“人类仍是一部进步中的作品”:理查德·鲍尔斯访谈录(英文)

"The human race is still a work in progress": An Interview with Richard Powers

理查德·鲍尔斯是2006年美国国家图书奖小说奖得主,获奖作品《回声制造者》。他于1998年当选美国艺术与科学院院士,现任伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校英语系教授兼贝克曼高级研究院研究员。他屡获殊荣的另外8部小说包括:《我们歌唱的时代》、《冲破黑暗》、《赢利》、《葛拉蒂2.2》、《囚犯的困境》、《三个农民去舞会》等。这次访谈以作家的产生和小说的创作为主要内容,集中讨论了他的作家观和主要创作经历,同时也讨论了他在不同文化中的丰富经历及其对科学技术的广泛探索。在访谈中,他还就好小说给出了他的定义,阐释了作家主要关心的问题和特殊的创作视角,表达了他对文学批评的看法以及他对文学启迪人生意义的信念。本访谈是伊利诺伊大学东亚及太平洋研究中心弗里曼基金项目"创作视角与文学精神:当代美国作家研究"的部分成果。

Richard Powers is the 2006 winner of National Book Award for his fiction The Echo Maker. He was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998, and he is professor at the Department of English and a full-time member of the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign （UIUC）. He is also author of eight other prize-winning novels ： The Time of Our Singing, Plowing the Dark, Gain, Galatea 2. 2, Operation Wandering Soul, The Gold Bug Variations, Prisoner＇s Dilemma and Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance. This in- terview concentrates on questions about his idea of being a writer and the making of fiction in general, and also discusses his rich experience of different cultures and his extensive exploration in science and technology. Furthermore, Powers talks about the differences between writing fiction and pursuing science. He gives his definition of good fiction, and explains his main concerns as a writer, his vision of literary criticism, and his belief in literature as a way of making sense of being alive in the contemporary world. The interview is part of the project “Perspective and Spirit： Contemporary American writers,” sponsored by Freeman Fellow Program, East Asian and Pacific Studies, UIUC, and special thanks go to Prof. Peter Garrett for his introducing the interviewer to Richard Powers.