十個(gè)匿名寫作的作家

十個(gè)匿名寫作的作家

The identity of Elena Ferrante, the elusive author (and subject of a series of essays in the current issue of T) who has never been photographed, interviewed in person or seen in public, is a matter of intense debate thanks to her sharp, autobiographical novels, which explore female friendship in the context of Italian society. On the eve of the publication of “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay,” the third volume in Ferrante’s Neapolitan series, we offer a short history of literary masks, from Jonathan Swift to J.K. Rowling.

埃琳娜·費(fèi)蘭特(Elena Ferrante)是一個(gè)難以捉摸的作家(本期的T雜志中也有若干文章是關(guān)于她的)，她的照片從未公之于眾，從不接受個(gè)人訪談，也從不在公眾中出現(xiàn)，她那些犀利的、自傳性質(zhì)的小說以意大利社會(huì)為背景，探索女人之間的友誼，引發(fā)了激烈的爭論。新書《離開的和留下來的》(Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay)是她的那不勒斯系列小說的第三卷，在這本書出版前夕，我們來盤點(diǎn)一下那些隱姓埋名的作家們——從喬納森·斯威夫特(Jonathan Swift)到J·K·羅琳(J. K. Rowling)。

Jonathan Swift

喬納森·斯威夫特

Thanks to Swift’s cloak-and-dagger tactics, not even his publisher knew the true identity of the author of “Gulliver’s Travels.” The writer sent an intermediary to hand off the manuscript under the cover of night, along with a letter supposedly from Gulliver’s cousin.

由于喬納森采取間諜式的隱瞞策略，連他的出版社也不知道《格列佛游記》(Gulliver’s Travels)的作者是誰。這位作家派中間人在夜間把自己的手稿送出，還附上信函，暗示去信人是格列佛的表親。

Benjamin Franklin

本杰明·富蘭克林(Benjamin Franklin)

The founding father used a number of pseudonyms to publish opinionated newspaper pieces: “Silence Dogood” to critique hypocrisy and hoopskirts; “Polly Baker” to argue for women’s rights; “Anthony Afterwit” to detail the tribulations of marriage. Franklin’s most famous alter ego, “Richard Saunders,” authored the popular “Poor Richard’s Almanack” for 25 years.

這位美國的建國先賢用一系列筆名在報(bào)紙上發(fā)表剛愎自用的文章：《不切實(shí)際的寧靜》批評(píng)偽善和帶裙撐的長裙;《波利·貝克爾》主張婦女權(quán)利;《事后聰明的安東尼》描述婚姻中的痛苦。富蘭克林最有名的一個(gè)變化人格名叫“查理·桑德斯”(Richard Saunders)，他撰寫廣受歡迎的《窮查理年鑒》(Poor Richard’sAlmanack)長達(dá)25年。

Sir Walter Scott

沃爾特·司各特爵士(Sir Walter Scott)

Nicknamed “The Great Unknown,” Scott secretly published his wildly successful “Waverley” novels and, in so doing, helped forge the genre of historical fiction. He maintained anonymity for years, keeping his work a secret even from his own children, until financial pressures forced him to confess.

司各特綽號(hào)“偉大的無名氏”，他極為成功的小說《威弗利》(Waverley)等都是用這個(gè)名字出版的，它們?yōu)闅v史小說這種類型奠定了基礎(chǔ)。他多年保持匿名，秘密寫作，連他的孩子們也不知道這回事，直到家中出現(xiàn)經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力，他才被迫坦白交代。

The Brontë sisters

勃朗特姊妹(The Brontë sisters)

Charlotte, Emily and Anne produced their masterworks of Victorian literature under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. They chose these androgynous monikers because of “a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice,” an impression shared by at least two other great “authoresses” of the day, George Eliot and George Sand.

夏洛特(Charlotte)、艾米麗(Emily)和安妮(Anne)用柯勒(Currer)、埃利斯(Ellis)和阿克頓·貝爾(Acton Bell)為筆名發(fā)表了維多利亞文學(xué)中的杰作。她們采用沒有明顯性別特征的筆名，是因?yàn)樗齻?ldquo;有一種模糊的感覺，覺得女性作家容易遭受成見”，至少同時(shí)期的另外兩位“女作家”喬治·艾略特(George Eliot)和喬治·桑(George Sand)也和她們有同感。

Sholem Aleichem

肖洛姆·阿萊赫姆(Sholem Aleichem)

At the start of his career, the prolific writer whose work would inspire “Fiddler on the Roof” didn’t want his relatives to know he was publishing in Yiddish rather than Hebrew. The novelist, born Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, adopted the pen name “Sholem Aleichem,” a Hebrew greeting that means “peace be unto you,” and authored dozens of books under the pseudonym.

這位作家非常多產(chǎn)，《屋頂上的小提琴》(Fiddler on the Roof)就是根據(jù)他的作品改編的，在他從事寫作之初，并不想讓親戚們知道自己是用意第緒語而不是希伯來語寫作。于是這位本名所羅門·瑙莫維奇·拉賓諾維奇(Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich)的作家起了“肖洛姆·阿萊赫姆”這個(gè)筆名，意思是希伯來語的“祝愿你獲得平靜”，他用這個(gè)名字寫了幾十本書。

Louisa May Alcott

路易莎·梅·阿爾科特(Louisa May Alcott)

In addition to her celebrated tales of stalwart sisters and lovable orphans, Alcott wrote lesser-known novels with titles like “The Abbot’s Ghost, Or Maurice Treherne’s Temptation” and “Behind a Mask, Or a Woman’s Power.” She published these stories of love and suspense under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard — a mask of her own.

除了她那些關(guān)于斯圖爾特姊妹和可愛的孤兒們的著名故事，阿爾科特還寫過一些不那么有名的小說，比如《阿博特的幽靈，或毛里斯·特倫赫納的誘惑》 (The Abbot’s Ghost, Or Maurice Treherne’s Temptation)以及《面具之后，或女人的力量》(Behind a Mask, Or a Woman’s Power)等，她用筆名A·M·巴納德(A. M. Barnard)發(fā)表了這些充滿愛意和懸疑的小說，這也是她自己的面具。

James Weldon Johnson

詹姆斯·威爾頓·約翰遜(James Weldon Johnson)

In Johnson’s groundbreaking “Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man” (1912), a young man of mixed race decides to pass as white. As its author had hoped, the anonymously published novel “passed” as memoir until Johnson acknowledged it to be fiction in 1927. “Autobiography” went on to influence generations of African-American writers.

在約翰遜1912年石破天驚的小說《一個(gè)前有色人種的自傳》(Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man)中，一個(gè)混血兒希望自己以白人的身份蒙混過關(guān)。正如作者所愿，這部匿名出版的小說也被當(dāng)做回憶錄而“蒙混過關(guān)”了。直到1927年，約翰遜才承認(rèn)它是虛構(gòu)的?！蹲詡鳌防^續(xù)影響了好幾代非裔美國作家。

Fernando Pessoa

費(fèi)爾南多·佩索阿(Fernando Pessoa)

Thomas Crosse, literary critic. Álvaro de Campos, naval engineer. Maria José, consumptive hunchback. These are just three of the many characters invented by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Each so-called “heteronym” possessed unique psychologies, biographies and writing styles, and Pessoa published prolifically under their names as well as his own.

文學(xué)評(píng)論家托馬斯·克羅斯(Thomas Crosse)、造船工程師阿爾瓦羅·德·坎波斯(Álvaro de Campos)。患有肺病的駝背瑪利亞·何塞(Maria José)。這只是葡萄牙詩人費(fèi)爾南多·佩索阿虛構(gòu)出來的眾多身份中的三個(gè)。每個(gè)所謂“同義者”都具有自己獨(dú)特的心理狀態(tài)、個(gè)人簡介和寫作風(fēng)格，佩索阿用他們的名字和自己的名字發(fā)表了大量作品。

Dominique Aury

多米尼克·奧利(Dominique Aury)

Aury wrote “Story of O” (1954), a sadomasochistic novel replete with whips, cuffs and chains, under the pseudonym Pauline Réage. The accomplished woman of letters kept her scandalous feat a secret until 1994, when she identified herself as the mysterious author — and, just as mysteriously, mentioned that “Dominique Aury” was not her real name, either.

1954年，奧利以筆名波麗娜·雷阿日(Pauline Réage)發(fā)表了《O的故事》(Story of O)，這是一部以施虐受虐為主題的小說，充滿皮鞭、手銬和鎖鏈。這位才華橫溢的女作家隱瞞了這個(gè)不道德的成就，直到1994年才承認(rèn)自己就是這個(gè)神秘作家。同樣神秘的是，她還聲稱“多米尼克·奧利”也不是她的真名。

J.K. Rowling

J·K·羅琳

Hoping to receive “totally unvarnished feedback,” the “Harry Potter” author adopted the pseudonym Robert Galbraith when she published “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” a book for adults, in 2013. It wasn’t the first time she had concocted a name: Joanne Rowling started going by initials, including a fictitious “K,” when a publisher warned her that boys might not buy books by a woman.

這位《哈利·波特》(Harry Potter)的作家希望得到“不加修飾的反饋”，于是在2013年以羅伯特·加爾布雷思(Robert Galbraith)為筆名出版了《布谷鳥的呼喚》這本書，這本書是寫給成年人看的。這并不是她第一次起筆名了：她原名喬安妮·羅琳(Joanne Rowling)，后來她把“喬安妮”變成了首字母“J”，還加上了一個(gè)虛構(gòu)的首字母縮寫“K”，因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)出版商告誡她說，男孩子們不會(huì)買女人寫的書。