you reference it whenever you express a wish for something to be other than it is. If you’re anything like me, however, who lives each day on the fringes of fantasy, you’ll know how it colours everything you see. A walk in woodland conjures images of elves or fae. The rocky tors23tor石山。on Dartmoor conceal a knight’s tomb or a troll hoard.Antique shops are home to cursed masks or paintings, or a prophecy hidden in a newspaper from 1925.Imbuing the everyday with24imbue with使充满。the power of fantasy brings to me a kind of clarity of observation, as if I am seeing things for what in essence they are.

[16] Writing is about making the familiar unfamiliar. It’s about crossing the bridge to find the stories that, as long as there are people to hear them,will live forever. And it’s about the truth that remains with us after the last page is turned. When I first finishedThe Lord of the Rings, I was devastated, knowing that I couldn’t sail to Valinor with Frodo. I had to leave the Fellowship behind. Although our own lives call us back at the end of every adventure, I’d like to think we return a little bit wiser.Ultimately, and as Gandalf so rightly says,all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. ■

奇幻文学以其象征的利爪紧紧攫住我们每一个人。其源头深远，萌芽于冰岛史诗《埃达》和类似《贝奥武甫》的古英格兰诗歌。它借鉴了莎士比亚的作品、18世纪的冒险故事、哥特运动、浪漫主义、拉斐尔前派的中世纪精神和世纪之末的整体氛围。但或许直到乔治·麦克唐纳（1824—1905）、威廉·莫里斯（1834—1896）和邓萨尼爵士（1878—1957）等作家推广了奇幻世界的创作，奇幻文学才开始成为一种独特的文体。这些作家所挖掘的奇思妙想，后由J. R. R. 托尔金融入了第一部真正意义上的商业化史诗奇幻巨作。

[2]从上文简短的概述即可看出，奇幻深深扎根于人类精神世界，并激发着人类的创作能力。它是一种重要的力量，一种对浸入神话的憧憬。我们，和我们笔下的故事，均以其意象、讽喻和情感为原型。那奇幻文学又是依靠什么吸引我们？是怎样原始而狂野的魔法促使我们追随英雄的脚步？

[3]我想借用乔治·艾略特的经典著作《米德尔马契》中我最喜爱的一段文字作为切入点，来探索这一宏大的命题。她这样写道：

倘若我们对一切寻常的人类生活都有着敏锐的感知，就像能听见小草的生长和松鼠的心跳，我们便会因着这寂静背面的喧哗而死去。

[4]当然，即使“寻常”的人类生活也绝不会是寂静的。在寂静的表象下，在我们不会诉说或无法诉说的言语中，暗藏着一条激流，裹挟着人类与生俱来的情感、思想和觉知。这条激流危机四伏，有可能将我们吞没。我们的显意识保护着我们，让潜意识中提炼的真理审慎地逐渐显露。人类是复杂的存在，受到多股强大力量的驱动：欲望、野心、精神信念和美学原则，以及挥之不去的死亡阴影。

[5]要理解我们缘何受到奇幻文学的吸引，就必须先了解人的大脑是在多个层面运作的，并非所有层面都能轻易标记和接触。创造力令我们能触及自己的潜意识，表达我们在理解世界的过程中不自觉使用的意象。艾伦·加纳说，神话并非娱乐，而是体验的结晶，奇幻文学也远非对现实的逃避，而是对现实的加强。神话能经受住时间的考验，因为它描绘了人类核心行为的意象。故事记录下我们的强大、脆弱、智慧和愚昧，以期帮助我们更好地理解彼此，并确立自身在这瞬息万变的世界中的位置。

[6]奇幻文学抛却当代生活的种种琐碎，以最纯粹的形式加以展现。一切创作行为都离不开意象，但奇幻文学中的意象往往是不加掩饰的：净化而非简化。我们探索奇幻文学，就如同进入神话世界，收获的是最重要、最根本的领悟。奇幻文学不会假借理智主义的外衣隐藏自己，不会为隐喻而隐喻。它更为深入地发掘并揭露进步的本质，即改变环境的决心，为读懂“自我”而踏上漫漫险途。

[7]正因如此，我们会对英雄的意象产生共鸣。他们和我们一样，走在探寻自我的路上，努力书写着自己的命运。他们就在我们左右，与我们同生共死。我们仿佛哀恸自己的死亡一般哀恸他们的逝去。我们为他们的成就欢欣鼓舞，因这成就或许能让我们稍稍接近生活核心那难以捉摸的真理。

[8]在我们看不见的地方，有一片神奇而凶险的土地，激动人心的生活呼唤着所有侧耳倾听的人。有的人在斑驳的阳光或是笼罩山坡的云影之中，瞥见它转瞬即逝的踪迹。我们渴望那样的生活，在它的怀抱中，我们得以直面内心令自己恐惧疑惑的一面。故事中的角色好似但丁所写的那般，引领我们直面内在的挑战。他们让我们懂得，自己并非孤立无援，我们的所思所想也曾栖居于前人的脑海。

[9]我开始阅读奇幻小说的原因之一，便是出于对精心设计角色的惺惺相惜之情——我们在探寻的路上共患难。从儿童到成人的生理与心理转变，是我们作为个体所面临的最艰巨的考验，许多人会选择寻找处境相同的人。我则选择了生活在截然不同的世界中的角色。这是他们的天赋之一。

[10]与加纳不同的是，我并不否认奇幻文学带有一丝逃避主义的色彩。虽然并非只有奇幻文学这一种体裁能够让我们短暂地超越日常生活，但在这一点上，奇幻文学的确当仁不让。

[11]以《魔兽世界》为例，从其用户数量（最新统计人数达770万）可以看出，人们迫切想创造另一个自我，并投入现实中的时间和金钱来成为虚构的自己。我认为这种对幻想自我的投资，不同于翻版现代社会场景中的角色扮演。

[12]奇幻的人物、奇幻的世界……和由此衍生的所有冒险，是《魔兽世界》最初吸引我的地方，也是其最大的魅力所在。谁不想骑着公鸭翱翔，化身武士或术士，如史诗描写一般横扫纳克萨玛斯？沉浸于这样的体验之中，我们能获得多层次的心理满足，但也面临着上瘾的危险。

[13]所有奇幻类作品都有这种危险。一旦开启征程，便再难停下探索的脚步，或保持清醒。奇幻文学利用强有力的符号，挖掘人性中最难以逃脱的渴望，就好像是架于“想象”之河上的小桥，种种不可思议的事物在遥远的彼岸引诱着我们。

[14]恣意飞翔、拥有超能力、与魔法生物交流，又有何不可呢？我们可以与历史对话。过去的时光正因其有别于当下而引人入胜。然而，在遥远的河对岸，也有着更为黑暗、更具道德复杂性的事物，比如永生和神化，甚至对时间本身的掌控。在那个国度，常规一概失效，你可以长生不死，富甲一方，也可以成为一代帝王，生杀大权系于一念。在这样的国度，你必须在无边的混乱中不放弃自己的人性。故事便由此诞生了。

[15]在文章开头，我曾写道，奇幻文学以其象征的利爪紧紧攫住我们每一个人。即使你并不熟悉这一体裁，只要你希望任何事物和现状不同，就已经进入了奇幻文学的领域。不过，若你跟我这整日游走在奇幻边缘的人有任何共通之处，就会知道它是如何令目之所及都变得五彩纷呈。走在树林中会想到精灵和仙子；达特姆尔高原上的石山隐匿着某位骑士的墓穴或是地精的秘窖；古董店里摆放着被诅咒的面具和画作，也许还有1925年的旧报纸，里头藏着一个预言。当日常生活充满奇幻的魔力，我对事物的观察就变得愈发清楚，仿佛一眼便能看透其本质。

[16]写作是为了让熟悉的事物变得陌生，是跨过小桥去搜寻故事，只要还有人愿意聆听，这些故事便永恒不灭。写作是为了在我们合上书本之后，真理仍然与我们同在。第一次读完《魔戒》时，我知道自己无法和弗罗多一起坐船前往维林诺后，悲恸欲绝。我不得不和我的“小伙伴们”就此道别。虽然冒险过后，总要接受现实生活的召唤，我仍愿相信归来的我们智慧已有所增长。最终，借用甘道夫的金玉良言，我们唯一需要决定的就是如何度过有限的人生。 □