Adults often find surprising subtexts in children’s literature – but are they really there? Hephzibah Anderson delves into the world of Freud and fairy tales.
成年读者经常能在儿童读物中发现令人意想不到的潜台词——但这些潜台词真的存在吗？赫弗齐芭?安德森深入探究了弗洛伊德理论和童话世界。
——编者按
It’s easy to poke fun at some of these outlandish readings. Could they perhaps be the products of parents so addled by a text that, following their umpteenth nightly recital, the words start acting like one of those magic-eye images? Stare at them long enough and sense will materialise. Or nonsense. How else could a 22-page picture book like The Very Hungry Caterpillar yield capitalist, Christian, feminist, Marxist, queer and anti-liberal messages?
这些古怪的解读很容易被人嘲笑。它们可能只是床头故事而已——在儿时无数次的夜里，孩子在父母柔和的朗读声中展开魔幻的幻象。盯着这些幻象，越能感觉它们的实在。又或者，这是都是扯淡。难道说只有22页的画册《好饿的毛毛虫》能够包含所有资本主义者、基督教徒、女权主义、马克思主义者、同性恋者和反自由主义者的信息？
“I don’t think you can ever dig too deeply for meaning,” says Dr Alison Waller, Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton’s National Centre of Research for Children’s Literature. Her favourite class involves applying psychoanalytical theory to Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea, resulting in some decidedly Oedipal interpretations of that big cat and his relationship to the family.“
"我认为你不能太过于深挖儿童文学的深层含义。”艾莉森·沃特博士说道。她是罗汉普顿大学国家儿童文学研究中心的高级讲师。她最喜欢的课程是用心理分析理论来解读朱迪思·克尔的《老虎来喝下午茶》，并从老虎和它的家庭关系中得出了一些恋母情结的结论。
（《老虎来喝下午茶》）
“This is a very simple story, but simplicity is not the same as a lack of depth. There are some exquisite picture books that tackle existential issues like death and sadness head on: Michael Rosen’s Sad Book and The Red Tree by Shaun Tan are great examples.”
"这是一个非常简单的故事，但简单并不意味这没有深度。一些精致的画册会直面像死亡和悲伤等存在主义问题：迈克尔·罗森的《悲伤之书》和陈志勇的《绯红树》就是两个很好的例子。”
Just because we might not be aware of such adult messages when we read books as kids, doesn’t mean we aren’t absorbing them, she adds. “However far this kind of ‘message’ seems to leap out at the adult reader, it is probably closer to the truth to say that the message has always been there but the knowledge that allows it to be recognised has not.”
只是因为儿时读这类书籍时，可能还没意识到这类成人信息，但这并不是说我们没有受它们影响。她补充道。“而这些潜台词似乎并不会直接跳入成人眼中。更确切地说，这些潜在信息一直都在那里，但是需要有相应的知识去辨识出来。”
Of course, sometimes meanings seem hidden because we’re too caught up in the story, or because we’re simply too young. Only as an adult does Waller recognise the motivation of Max’s mother in sending him to bed without supper when she reads Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.
当然，有时候这些潜在的信息无法察觉，是因为太过于沉浸在故事情节中，或是因为我们还太年轻。所以，沃勒博士只有从成年人的角度再次翻阅莫里斯·森达克的《野兽家园》，她才明白书中马克思妈妈把他送上床却没有吃晚饭这件事上的动机。
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