烏托邦文學的魅力 Why Utopias Still Matter 反烏托邦文學的魅力 Why Dystopias Unsettle Us

題目一：烏托邦文學的魅力 Why Utopias Still Matter

Such is the pull of imagining a perfect society that the word utopia, which Thomas More coined from Greek roots that can mean both "no place" and "good place", has come to name a hope rather than a location, yet the pun suggests that More was less interested in promising paradise than in measuring how far our present arrangements fall short, which is perhaps why later writers, whether they sketched ideal islands, cooperative villages or cities of glass, have used the form to hold up a mirror in which readers can see what their own age refuses to repair, a function that survives even when the paradise on offer looks, to modern eyes, either dull or faintly sinister.

1. 結構破解

Such is the pull of imagining a perfect society

that the word utopia,

which Thomas More coined from Greek roots

that can mean both "no place" and "good place",

has come to name a hope rather than a location,

yet the pun suggests

that More was less interested in promising paradise

than in measuring how far our present arrangements fall short,

which is perhaps why later writers,

whether they sketched ideal islands, cooperative villages or cities of glass,

have used the form to hold up a mirror

in which readers can see what their own age refuses to repair,

a function that survives even when the paradise on offer looks,

to modern eyes, either dull or faintly sinister.

2. 分解為短句

Imagining a perfect society has a strong pull.（Such...that 句型）

Thomas More coined the word utopia.

He coined it from Greek roots.

The roots can mean "no place" and "good place".

The word has come to name a hope.

It does not name a location.

The pun suggests something.（主句骨架）

More was less interested in promising paradise.

He was more interested in measuring something.

Our present arrangements fall short by some distance.

Later writers sketched ideal islands, cooperative villages or cities of glass.

They used the form to hold up a mirror.

Readers can see in the mirror what their own age refuses to repair.

This function survives.

It survives even when the paradise looks dull or faintly sinister.

Modern eyes see it that way.

3. 參考譯文

想像完美社會的吸引力如此之大，以致 utopia 這個字（湯瑪斯·摩爾用既可解為「無處」又可解為「美好之地」的希臘字根所造）後來指的是一種希望，而非一個地點。然而這個雙關語顯示，摩爾與其說有意承諾天堂，不如說更關心衡量我們現有的制度還差多遠。這或許正是為何後來的作家，不論描繪的是理想島嶼、合作村落或玻璃之城，都把這種形式當成一面鏡子，讓讀者從中看見自己的時代拒絕修補的問題。即使眼前的樂園在現代人看來乏味或隱隱帶有不祥，這項功能依然存在。

4. 組合寫作練習（請勿看例句，嘗試將短句組回原長句）

5. 補充說明

句型創新：以 Such is ... that 的倒裝句型開頭，把「程度」放在句首，語氣有如格言；中段以 which 非限定子句再套入 that 限定子句，形成雙層修飾；後段用 whether 讓步子句作插入語，最後以 a function that survives even when ... 的同位語收尾，並在 when 子句中夾入 to modern eyes。

單字：

utopia：「烏托邦」；coin：「創造（新詞）」

pun：「雙關語」；fall short：「不足、未達標準」

arrangement：「安排、制度」；sinister：「不祥的、邪惡的」

hold up a mirror：「照見、反映」；on offer：「提供中的」

文法提醒：

Such is the pull of ... that ... 中，Such 放句首要倒裝，動詞 is 置於主詞 the pull 之前；that 引導結果子句。

the word utopia, which Thomas More coined ..., has come to name ... 中，which 子句是插入的非限定關係子句，真正的主詞 the word utopia 與動詞 has come 之間隔了很長，要抓準；Greek roots that can mean ... 的 that 修飾 roots。

has come to name a hope rather than a location 中，come to + 原形動詞表「逐漸變成」，rather than 後接名詞，與 a hope 平行。

the pun suggests that ... 的 that 子句內有 less ... than ... 結構，than 後的 in measuring 與前面的 in promising 要平行；how far our present arrangements fall short 是名詞子句，作 measuring 的受詞，語序是 how far + 主詞 + 動詞。

which is perhaps why 的 which 指前面整件事；whether they sketched A, B or C 是插入的讓步子句，三個名詞平行。

a mirror in which readers can see what ... 中，in which 是介系詞加關係代名詞，what their own age refuses to repair 是名詞子句，作 see 的受詞。

a function that survives even when ... 是同位語；when 子句內的 looks 是連綴動詞，後接 either dull or faintly sinister，兩個形容詞平行，to modern eyes 是插入語。

舉例：摩爾的《烏托邦》（1516）描寫一座共有財產的島嶼，同時也暗中批評當時英國的社會問題；貝拉米的《回顧》（1888）想像二十世紀的和諧社會，在當時引起許多討論；吉爾曼的《她鄉》（Herland，1915）設想一個只有女性的社會，用來反思性別分工；勒瑰恩的《一無所有》（1974）副標題為「一個模稜兩可的烏托邦」，刻意讓理想社會也帶有缺陷。

一點提醒：utopia 的字源雙關是常見的說法，但摩爾本人的意圖，學者有不同解讀，有人認為他是認真提案，有人認為他是諷刺。本句因此用 suggests 與 perhaps，不下定論。另外，現代英語中 utopian 也常帶「不切實際」的貶義。

題目二：反烏托邦文學的魅力 Why Dystopias Unsettle Us

It is not the cruelty of the regime alone that makes a dystopia unsettling but the ease with which its citizens are persuaded to accept it, for the worlds of Orwell, Huxley and Atwood are built less from tyrants' threats than from ordinary things, such as slogans, comforts, forms and euphemisms, that readers recognize from their own lives, so that the genre, less a forecast of distant catastrophe than a warning aimed at the present, asks us to notice which small freedoms we are trading away, and for what, before the trade becomes too habitual to question, a danger that explains why such novels, written decades ago, are still quoted whenever a new law or gadget promises safety in exchange for a little privacy.

1. 結構破解

It is not the cruelty of the regime alone

that makes a dystopia unsettling

but the ease with which its citizens are persuaded to accept it,

for the worlds of Orwell, Huxley and Atwood

are built less from tyrants' threats

than from ordinary things,

such as slogans, comforts, forms and euphemisms,

that readers recognize from their own lives,

so that the genre,

less a forecast of distant catastrophe

than a warning aimed at the present,

asks us to notice which small freedoms we are trading away,

and for what,

before the trade becomes too habitual to question,

a danger that explains why such novels, written decades ago,

are still quoted

whenever a new law or gadget promises safety

in exchange for a little privacy.

2. 分解為短句

The cruelty of the regime alone does not make a dystopia unsettling.（強調句型）

The ease makes it unsettling.（主句骨架）

Citizens are persuaded to accept the regime with this ease.

The worlds of Orwell, Huxley and Atwood are built less from tyrants' threats.

They are built more from ordinary things.

The things are slogans, comforts, forms and euphemisms.

Readers recognize them from their own lives.

The genre is less a forecast of distant catastrophe.

It is more a warning aimed at the present.

It asks us to notice something.

We are trading away small freedoms.

We should ask what we get in return.

The trade may become too habitual to question.

This is a danger.

The danger explains something.

Such novels were written decades ago.

They are still quoted.

A new law or gadget promises safety.

It asks for a little privacy in exchange.

3. 參考譯文

讓反烏托邦令人不安的，不只是政權的殘酷，而是其公民被說服接受它時的那份輕易，因為歐威爾、赫胥黎與愛特伍筆下的世界，與其說是由暴君的威脅所建構，不如說是由讀者在自己生活中也認得的尋常事物所建構，例如標語、舒適、表格與委婉說法。因此這個類型與其說是對遙遠浩劫的預測，不如說是對當下的警告，要我們留意自己正在拿哪些小小的自由去交換，換來的又是什麼，以免這場交易變得太習以為常而無從質疑。這種危險說明了為何那些數十年前寫成的小說，每當有新法律或新裝置以少許隱私換取安全的承諾時，仍會被人引用。

4. 組合寫作練習（請勿看例句，嘗試將短句組回原長句）

5. 補充說明

句型創新：以 It is not A alone that ... but B 的強調句型開頭，凸顯真正的原因；中段用 less ... than ... 的比較結構，後面再接 such as 列舉與 that 關係子句；後段以獨立分詞片語（less a forecast ... than a warning ...）作插入語，並在 before 子句後以 a danger that explains why ... 的同位語收束，句尾再接 whenever 子句。

單字：

dystopia：「反烏托邦」；regime：「政權」

unsettling：「令人不安的」；euphemism：「委婉說法」

forecast：「預測」；habitual：「習以為常的」

trade away：「（拿某物）交換出去」；in exchange for：「以……作交換」

文法提醒：

It is not A alone that ... but B 是強調句型，alone 放在 A 後，加強「不僅是」的語氣；that makes a dystopia unsettling 中，make + 受詞 + 形容詞表「使……變得……」。

the ease with which its citizens are persuaded to accept it 中，with which 是介系詞加關係代名詞，its 指 a dystopia 的；are persuaded to accept 是被動式。

for 在此作連接詞，表「因為」，前面有逗號；are built less from A than from B 中，less ... than ... 前後都是「from + 名詞」，要平行。

such as slogans, comforts, forms and euphemisms 是插入的列舉，後面的 that readers recognize from their own lives 修飾的是 ordinary things，不是 euphemisms，要注意前後距離。

so that the genre, less a forecast ... than a warning ..., asks ... 中，less a forecast than a warning 是省略了 being 的獨立片語，補充說明 the genre，夾在主詞與動詞之間；asks us to notice which small freedoms we are trading away 中，which 子句作 notice 的受詞，trade away 的受詞就是 which small freedoms，所以後面不需再加受詞。

and for what 是省略式，完整為 and what we are getting for them，這裡以介系詞加疑問詞簡化；before the trade becomes too habitual to question 中，too ... to 表「太……以致無法」。

a danger that explains why such novels, written decades ago, are still quoted 中，written 是過去分詞，修飾 novels，主詞 novels 與動詞 are 之間夾著插入語；whenever 引導時間子句，promises A in exchange for B 的 promise 在此表「許諾、承諾」。

舉例：薩米爾欽的《我們》（1924）描寫一個以數學精確管理人民生活的國家；赫胥黎的《美麗新世界》（1932）以快樂藥物與消遣讓人們不再質疑；歐威爾的《一九八四》（1949）以監控與新話（Newspeak）控制思想；布萊伯利的《華氏451度》（1953）寫一個焚書的社會；愛特伍的《使女的故事》（1985）描寫女性被剝奪權利的神權政體。

一點提醒：dystopia 一詞在十九世紀已出現（如約翰·彌爾曾用過），但它真正成為文學類型的名稱是二十世紀的事。另外，許多反烏托邦作品也被視為「對烏托邦理想的反思」，兩者界線並不絕對。本句用 less ... than ... 描述作品的傾向，不是說這類作品完全不預測未來。