《電影之外的美國(guó)》書(shū)影
你無(wú)法知道，什么時(shí)候的一次輕輕觸動(dòng)可以改變?nèi)松能壍?。你也無(wú)法預(yù)料，一次偶然的相遇會(huì)延續(xù)出數(shù)十年的友誼。讓你跨洋越海，有了自己的孩子，而這個(gè)孩子的名字承載了兩個(gè)偉大國(guó)家對(duì)未來(lái)的期許。這次邂逅也成就了你捧在手中的這本書(shū)。
1997年，我剛開(kāi)始我的外交生涯，在美國(guó)駐北京大使館擔(dān)任外交官，非?？释鲞M(jìn)美國(guó)與中國(guó)的相互了解，就在這個(gè)時(shí)候我遇到了章珺。那個(gè)時(shí)候，她在中國(guó)中央電視臺(tái)電影頻道工作，是一位非常嚴(yán)肅真誠(chéng)的作家。她滿懷好奇，希望更多地了解美國(guó)。進(jìn)入會(huì)客室時(shí)，那只是一個(gè)工作面談，我們卻一見(jiàn)如故，道別時(shí)已心有靈犀。我們有很多共同的語(yǔ)言和志趣，我們對(duì)彼此國(guó)家的喜愛(ài)最終促使她來(lái)美國(guó)做訪問(wèn)學(xué)者。從此，生活重塑軌道。這個(gè)來(lái)自最古老文明國(guó)度的，曾經(jīng)的好萊塢電影評(píng)論家在這個(gè)新的土壤中慢慢扎下根須，并且在這里萌發(fā)了強(qiáng)烈的展現(xiàn)“電影之外的美國(guó)”的愿望。
很快我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，4月11日是她的生日，我的生日是4月12日。但如果我們都身處對(duì)方的國(guó)家，因?yàn)闀r(shí)差，不論根據(jù)何種歷法，我們竟可以同時(shí)慶祝我們的生日，兩個(gè)生日一天過(guò)。我后來(lái)還了解到，章珺來(lái)自孔子的故鄉(xiāng)---中國(guó)東部的山東曲阜。孔子是歷史上最偉大的教育家之一。恰如這位偉大的圣賢，章珺的父母也是桃李滿天下。而章珺追隨孔子和自己的父母，后來(lái)也從事教育。自1997年以來(lái)，我一直在向她學(xué)習(xí)有關(guān)中國(guó)和友誼的知識(shí)。我認(rèn)為這本書(shū)便是根植于曲阜的一系列寶貴文獻(xiàn)中的又一個(gè)篇章。
最優(yōu)秀的社會(huì)故事講述者往往來(lái)自異域。十九世紀(jì)法國(guó)政治學(xué)家阿歷克西·德·托克維爾是最杰出的美國(guó)生活觀察家之一。他僅在美國(guó)旅行九個(gè)月后，就撰寫(xiě)出了著名的《論美國(guó)的民主》。相比之下，章珺在美國(guó)已生活二十年之久，很少有人能像她這樣深入洞察美國(guó)生活的核心。她始終懷有一顆中國(guó)心，在講述她的第二故鄉(xiāng)--美國(guó)的故事時(shí)，她不僅表達(dá)了由衷的贊賞，同時(shí)也有嚴(yán)格的審視和善意的批評(píng)，展示出一個(gè)來(lái)自異域的家庭新成員的真情實(shí)感。
其實(shí)，章珺眼中的美國(guó)是一個(gè)延伸了的大家庭。這本書(shū)中的人物就像她的家人一樣鮮活。在與她的美國(guó)丈夫建立了家庭之后，她將視線投向更遠(yuǎn)的地方，并在下一代身上也寄托了在不同文化間建立相互理解的希望。她給自己唯一的孩子取名為Amerina，這個(gè)名字越過(guò)太平洋，將美國(guó)和中國(guó)這兩個(gè)國(guó)家緊密聯(lián)系在一起。
這并不是章珺第一次展示起名的藝術(shù)。因?yàn)椴粷M意我的第一個(gè)漢語(yǔ)老師為我選擇的中文名字，我懇求章珺幫我重新起名。經(jīng)過(guò)一周的斟酌推敲，再見(jiàn)面時(shí)她帶來(lái)一個(gè)絕佳的名字，令我的許多中國(guó)朋友贊不絕口。它不僅接近于“湯姆”的英語(yǔ)發(fā)音，還使用了傳達(dá)“蒼天之下，萬(wàn)國(guó)和睦“表意的漢字，寓意著上天賜予的和睦相處的祝福。對(duì)于一個(gè)剛嶄露頭角的外交官來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一個(gè)何等吉祥的名字!
我朋友現(xiàn)在的名字是Jun Z. Miller，從這第三個(gè)名字上可以捕捉到她自身生活的變化。讀到這里你大概已經(jīng)知道Z意味著什么，它出現(xiàn)在英文字母表的末尾，然而又象征著她的故事的開(kāi)始。希望你能像我一樣喜歡她寫(xiě)的故事。
謹(jǐn)以此序表達(dá)我對(duì)章珺、她在中國(guó)的父母和她在美國(guó)的家人的感謝。
Tom Cooney(俞天睦)
2018年4月
Tom Cooney (俞天睦)，序言作者，書(shū)中篇目《兩個(gè)生日一天過(guò)》的主人公，曾任職于美國(guó)駐北京大使館新聞文化處；美國(guó)駐上海領(lǐng)事館領(lǐng)事和公共事務(wù)總監(jiān)；美國(guó)駐香港和澳門(mén)副總領(lǐng)事；現(xiàn)任美國(guó)駐阿根廷執(zhí)行大使。2010年任職上海期間，他帶領(lǐng)他的團(tuán)隊(duì)促成美國(guó)參加上海世博會(huì)，并出任上海世博會(huì)美國(guó)館的副總代表。
柳明淮(Ming-huai Hall)，序言中文譯者，現(xiàn)任職于美國(guó)紐約州長(zhǎng)辦公室，語(yǔ)言專家。
原文：
You never know when you will touch a life. You never know when a single encounter can lead to a decades-long friendship,to a leap across oceans, to a child whose name carries the promise of two great countries,to this very book in your hands.
I met Zhang Jun in 1997 when I was a junior diplomat stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, eager to build ties of mutual understanding between my country and China. She was an earnest writer for the movie channel at China Central Television and had a strong curiosity to learn more about the United States. We entered a meeting room as new professional contacts and departed it as kindred spirits. Our interests converged and ultimately helped her become a visiting scholar in the United States. From there, life took its course, and this one-time Hollywood movie reviewer from the most ancient of civilizations patiently grew roots in the New World and found a passion for telling America’s story "Outside the Movies."Only later did we discover that her April 11 and my April 12 birthday coincide perfectly whenever I am located in her birth country and she is in mine, a kind of shared leap day in defiance of all calendars. Only later did I discover that Zhang Jun hails from Qufu in eastern China, the birthplace of Confucius, one of the greatest teachers of all time. Like the great sage himself, her parents were also educators. And like her parents,Zhang Jun has become an educator, too. I have been learning from her about China and about friendship since 1997, and I consider this book to be another text in a long line of valuable texts with roots in Qufu.
The finest storytellers about a society often come from beyond its borders. One of the greatest observers of American life was the 19th-century French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville. His seminal Democracy in America was written after travelling around the United States for just nine months. By contrast, Zhang Jun’s observations are steeped in 20 years of living in America, and she is able like few others to go right to the heart of what it is to be an American. Her own heart indelibly Chinese,she tells the story of her adopted country not only with the affinity of a true admirer but also with the exacting eye of a Chinese family member who demonstrates affection through loving criticism.
Indeed, Zhang Jun has embraced America as her extended family. The characters in this book come alive like family. After starting her own family with an American husband, she went even further and invested her hopes of cross-cultural understanding in the next generation by naming her only child Amerina, a name that stretches across the Pacific to bind two countries.
Nor was this Zhang Jun’s first foray into the art of name-giving. Not satisfied with the first Chinese-language name selected for me by an early Chinese instructor, I turned to Zhang Jun to rechristen me in Chinese. She thought carefully for a week and returned to me with the perfect name that has drawn the admiration of many Chinese acquaintances ever since. It recalls not only the English phonetic sounds of Tom but also features beautiful written characters that convey a meaning of harmony under heaven. An auspicious name indeed for a budding diplomat!
My friend is now known as Jun Z. Miller, a third act of naming that captures her own personal transformation. But you know what the Z is for now. It comes at the end of the English alphabet, but it symbolizes the very beginning of her story. I hope you also enjoy it.
In appreciation of Zhang Jun, her parents in China, and her family in America,Tom Cooney 俞天睦
April 2018
Tom Cooney(俞天睦), author of the preface, the subject of "Two Birthdays On The Same Day" in this collection, has variously served as Press Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the Consulate and the Director of Public Affairs in Shanghai, and the Deputy Consul General of the US Consulate General for Hong Kong and Macau, is currently the Acting Ambassador of the United States in Argentina. During his term of service in Shanghai in 2010, he led his Pavilion team to promote the United States to participate in the Shanghai World Expo and served as Deputy Commissioner General of the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo.
電影之外的美國(guó)---作者簡(jiǎn)介
章珺(Jun Z Miller)，旅美作家，江蘇蘇州人，生于山東曲阜，曾在北京讀書(shū)、工作十年，現(xiàn)定居美國(guó)華盛頓。
中國(guó)作家協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)員，已出版《歸巢》《此岸，彼岸》等四部長(zhǎng)篇和散文隨筆集《簡(jiǎn)單的快樂(lè)》，發(fā)表過(guò)上百篇的散文、隨筆、影評(píng)，參與多種電視節(jié)目的制作，編劇的電影《家園》獲得中國(guó)電視電影百合獎(jiǎng)。
做過(guò)媒體，教過(guò)書(shū)，千山萬(wàn)水之后，回歸年少時(shí)的夢(mèng)想，渴望用真摯飽滿的文字，記錄呈現(xiàn)豐富美好的生活和情感。
