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本帖最后由 GL_n 于 2018-7-3 07:57 编辑
奥威尔、斯威夫特和约翰逊博士的文风
奥威尔，丘吉尔，罗素，以及萧伯纳，这些人继承的都是斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift ）的写作风格。而Swift无论写什么文体的文章，都写得非常有文采，但他却是平易质朴文风的提倡者。
个人非常喜欢斯威夫特和约翰逊博士的文风，他们的散文名篇，熟读在胸，将受益无穷；尽管英语散文名家众多，但与其学多家风格，不如专心模仿一两个人的文风，熟读这一两人最好的作品，“从渠散漫汗牛书，笑倚江枫弄江水。”
约翰逊博士（Samuel Johnson）的散文，用词非常精炼、典雅、庄重；而句子结构匀称整齐，有如巍峨对称的建筑物；而博士的散文风格，既具有拉丁散文的典雅、气势和音调的铿锵，又兼备英文散文的雄健、朴素和简练，非常完美的结合了拉丁散文和英文散文的优点，值得反复读。
而斯威夫特的散文，平易、质朴、简单、而又不失风雅遗味。其文章，既有河朔之朴气，亦不乏江左之彬蔚，以无厚之质朴，入翰藻之有间，可谓文质相半，沉思朗畅。他曾经对风格下过一个很有名的定义：“Proper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style. 《Letter to a young gentleman, Lately entered into Holy Orders》”而他本人，正是用这种风格来作文的先行者。还是Coleridge对Swift文风的评价最到位：“Swift's style is, in its line, perfect; the manner is a complete expression of the matter, the terms appropriate, and the artifice concealed. It is simplicity in the true sense of the word.(Samuel Coleridge, "Lecture on Style," 1818)” Putting "proper words in proper places" sounds simple. But it is a lot harder than it sounds. Just as Walter Scott once said, "Swift's style seems so simple that one would think any child might write as he does, and yet if we try we find to our despair that it is impossible(The Cambridge History of English and American Literature).” Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. I think this is what Swift also want to say.
奥威尔作为Swift文风的追随者，在他的一篇著名essay（Politics and the English Language (Horizon, 1946)）里曾提出过六个写作规则：
1， Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2， Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3，If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4， Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5，Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6， Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.
这些规则里面的大部分，都对如何遣词造句写文章很有指导意义。比如，要用动词的主动时态，因为这样写出来的句子更加有力度；再比如，要尽量用简短的词（哲学写作中使用大块头词汇的情况除外），以及对成句词汇能删即删，多用“奥卡姆剃刀”。闲余词汇，往往会稀释其所在句子的表达力量。写作者当需时刻铭记：Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler。Ezra Pound在《ABC of Reading》一书里说：“Literature is language charged with meaning. Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree (In chapter two of <ABC of Reading>；第二句其实来自于Pound的<How to read>中的part II).” 若把这句话中的“Great literature”换成“Good writing”，那对所有的普通读者或者写作者来说，都将是很有教益的一条建议。
下面选出四篇可供品味和临摹的好文章，特意制成独立的PDF，以资同好之便。
Samuel Johnson：
1, Letter to Lord Chesterfield, 此信札乃英国历代散文中最有名的范文之一，语言非常精炼;
2, The preface to the Dictionary of the English Language，他的著名英文词典(Johnson’s Dictionary of The English Language)的序言，这也是篇名文。
Jonathan Swift:
3, A Modest Proposal，这是Swift最有名的政论文章，写于1729，也是英国历代散文中最有名的范文之一，笔墨在文、野之间纵横驰骋；那个年代，连大诗人Pope都附和道：“Whatever Is， Is right.” 而Swift却扛起了“我控诉”的大旗，用冷静、理性、文雅的言辞进献一桩荒诞而恐怖的建议，其辛辣的讽刺手法，在这里显示了惊心动魄的力量。这样的文章，是注定了不朽的。
George Orwell：
4, Politics and the English Language，这是一篇饱含对世界隐秘事实进行深刻描述和揭示的、值得反复阅读的、充满思辨精神的、字字珠玑的不朽文章。当你看到如下这段话：“While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement.” 是不是服膺奥威尔居然如此精准的照亮了这个世界真实的、但被精心培育的阴影！又比如，奥威尔的这句话：“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.” 是不是带有点程朱理学的色彩。个人认为，奥威尔的散文成就，不说超越，至少不低于他的“1984”或者“动物庄园”；他的每一篇essay都值得看【这里推荐Everyman’s Library出的那本厚集子《Essays(Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series)》】。George Orwell是Jonathan Swift所开创的文风和文品的一个卓越的继承者和发扬者。
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The preface to the Dictionary of the English Language_Samuel Johnson.pdf
1.46 MB, 下载次数: 38, 下载积分: 米 -5 粒
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The preface to the Dictionary of the English Language_Samuel Johnson_editable version.pdf
2.14 MB, 下载次数: 26, 下载积分: 米 -5 粒
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Politics and the English Language_Orwell.pdf
120.76 KB, 下载次数: 30, 下载积分: 米 -5 粒
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Letter to Lord Chesterfield_Samuel Johnson.pdf
856.04 KB, 下载次数: 31, 下载积分: 米 -5 粒
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A Modest Proposal_Swift.pdf
746.12 KB, 下载次数: 36, 下载积分: 米 -5 粒
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发表于 2018-7-3 07:27:38
发表于 2018-7-3 08:09:57
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