PBS高端访谈:路易丝·厄德里奇的新小说 The Round House

 　　JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight, a woman is attacked and the life of her 13-year-old son, Joe, is altered forever, along with his family. That's the dramatic outline of the new novel "The Round House" by Louise Erdrich, which has been nominated for a National Book Award.

　　The story is set on a Native American reservation in North Dakota, and it explores clashes of culture and law between tribal¹ and state jurisdictions³ in investigating a crime.

　　I talked with Louise Erdrich recently and asked her first how she came to write the book.

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　　LOUISE ERDRICH, author of "The Round House": I was really haunted for years by the background, the political background of this book.

　　But I didn't want to write a political diatribe⁴ of any sort. So I waited and waited to have some character come to me and speak to me about this situation.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, if it started with this issue, then let's explain the issue, because—and it's not giving away much of the novel to say there is this jurisdictional⁵ problem, right, of law, who's a native, who has jurisdiction² over crimes.

　　But what is it that you wanted to explore? Explain the problem.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: Well, there is a legacy⁶ of violence against Native women that has gotten worse and worse over time.

　　And, historically, the underpinnings lie in the complex nature of the land tenure⁷ on Native reservations. Each piece of land has a different jurisdictional authority. A lot of this—there's attempts to solve this.

　　One of the most recent was sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judicial⁸ Committee, and their recommendation was termed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act in 2012.

　　So there have been attempts, but there is a kind of fear of restoring some pieces of sovereignty to Native tribes. And the statistics are that one in three Native women are raped⁹. About 67 percent of those rapes¹⁰ fall under federal jurisdiction and are not prosecuted¹¹. Something like 88 percent are believed to be committed by non-Natives.

　　And the tribes have no jurisdiction over non-Natives. So part of the fix is to restore some sovereignty, some jurisdiction over non-Native people only in these situations.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, this it started with this issue, a political issue.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: It started with the background, but I didn't know who was going to talk to me.

　　And I was digging little trees out of the foundation of my own parents' house. And as I drove away and left, this voice started to talk to me. And I knew once I had written into this, when I got to those words, "Where is your mother?" I knew that this was the book. I knew I had the book.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So you saw this decidedly nonfiction huge problem?

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: It's a big tangle¹², isn't it?

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: The way I'm explaining it, it's like you—you start unraveling, and it's everywhere.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. But you had to find a way in as a novelist.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: I had to find a way to go straight in, and Joe gave me the in with the innocence¹³ and heart.

　　Well, he's not all that innocent. He's a 13-year-old kid, but he's so protective of his mother and so ambivalent¹⁴ as a 13-year-old about both his mother and his father. So he's growing up in a tremendously short time over the course of a summer.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. I know in other of your works, you like to have multiple voices sort of explaining the story. This one really is focused on this young 13-year-old Joe.

　　Was that hard to get that voice right? And why did you decide to just focus it on one voice?

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: I didn't really decide. It just happened to me.

　　I was so interested in writing in his voice that it really took over. I feel now that I see that book sitting at your elbow that I sort of want it back. I want to be writing in that voice again.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You want the book back.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: I want the book back and I want Joe back. He was mine. Now he's out there. But I loved writing...

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Does that always happen? I mean, you can't have him, right? This is ours, right?

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: You've got him, but...

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Is that normal for you to feel after you've finished a book?

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: Somewhat, but in this case, it's very special because Joe just took me through this entire book. As you said, his voice is the major voice in the book.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Now, this sense of place, you know, I talk to a lot of writers, and some have it and really feel it, and others, you know, they could be writing about any place.

　　But, with you, it's often a specific place and it's often a culture that is otherwise not much written about in our culture. Is that important to you? Is that part of what you are doing? Or is that just where you are from and what you know?

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: It's who I am.

　　I grew up in Wahpeton, N.D., and I didn't leave until I was 18, and I have kept going back. My parents still live in Wahpeton. My family works in the Indian health service in the school system. And North Dakota, really—the Red RiverValley specifically and the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation, is really where I'm from, so—and what I know. So that's all I'm doing.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Is there a sense—I mean, even the name, "The Round House," it is a sacred place on the reservation.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: Yes. Exactly.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And I'm wondering, in writing about this culture, is there a fear of losing some of those traditions, losing that culture?

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: Well, I think this is what is the heart of the book.

　　The Round House is a sacred place on many reservations. There is a kiva, or there is a sweat lodge¹⁵, round places. The tepee is round. You know, this the circle that depicts¹⁶ the turn of the Earth itself. And to have this violated does speak to the violation¹⁷ of the culture. But what I think happens and what I think the book talks about is also the resilience of the culture.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And the book can help preserve it, I suppose, or at least let the rest of the culture know about it.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: I'm hoping this particular issue gets—is—becomes more widely understood. It's very complicated.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right the new book is "The Round House."

　　Louise Erdrich, thanks so much.

　　LOUISE ERDRICH: Pleasure.

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

4 diatribe   

n.抨击，抨击性演说

参考例句：

• He launched a diatribe against the younger generation.他对年轻一代发起了长篇抨击。
• The book is a diatribe against the academic left.这本书对学术左派进行了长时间的谩骂。

5 jurisdictional   

adj. 司法权的，裁决权的，管辖权的

参考例句：

• In practice, however, this jurisdictional limit on administrative investigations is generally easy to satisfy. 然而在实践中，对行政调查的这种司法限制通常很容易符合规定标准。
• The jurisdictional amount is set by statute and is currently $80,000. 案件标的管辖权由法律规定，目前是80，000美元。 来自口语例句

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

8 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

11 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

12 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

13 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

14 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

15 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

16 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

17 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。