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THIS IS AMERICA - Writers and the Immigrant Experience: Midd

时间:2006-03-10 16:00:00

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THIS IS AMERICA - Writers and the Immigrant Experience: Middle East, Europe and Africa
By Doreen Baingana

Broadcast: Monday, January 17, 2005

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Today we have the third and last part of our series about writers and the immigrant experience.

VOICE ONE:

Last January we talked about Asian American writers. In December it was writers with ties to Central and South America and the Caribbean.

VOICE TWO:

Now, to complete our series, we look at four writers and the influence of their ancestry1 in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Elmaz Abinader was born to parents from Lebanon. The writer and poet grew up in a small town in the eastern American state of Pennsylvania.

Her family spoke2 mostly Arabic at home. She says her family was very close, but at school other children insulted her for being different. She looked for some connection between her two lives.

VOICE TWO:

 
Elmaz Abinader
Elmaz Abinader says everything changed when she went to college. She took control of her identity. She began to cook Middle Eastern foods and to listen to Arabic music with her friends. She also began to write about her grandmother.

Miz Abinader studied writing in college. But she says most of the American writers she studied had European roots. She felt that her culture was not welcome in American writing. This was in the nineteen seventies.

At some point, she read a book that, in her words, "made the difference." The book was "The Woman Warrior3: Memoirs4 of a Girlhood Among Ghosts." It was written by the Chinese American writer Maxine Hong Kingston. In it, she tells stories about her Chinese grandmother, and about children considered too American for their immigrant family.

This book led Elmaz Abinader to read works by others outside the center of American culture, such as African American and Latino writers. She found a community of people like her, learning to live in two cultures.

VOICE ONE:

Miz Abinader went on to earn a doctorate5 in writing. She called her first book, in nineteen ninety-one, "Children of the Roojme: A Family's Journey from Lebanon." It is about her family's move over the years to the United States.

She also writes poetry. And she writes and performs plays. Her play "Country of Origin" is about the struggles of three Arab American women. The play includes music that is a mix of old Middle Eastern sounds and present-day jazz.

Elmaz Abinader says she began to understand years ago that as a writer, she was also an activist6. Today she is a professor of creative writing at Mills College in Oakland, in Northern California. She says a beautiful story or a good poem can affect a reader more than any speech.

Her aim, she says, is to make the story of Arab Americans as important as that of any other group in the United States.

(MUSIC BRIDGE)

VOICE TWO:

 
Aleksandar Hemon
In September of two thousand four, the writer Aleksandar Hemon received a MacArthur Foundation award. These are known as "genius awards." They are given each year to individuals who show great creativity in their work. MacArthur Fellows are given five hundred thousand dollars over five years to spend as they wish.

Aleksandar Hemon is the author of "The Question of Bruno" and "Nowhere Man." Both books are about young men born in Sarajevo. Their lives are changed by the war in the former Yugoslavia in the early nineteen nineties.

Like the men in his books, Mister Hemon grew up in Sarajevo. He became a reporter and writer. He came to the United States in nineteen ninety-two as part of a cultural program. He was twenty-seven years old. After the Bosnian war started, Mister Hemon could not return home. He stayed in America and settled in Chicago.

VOICE ONE:

Book critics have praised his expert and beautiful use of the English language. Yet Aleksandar Hemon spoke only a little English when he arrived in the United States. He got low-paying work. He improved his language skills very quickly by reading books in English. Mister Hemon wrote his first book in English after only three years in the United States.

He has said that one of the most difficult things for him as a new immigrant was this: Recognizing the difference between what he wanted to say and what he was really saying. He says this changed the way he thought about the self. And it changed his writing. He saw that a person was made up of many selves.

Aleksander Hemon also writes about displaced7 people who do not feel part of any community. He says telling stories is one way to record the old life that is lost, perhaps in war. He says stories should be told about wars and genocide so that the official version of history is not the only one that exists.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Andrei Codrescu has published many books of poetry. He has also written about his life and his travels. But he is best known for his commentaries8 on American culture on National Public Radio. He lives in New Orleans and is a professor of writing at Louisiana State University. He also heads the literary9 magazine Exquisite10 Corpse11, now published on the Internet.

Andrei Codrescu was born in Sibu, Romania, in nineteen forty-six. When he was nineteen years old, he left the country with his mother. Mister Codrescu says Israel paid two thousand dollars each to buy freedom for Jews in communist Romania. At that time, West Germany did the same for ethnic12 Germans in Romania.

But instead of going to Israel, Mister Codrescu and his mother came to the United States. He says he now feels more American than anything else. He became an American citizen in nineteen eighty-one.

VOICE ONE:

 
Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu began to write poetry when he was sixteen years old. He says Romanians have a strong love for poetry, and a language that expresses images well. He also says writing poetry was a rebellious13 act because the communists banned a lot of writing.

Years later, as an American, Mister Codrescu recorded the end of communist rule in Romania in nineteen eighty-nine. He wrote a book, "The Hole in the Flag: A Romanian Exile's Story of Return and Revolution."

Andrei Codrescu has also traveled around the United States and observed life. His film "Road Scholar" describes unusual communities. He wrote a book with the same name. He says he learned that people with differences can live together.

VOICE TWO:

Many new immigrants in America are from Africa. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is from Nigeria. She has published short stories and a book, "Purple Hibiscus." It has been nominated14 for international prizes, including the Commonwealth15 Writers Prize and the Orange Prize.

"Purple Hibiscus" won the two thousand four Hurston/Wright Legacy16 Award for a first work of fiction. These awards honor writers of African ancestry.

Miz Adiche grew up in the university town of Nsukka. Her parents were professors. She came to the United States in nineteen ninety-six to go to college. She was nineteen years old.

She says Nigeria will always be her home. But she says she needs distance to be able to write about that country better. In fact, Chimamanda Adichie says that sometimes, when she is back in Nigeria, she writes about Nigerians in America.

VOICE ONE:

"Purple Hibiscus" is set in Nigeria. It is about a young woman growing up in a troubled family while the country faces political unrest. There are some similarities to real-life events. Miz Adichie says the stories of people who suffered must be told.

"Purple Hibiscus" also deals with the importance of modern religion in Nigeria today. At the same time, Chimamanda Adichie explores the clash17 between modern religion and African tradition.

(MUSIC) VOICE TWO:

Our three programs over the past year about writers and the immigrant experience is online at www.tingroom.com. VOICE ONE:

Our series was written by Doreen Baingana and produced by Caty Weaver18. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ancestry BNvzf     
n.祖先,家世
参考例句:
  • Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
  • He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。
2 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
3 warrior YgPww     
n.勇士,武士,斗士
参考例句:
  • The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
  • A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。
4 memoirs f752e432fe1fefb99ab15f6983cd506c     
n.回忆录;回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)
参考例句:
  • Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
  • I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 doctorate fkEzt     
n.(大学授予的)博士学位
参考例句:
  • He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
  • Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士?
6 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
7 displaced 80a237e34fd2de4119d9d640b29506b6     
移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 ); 替换; 移走; 撤职
参考例句:
  • Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
  • He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。
8 commentaries 02c32bb8d14a3864811910b6360c7fd3     
n.实况报道( commentary的名词复数 );评论;评注;批评
参考例句:
  • The schools produced diligent excerpting from older manuscripts, summarizing, and commentaries. 各学院从古代手稿里作了辛勤的摘录、总结和评注工作。 来自辞典例句
  • The schools produced diligent excepting from older manuscripts, summarizing, and commentaries. 各学院从古代手稿里作了辛勤的摘录,总结和评注的工作。 来自辞典例句
9 literary v8uzu     
adj.文学(上)的
参考例句:
  • Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
  • The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。
10 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
11 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体,死尸
参考例句:
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
12 ethnic jiAz3     
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的
参考例句:
  • This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏,这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
  • The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
13 rebellious CtbyI     
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的
参考例句:
  • They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反,他们就要发生危险。
  • Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和,但她的心里十分反感。
14 nominated e2793e0460cef0e428b335fb795136f0     
adj.被提名的,被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
  • The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。
15 commonwealth XXzyp     
n.共和国,联邦,共同体
参考例句:
  • He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
  • Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。
16 legacy 59YzD     
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。
17 clash hOfzg     
vi.冲突,不协调,砰地相撞;n.冲突,不协调
参考例句:
  • There is a clash between two classes at 2 p.m. on Thursday.星期四下午两点有两堂课是冲突的。
  • The pot came down on the stone floor with a clash.锅“当”地一声掉到石地上。
18 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

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