周豐

南治國(guó)，生于湖北黃岡，自號(hào)“星洲閑人”。1987年考入華中師范大學(xué)英文系，1991年攻讀上海外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)比較文學(xué)專業(yè)碩士學(xué)位，畢業(yè)后留校教授翻譯、文學(xué)等課程。2001年前往新加坡國(guó)立大學(xué)攻讀博士學(xué)位，之后留在新加坡義安理工學(xué)院（獲終身教職）、南洋理工大學(xué)、新加坡華文教研中心任教。

作為一名從事中外文學(xué)研究與教學(xué)的學(xué)者，三十年來南治國(guó)始終致力于研究中國(guó)文學(xué)與新加坡的歷史淵源、中國(guó)現(xiàn)代作家及其文學(xué)作品對(duì)新加坡文學(xué)的影響，以及探究華文教育在新加坡的歷史與現(xiàn)狀。

讓世界優(yōu)秀文化走進(jìn)中國(guó)

這段時(shí)間，南治國(guó)受上海譯文出版社邀約，正在翻譯非洲裔英國(guó)作家古爾納的長(zhǎng)篇小說《荒棄》（Desertion）。2021年10月，這位作家因圍繞“殖民歷史”和“難民經(jīng)歷”的創(chuàng)作而被授予諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。

“我一向視翻譯為苦差，但有時(shí)候又禁不住手癢，再忙也津津有味?！蹦现螄?guó)對(duì)中英互譯外國(guó)名著充滿了熱忱。

“你必須要精通并嫻熟運(yùn)用兩種語(yǔ)言，保證語(yǔ)句的準(zhǔn)確順暢，還要對(duì)語(yǔ)言的文化和歷史有深入了解，讓文筆更符合讀者的閱讀習(xí)慣，就仿佛是本國(guó)作家寫的原著一樣。雖然這對(duì)翻譯者是比較大的挑戰(zhàn)，但卻是必須遵循的準(zhǔn)則?！?/p>

最近十年，南治國(guó)曾參與上海譯文出版社三本書的翻譯工作。其中，最讓他有成就感的譯文作品是英國(guó)作家阿蘭 · 德波頓的隨筆集《旅行的藝術(shù)》。

“乍一看書名，你可能以為是本老套的旅行日記?！彼ㄗh記者不妨讀一讀，“你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)作者思考的深度、廣度超乎普通旅行作家，這本書的內(nèi)容其實(shí)在探討旅行的心境和方式，鼓勵(lì)你保持好奇、思考和觀察，通過細(xì)節(jié)切入生活，去發(fā)現(xiàn)美”。

南治國(guó)認(rèn)為，一名優(yōu)秀的文化創(chuàng)作者如果能夠廣泛涉獵各類優(yōu)秀的國(guó)外文學(xué)，知曉他人的世界觀、價(jià)值觀，吸取其精華，可以獲得更多創(chuàng)作的新靈感，在不斷的模仿中最終形成自己的風(fēng)格。

如今，他參與翻譯的《旅行的藝術(shù)》和《身份的焦慮》中文版已被選為上海譯文出版社的經(jīng)典譯作，這在他看來是一種莫大的肯定。

前兩年，南治國(guó)還受上海社科院文學(xué)研究所之托，和新加坡知名學(xué)者王潤(rùn)華共同主編了《東南亞漢學(xué)中的上海文學(xué)研究》，整理東南亞學(xué)者對(duì)上海文學(xué)的關(guān)注。

“其實(shí)新世紀(jì)以來，東南亞學(xué)界特別是新加坡光是對(duì)魯迅、郁達(dá)夫和張愛玲的研究就出版了許多專書。因此在這本書中，我們盡可能收錄涉及較多研究對(duì)象的論文，并附錄幾篇輕松的隨筆和訪談?lì)愋∥恼拢瑢I(yè)又不失趣味地講述海外漢學(xué)研究者心目中對(duì)上海乃至中國(guó)的文學(xué)想象?！?/p>

在南治國(guó)看來，上海和新加坡作為文學(xué)的“雙城”，曾經(jīng)有故事，現(xiàn)在有故事，將來還會(huì)有許多人續(xù)寫它們之間的故事，這是一條難以割舍的文化認(rèn)同紐帶。

中國(guó)文化何以引發(fā)共鳴和推崇

新加坡作為中西文化交匯的樞紐，一個(gè)多世紀(jì)以來一直受到多種文化的碰撞交融。

1919年10月1日，新加坡《新國(guó)民日?qǐng)?bào)》的文學(xué)副刊——新國(guó)民雜志創(chuàng)刊，開啟了新加坡華文現(xiàn)代文學(xué)的思潮。

“郁達(dá)夫、徐志摩、林語(yǔ)堂、凌叔華等中國(guó)現(xiàn)代文壇的代表人物，都曾來新加坡講學(xué)、辦報(bào)和創(chuàng)刊。而即使是從未踏足此地的魯迅、聞一多、郭沫若，他們的作品同樣推動(dòng)著本地社會(huì)的進(jìn)步思想?？梢哉f，新加坡的華文現(xiàn)代文學(xué)史在中國(guó)新文學(xué)運(yùn)動(dòng)的影響下，與中國(guó)新文化運(yùn)動(dòng)幾乎同步萌芽和成長(zhǎng)。”

南治國(guó)介紹說，從二十世紀(jì)20年代末到1965年新加坡獨(dú)立前后，魯迅一直是新加坡華文文壇的教父級(jí)人物?！秴群啊泛汀夺葆濉分械男≌f以及魯迅的大量雜文，不僅被中國(guó)人視為充滿批判主義精神的“匕首文學(xué)”，也曾引發(fā)英國(guó)殖民統(tǒng)治下很多新加坡人的共鳴，被本地人稱為“魯迅風(fēng)”的文學(xué)，猶如一面旗幟，深刻影響著新加坡幾代作家的創(chuàng)作。

前新加坡作家協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長(zhǎng)黃孟文，就曾模仿《故鄉(xiāng)》的結(jié)構(gòu)和立意撰寫了短篇小說《再見惠蘭的時(shí)候》，講述了馬來西亞山村女孩惠蘭，雖然聰明能干，但重男輕女的觀念和清苦的家境讓她最終輟學(xué)，數(shù)年后當(dāng)主人公“我”念完大學(xué)回到故鄉(xiāng)，見到了和童年時(shí)完全不一樣的惠蘭，情形一如迅哥兒見到了童年的玩伴閏土……

在新加坡任教期間，南治國(guó)也專門收集了二十世紀(jì)20、30年代新馬文學(xué)中帶著“南洋”色彩的阿Q眾生相，并整理成文《旅行的阿Q》。

這群生活在南洋的阿Q們，拜金、逐色、忘祖、崇洋，有的會(huì)背幾句“爺死，怒”（yes， no）之類的洋涇浜，靠坑蒙拐騙謀生;有的喝洋墨水，穿名牌洋貨，取洋名字“Stephen Q”，不屑學(xué)習(xí)中華文化，折射出當(dāng)時(shí)發(fā)展畸形、缺少溫情、容易自我迷失的南洋現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)。

“具有批判性、充滿現(xiàn)實(shí)主義的文學(xué)作品，在當(dāng)時(shí)的新加坡備受歡迎。”南治國(guó)說。

1936年10月19日，魯迅病逝于上海。短短幾天內(nèi)，《南洋商報(bào)》《星洲日?qǐng)?bào)》《新國(guó)民日?qǐng)?bào)》等新加坡主要報(bào)刊都特別趕編了“魯迅紀(jì)念專號(hào)”，通過詩(shī)歌、照片、評(píng)論等寄托無盡哀悼和崇高敬意。

“數(shù)量之多，內(nèi)容之充實(shí)，令人感動(dòng)和欽佩。對(duì)魯迅先生的紀(jì)念是馬華文藝界紀(jì)念文藝家最隆重、最莊嚴(yán)的一次……魯迅逝世后，馬華文藝界對(duì)他的認(rèn)知趨同度一直很高，對(duì)其創(chuàng)作水平和思想崇敬有加?！?001年，南治國(guó)在刊發(fā)于新加坡《亞洲文化》的《魯迅在新馬的影響》論文中寫道。

海外華文教育走向何方

眾所周知，新加坡是一個(gè)多元種族共存、文化開放包容的國(guó)家，馬來文為國(guó)語(yǔ)，英文為教學(xué)和工作用語(yǔ)，各民族還有傳承自身文化的母語(yǔ)。

據(jù)《聯(lián)合早報(bào)》2019年報(bào)道，新加坡大多數(shù)華族年輕人都能用華語(yǔ)交流，但華語(yǔ)和英語(yǔ)這一雙語(yǔ)優(yōu)勢(shì)仍然在相對(duì)減弱。來自新加坡教育部當(dāng)年的統(tǒng)計(jì)，英語(yǔ)已逐漸取代華語(yǔ)成為華族家庭的主要用語(yǔ)，在家中講英語(yǔ)的華族家庭已占七成左右。

2019年正是新加坡“講華語(yǔ)運(yùn)動(dòng)”推行四十周年，該國(guó)總理李顯龍?jiān)趹c祝大會(huì)上呼吁讓年幼的孩子從小耳濡目染，接觸華語(yǔ)和華族文化。

“目前，世界各地的人正在積極學(xué)習(xí)華語(yǔ)，他們都知道如果要在中國(guó)工作、與中國(guó)人打交道、把握住中國(guó)發(fā)展所帶來的商機(jī)，他們就必須學(xué)好華語(yǔ)?！崩铒@龍當(dāng)年的這段講話，也引發(fā)南治國(guó)對(duì)于新加坡華文教育尋找發(fā)展方向的“共鳴”。

在他看來，一種語(yǔ)言的生命力強(qiáng)盛與否，不僅在于文化底蘊(yùn)是否深厚，更重要的是其經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值的大小，“簡(jiǎn)單來說，中國(guó)的國(guó)力越強(qiáng)大，華語(yǔ)在海外就越受歡迎”。

南治國(guó)對(duì)華文教育在新加坡的發(fā)展始終充滿信心?！靶录悠率且粋€(gè)務(wù)實(shí)的國(guó)家。隨著新中兩國(guó)在經(jīng)貿(mào)、文化、科技等領(lǐng)域交流更加頻繁，我身邊越來越多的新加坡人認(rèn)識(shí)到掌握華語(yǔ)是一個(gè)職場(chǎng)‘加分點(diǎn)’，意味著可能找到更好的工作，拿到更高的薪水?！蹦现螄?guó)談道。

據(jù)他觀察，近兩年新加坡華人對(duì)中華傳統(tǒng)文化的學(xué)習(xí)熱情有趕超中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)的趨勢(shì)。

“很多新加坡社區(qū)都開設(shè)了書法班，一些學(xué)校還會(huì)邀請(qǐng)書法老師前去授課。不僅是孩子愛學(xué)，還有醫(yī)生、律師甚至政府高級(jí)官員等精英階層也熱衷練習(xí)書法，把書法視為一種閑適且高雅的興趣愛好?！?/p>

南治國(guó)也是一名書法愛好者。45歲提早退休后，每得空閑他就會(huì)琢磨秦漢簡(jiǎn)帛書法、魏晉及后世知名碑帖，研究不同字體的架構(gòu)和共性，從哪里起筆？力度如何？他對(duì)練筆有著自己的想法 ：書法固然需要勤奮，但更需要才情，能融入性情、寫出趣味的字就是好字。

南治國(guó)自稱“星洲閑人”，朋友們把他的書法稱為“閑體”。“大家都很好奇，為什么我選擇了這種書寫風(fēng)格？我認(rèn)為書法藝術(shù)講究獨(dú)創(chuàng)性和辨識(shí)度，而在中國(guó)和新加坡兩地的不同人生經(jīng)歷，包括讀過的書、走過的路、遇見的人，也在潛移默化地影響著我對(duì)書法創(chuàng)作的認(rèn)知。”

2019年和2021年，南治國(guó)在新加坡分別舉辦主題為《遇見》和《云淡風(fēng)輕》兩次書法展，展陳的近百件作品一售而空?！伴e體”受到了本地華人的熱烈追捧。

“好的書法作品，既有地方色彩，又有時(shí)代烙印，更應(yīng)有個(gè)性特征。這么看來，在文化審美上還是有不少人與我志同道合?！蹦现螄?guó)覺得，好的書法家須養(yǎng)書卷氣，寫性情字，寧拙勿巧，這樣創(chuàng)作出的作品才能無理而妙。

Nan Zhiguo， the Cultural Ambassador Between China and Singapore

By Zhou Feng

Born in Huanggang， Hubei province， Nan Zhiguo likes to joke about himself being “An Idler of Singapore”. He entered the English Department of Central China Normal University in 1987， and in 1991 he went to Shanghai International Studies University for his master program in comparative literature. In 2001， Nan went to the National University of Singapore for his PhD， and after graduation stayed in Singapore where he taught at Ngee Ann Polytechnic （tenure-track）， Nanyang Technological University， and Singapore Centre for Chinese Language successively.

As a researcher and teacher of Chinese and foreign literature， during the last three decades he has devoted himself to the study of the historical origins of Chinese literature in Singapore， the influence of modern Chinese writers and their literary works on Singaporean literature， and the exploration of the history and the status quo of Chinese language education in Singapore.

Recently， under the request of Shanghai Translation Publishing House， Nan has been translating a novel Desertion written by an African British writer Abdulrazak Gurnah， a Nobel laureate granted in October 2021 for his literary creations centered on colonial history and refugee experience. “I always take translating as a hard job， but sometimes I just feel like doing it and enjoy doing it even at my busiest.” He has such enthusiasm towards translating foreign literature both into and from Chinese. “You must be proficient in both English and Chinese， making sure the sentences flow accurately and smoothly. You also need a profound understanding of the culture and history of the said languages， and steer your translation style to agree with your readership， so as to create an impression of a native literary work. Challenging as it is， it is a necessary rule for translators.”

During the last decade， Nan participated in translating three books for Shanghai Translation Publishing House and the one endowed him with the fullest sense of fulfillment was Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel. “Judging by the title alone， you may think it is just another cliché travel journal，” admitted Nan. Yet he recommended for the reporter to give it a read. “You will find the depth and width of the author’s thinking far outweigh an ordinary travel writer’s. The book actually discusses the state of mind and different forms in travel and encourages people to stay curious， keep thinking and observing， and discover beauty through details of life.”

Nan Zhiguo believes that an excellent writer who is able to read all kinds of outstanding foreign literature extensively， know the worldview and values of others， and absorb their essence， will get more inspirations to create and eventually form his own style through repeated imitating. Today， the Chinese versions of The Art of Travel and Status Anxiety， which he participated in translating， have been selected as classics by Shanghai Translation Publishing House. It is， in his opinion， a great affirmation of his contribution.

Two years ago， Nan was also commissioned by the Institute of Literature of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences to co-edit， together with a renowned Singaporean scholar Professor Wong Yoon Wah， The Study of Shanghai Literature in Southeast Asian Sinology， where they sort out the attention of Southeast Asian scholars to Shanghai literature. “In fact， since the beginning of the new century， the academia of Southeast Asia especially in Singapore have published many monographs on the studies of Lu Xun， Yu Dafu and Zhang Ailing alone. In this book， therefore， we have included as many papers as possible that deal with a larger number of research subjects， and appended several light small essays and interview-type articles that tell the story of Shanghai and China’s literary imagination in the minds of overseas sinology researchers in a professional yet interesting way.” In Nan’s view， there were and still are plenty of stories between Shanghai and Singapore， the literary “twin cities”， which will be continued as an unbreakable bond of cultural identity.

As a hub where the East meets the West， Singapore has witnessed the clash and mingling of various cultures for over a century. On October 1， 1919， the Sin Kuo Min magazine， a literary supplement to Singapore’s Sin Kok Min Jit Pao， was launched， initiating a modern era of Chinese literature in Singapore. “Yu Dafu， Xu Zhimo， Lin Yutang， Ling Shuhua and other such celebrities in modern Chinese literature came to Singapore to lecture， run newspapers and magazines. As for Lu Xun， Wen Yiduo and Guo Moruo who had never set foot here， their works also promoted advanced thinking in the local community. It can be said that the modern Chinese literature in Singapore sprouted and grew almost simultaneously under the influence of the Chinese New Literature Movement.”

From the late 1920s to around the time of Singapore’s independence in 1965， Lu Xun had a profound influence on Chinese literature in Singapore， Nan Zhiguo told the reporter. The stories in Call to Arms and Wandering， as well as his numerous essays， are regarded as the “daggers and spears” in Chinese literature for their strong criticism about the old Chinese society. They also resonated with many Singaporeans who were under the British colonial rule. The style of Lu Xun is like a banner that has profoundly influenced generations of Singaporean writers.

Dr. Wong Meng Voon， the former president of the Singapore Writers’ Association， wrote a short story “When I See Huilan Again”， imitating the structure and intention of “Hometown”， a famous short story of Lu Xun. “Literature that was critical and fully realistic was very popular in Singapore at the time.” Nan Zhiguo said.

After Lu Xun’s death on October 19， 1936， just within a few days many major Singapore newspapers unanimously produced special “Lu Xun Memorial Issue”， sending their condolences and respects through poems， photos and commentaries. According to Nan， it is the grandest and most solemn commemoration of a literary artist in the communities of Singapore and Malaya.

Singapore is known to be a multiracial， culturally open and tolerant country， with Malay as the national language， English as the working language， and native tongues for each ethnic group to pass on their own culture. According to a Lianhe Zaobao report in 2019， most Chinese young people in Singapore can communicate in Chinese， but their bilingual advantage of Chinese and English has diminished. In 2019， the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for young children to be immersed in the Chinese language and culture from an early age， as Singapore marked the 40th anniversary of its Speak Mandarin Campaign.

Nan Zhiguo is always confident about the future of Chinese language education in Singapore. “Singapore is a pragmatic country. With more frequent exchanges between Singapore and China in the areas of trade， economy， culture， science and technology， more Singaporeans around me are realizing that mastery of the Chinese language is a workplace ‘plus’ that could get you a better job and a higher salary.” He has observed that in the past two years， the enthusiasm of Chinese Singaporeans for learning traditional culture tend to catch up with that of their Chinese counterparts.

Many Singaporean communities are offering calligraphy classes， for instance. Nan himself is also passionate about calligraphy. In the eyes of his friends， his calligraphy is of an “idle style”. “People are curious about why I chose this style of calligraphy. I think my different life experiences in China and Singapore， including the books I have read， the roads I have travelled and the people I have met， have also influenced my perception of calligraphy，” explained Nan.