經(jīng)典英語(yǔ)散文:日本的新一代 The New Generation in Japan

IN THIS ARTICLE: Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work (and) prefer easy jobs without heavy responsibility.

本文簡(jiǎn)介：日本學(xué)生似乎正對(duì)工作失去耐心…(而且)更喜歡無(wú)需負(fù)重大責(zé)任的輕松工作。

Japan's post-World War II value system of diligence, cooperation, and hard work is changing. Recent surveys show that Japanese youth have become a "Me Generation" that rejects traditional values.

日本二戰(zhàn)以后形成的勤奮、合作和努力工作的價(jià)值體系正在發(fā)生變化。最近的調(diào)查顯示，日本青年已變成了拒絕傳統(tǒng)價(jià)值觀的“自我一代”。

"Around 1980 many Japanese, especially young people, abandoned the values of economic success and began searching for new sets of values to bring them happiness," writes sociologist Yasuhiro Yoshizaki in Comparative Civilizations Review. Japanese youth are placing more importance on the individual's pursuit of happiness and less on the values of work, family, and society.

“1980年前后，許多日本人，特別是年輕人，摒棄了經(jīng)濟(jì)上成功的價(jià)值基準(zhǔn)，開(kāi)始尋找能給他們帶來(lái)幸福快樂(lè)的新的價(jià)值準(zhǔn)則，”社會(huì)學(xué)家吉崎康宏在《文明比較評(píng)論》一書(shū)中這樣寫(xiě)道。日本青年人現(xiàn)在越來(lái)越重視追求個(gè)人幸福而越來(lái)越少關(guān)注工作、家庭和社會(huì)的價(jià)值基準(zhǔn)。

Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work, unlike their counterparts in the United States and Korea. In a 1993 survey of college students in the three countries, only 10% of the Japanese regarded work as a primary value, compared with 47% of their Korean counterparts and 27% of American students. A greater proportion of Japanese aged 18 to 24 also preferred easy jobs without heavy responsibility.

日本學(xué)生似乎正對(duì)工作失去耐心，而美國(guó)和韓國(guó)學(xué)生卻不是這樣。在一項(xiàng)1993年的對(duì)這三個(gè)國(guó)家的高校學(xué)生進(jìn)行的調(diào)查中，只有10%的日本人認(rèn)為工作是一個(gè)主要的價(jià)值體現(xiàn)物，而韓國(guó)人和美國(guó)人分別是47%和27%。年齡在18到24歲的大多數(shù)日本人還更喜歡無(wú)需負(fù)重大責(zé)任的輕松工作。

Concern for family values is waning among younger Japanese as they pursue an inner world of private satisfaction. Data collected by the Japanese government in 1993 shows that only 2304 of Japanese youth are thinking about supporting their aged parents, in contrast to 63% of young Americans. It appears that many younger-generation Japanese are losing both respect for their parents and a sense of responsibility to the family. Author Yoshizaki attributes the change to Japanese parents' over-indulgence of their children, material affluence, and growing concern for private matters.

日本小青年中對(duì)家庭價(jià)值基準(zhǔn)的關(guān)心在逐漸衰退，取而代之的是追求個(gè)人內(nèi)心世界的滿(mǎn)足。日本政府于1993年搜集的數(shù)據(jù)表明，只有23%的日本青年想著要供養(yǎng)年邁的父母，與美國(guó)青年的63%形成鮮明對(duì)比。這顯示出很多年輕一代的日本人正喪失對(duì)父母的重視和對(duì)家庭的負(fù)任感。作者吉崎康宏將這種變化歸咎于父母對(duì)對(duì)孩子的縱容溺愛(ài)、物質(zhì)的富有和對(duì)個(gè)人事物關(guān)注程度的增強(qiáng)。

The shift toward individualism among Japanese is most pronounced among the very young. According to 1991 data from the Seimei Hoken Bunka Center of Japan, 50% of Japanese youth aged 16 to 19 can be labeled "self-centered", compared with 33% among those aged 25 to 29 To earn the self-centered label, the young people responded positively to such ideas as "I would like to make decisions without considering traditional values" and "I don't want to do anything I can't enjoy doing".

日本人向個(gè)人主義的轉(zhuǎn)變?cè)谇嗌倌曛凶顬轱@著。根據(jù)日本生命保險(xiǎn)文化中心1991年的數(shù)據(jù)，50%的16 到19歲的日本青年可被列為“以自我為中心”，則比之下在25到29歲的青年中這一數(shù)字僅為33%。對(duì)諸如“我作決定時(shí)無(wú)意考慮傳統(tǒng)價(jià)值觀”和“我不想做我無(wú)法喜歡做的任何事情”這樣的想法持肯定態(tài)度為青年人贏得了以自我為中心的標(biāo)簽。

Diminishing social responsibility, according to Yoshizaki, is tied to the growing interest in pleasure and personal satisfaction. A study comparing society-conscious youth from 1977 to 1990 found that the Japanese had slipped far behind American and Australian students. Only 11 % of Japanese aged 18 to 24 said they get personal satisfaction in doing something on behalf of society, according to 1993 data from the Japanese government, while four limes as many Americans said 50.

吉崎康宏認(rèn)為，社會(huì)責(zé)任感的削弱與個(gè)人滿(mǎn)足和享樂(lè)的興趣增長(zhǎng)密切相關(guān)。一項(xiàng)從1977年到1990年對(duì)有社會(huì)意識(shí)的青年進(jìn)行對(duì)比的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，日本人遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后于美國(guó)和澳大利亞學(xué)生。18到24歲的日本人中，只有 11%說(shuō)他們從為社會(huì)做事中得到個(gè)人滿(mǎn)足，根據(jù)1993年日本政府的數(shù)據(jù)，這么說(shuō)的美國(guó)人是日本人的四倍之多。

Yoshizaki concludes that the entire value system of Japanese youth is undergoing major transformation, but the younger generation has not yet found a new organized value system to replace the old.

吉崎康宏得出結(jié)論：日本青年整個(gè)價(jià)值體系正在發(fā)生重大變化，但年輕的一代尚未找到一個(gè)新的有組織的價(jià)值體系來(lái)取代舊的。