美國大叔：文學上魔都完勝帝都，然還可以做得更好

一年一度的讀者盛宴——上海書展，已落下帷幕。大家是否已經開始捧起從書展上淘來的心儀圖書，細細品讀？

在上海，有位熱愛閱讀的美國大叔也湊熱鬧逛了幾天書展。他驚喜的發現上海人竟是如此得熱愛閱讀。而他認為上海才是名副其實的文學名城，因為不少文學大家都是出自上海。

以下是Global Times (Metro Shanghai)關於上海文學氛圍和書店業的相關評論，配有中文翻譯喔。

Shanghai truly is China』s most literary, most book-loving city

I recently attended the ginormous Shanghai Book Fair at the sprawling Shanghai Exhibition Center. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people - I"m talking thousands! - there every day. In particular, the children"s books section was packed with parents and kids.

我前陣子去上海展覽中心逛了逛一年一度的上海書展，愉快而驚喜的發現每天有那麼多人——我想說的是成千上萬的讀者！ 特別是童書展區，擠滿了父母和小孩。

You wouldn"t guess it from all the phone zombies on the subways and sidewalks here, but Shanghai truly is a literary city - perhaps China"s most literary. Beijing boasts a number of great authors, but I"d argue that a greater majority of the most celebrated Chinese authors throughout history were Shanghai-born.

你可能想不到，每天擠在地鐵里和走在人行道上的手機低頭族還會喜歡讀書，但上海真的是一座閱讀之城——可能還是中國最有文學氛圍的城市。北京常自詡有很多偉大的作家，但我想駁斥的是中國歷史上最了不起的作家中很大一部分是在上海出生的。

Some have high name recognition with foreign readers due to Shanghai"s international stature, including Yan Geling and Han Han. Lu Xun (1881-1936), regarded as a leading figure of modern Chinese literature, is from neighboring Zhejiang Province, but eventually moved to Shanghai, where he was bequeathed a beautiful park in his name.

一些作家，包括嚴歌苓和韓寒，擁有大批國外讀者粉絲，這都歸功於上海的國際大都市地位。魯迅，當代中國文學的領軍人物，出生在鄰省浙江，但也最終搬到了上海，這裡有座美麗的公園就是以他的名字命名的。

Shanghai native Eileen Chang (1920-1995) is perhaps the city"s most iconic writer. You will often see black-and-white portraits of her striking a pose in a silk qipao, and she is equally well-known in cinematic circles, especially for Ang Lee"s controversial 2007 adaptation of her erotic spy novel, Lust, Caution.

在上海土生土長的張愛玲可能是這座城市最具代表性的作家。你經常能看到她身穿絲綢旗袍抝著優雅造型的黑白肖像照。而她在影視圈也是相當有聲望，尤其是李安導演於2007年根據她的諜戰小說改編的電影《色?戒》。

Chang"s former residence of many years - and the cafe where she wrote some of her novels - is located around the corner from Jing"an Temple, at 195 Changde Road. It has become a pilgrimage site for Chang"s modern-day fans, whom you can see sipping on coffee while browsing her works.

而張愛玲生前在上海的故居，還有她經常進行創作所在的咖啡店——就在位於靜安寺附近的常德路195號——都已經成為她當今讀者粉絲的朝聖地。人們在那裡邊品咖啡，邊閱讀她的書籍。

Passing by that cafe while on my way to the Book Fair the other day, I asked myself why Shanghai has no literary walking tours? After all, Shanghai was once the cradle of China"s New Culture Movement, reaching its zenith in the 1920s with an explosion of literary societies, newspapers and periodicals.

去書展的路上，經過那家咖啡店，我不禁自問，為什麼上海沒有文學徒步旅行？畢竟，上海曾是中國新文化運動的搖籃，在上世紀20年代的鼎盛時期，文學社團、報紙和期刊百花齊放。

There are many old homes here where some of China"s most respected poets and authors penned their tomes, such as Li Yaotang (aka Ba Jin) (1904-2005), who lived at 113 Wukang Road, and Xu Zhimo (1897-1931), who lived at 913 Yan"an Middle Road.

在上海的許多老房子里，一些中國最傑出的詩人和作家寫下他們的宏篇巨著，例如李堯棠（巴金），他曾居住在武康路113號，再如徐志摩，他曾生活在延安中路913號。

A 2009 Shanghai Daily article had the same gripe, saying "To date, however, there are no organized walking tours of literary Shanghai - you have to make your own way." Nine years later, there are no less than a dozen privately operated "city walks" in Shanghai, such as those specializing in Art Deco, but still none about its writers.

在2009年《上海日報》的一篇報道中也提及「至今，上海也沒有組織過關於上海文學的徒步旅行，你只能獨自來一次文學之旅」。9年後，上海至少有不下一打的城市行走活動，例如那些關於建築的，但唯獨沒有關於作家的。

According to a Global Times article in July, as part of its four new city brands, Shanghai has started to turn its featured historic city blocks into popular cultural tourism destinations by making historic buildings "readable" by scanning a QR code attached on these buildings. I hope they will do the same for its famous literary residences.

根據 《環球時報》7月的一則報道，作為城市品牌建設的一部分，上海已經開始將歷史建築打造成文化旅遊景點，只需掃掃歷史建築上設置的二維碼，就能「閱讀」這些歷史建築。我希望在作家的故居也能設置這樣的二維碼。

Until then, I"m glad to know that the government is taking Shanghai"s reputation as a literary city more seriously. In 2017, over 20 physical bookstores were opened and 20 more are expected to open later this year, according to Xu Jiong, head of Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau, at the physical bookstore innovation and development forum of the Shanghai Book Fair. Book retail sales in China totaled 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) in 2017, a 14-percent increase compared to 2016, according to a report by the Publishers Association of China.

自那時起，我很欣慰，政府開始重視上海這座文學名城的地位。根據上海市新聞出版局局長徐炯在上海書展實體書店創新和發展論壇上的說法，2017年，有超過20家實體書店亮相，而今年下半年也會有超過20家書店開張。根據中國出版協會的報告，中國的圖書零售額2017年達到800億元，比2016年增長14%。

This boom follows a period of decline and dormancy for retail bookstores in Shanghai, many which were forced to close over the past five years due to rapidly rising rent. Fuzhou Road, known as Shanghai"s "book street," suffered a number of closures in recent years, as did Huaihai Road, which was also home to several old bookshops.

這一復甦是書店零售業在經歷了一段時間的衰退和停滯後發生的，此前許多書店在過去的5年中由於暴漲的租金而被迫關門歇業。福州路，上海的「書店一條街」也在近年經歷了一系列的關門潮。同樣的情況還發生在擁有許多老書店的淮海路。

It would have been nice if Shanghai had saved these stores by offering them rent control, but at least the municipality is correcting this now by offering incentives to new bookstores. "Traditional brick-and-mortar outlets [in Shanghai] are back in vogue after being badly hit by the online sector," according to a February Asia Times article.

假如上海可以採取租金調控的方式來拯救這些書店那會是多麼美好，不過至少市政府正在著力解決，通過給予新書店激勵政策的方式。根據《亞洲時報》7月的一篇報道，「（上海）傳統實體書店在經受了在線書店的衝擊後正在重拾活力。」

This new chapter in Shanghai"s bookstore renaissance will benefit from modernized features and millennial-enticing "lifestyle experiences," but promoting literacy through physical books should remain their foremost function.

時尚功能和吸引千禧一代的「生活方式體驗」將惠及上海書店業復興之路新篇章，但通過實體書店來推動文學發展才應該是他們最重要的功能。

The opinions expressed in this article are the author"s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Times.

原文: Manav Keeling

翻譯：Du Qiongfang

圖：Chen Xia

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