歧视与反向歧视 读《为精英主义辩护》有感
话说前几日在浙北小城，淘得一册小书——《为精英主义辩护》。匆匆翻完，倒是颇为有趣。
手头上这本是2000年译林的版子，译者是胡利平，是“万花筒译丛”中的译本。译者胡利平出身外交官家庭，1977年考入了北京外国语学院英语系，毕业后又考上了北外的“联合国译训班”，随后成为中国第一代同声传译。
而本书的原著作者是William A. Henry III,查询wiki，得到一下结果：
William A. Henry III (1950-1994) was an American cultural critic and author.
Henry lived in Boston as a young man and began his career in journalism in that city, writing for the Boston Globe. His coverage of school desegregation in Boston won a (shared) Pulitzer Prize in 1975. He also wrote on the arts for the Globe, winning a second Pulitzer for his television criticism in 1980.[1]
In the 1980s he worked as an arts critic for Timemagazine, while pursuing his interests in cultural criticism and inAmerican politics. Among his notable works were his 1984 book, Visions of America, on the American presidential campaign of that year; his 1990 video documentary of Bob Fosse, Steam Heat, which won an Emmy; and his 1992 (print) biography of Jackie Gleason, The Great One.[2]
His final, and perhaps most notable, book was In Defense of Elitism,a work of social and cultural criticism that argued that societies andcultures might be ranked on a spectrum ranging from 'egalitarianism' to'elitism', and that the contemporary United States had moved too faraway from the latter; a view he defended with reference to collegeeducation, multiculturalism, and other topics. He died of a heartattack on June 28, 1994, while the book was coming to press.[3]
After his death, there was a mini-scandal when actor Sir Ian McKellen "outed" Henry's same-sex liaisons.[citation needed]Henry's widow publicly retorted that McKellen could hardly claim to"out" behavior that Henry himself had been totally out about, going sofar as to write an article on "outing" for Time in January of 1990.[4]She made it clear that Henry was genuinely married, and that she'd beenquite happy with him ... he just had "enormous appetites".
其实这本《In Defense of Elitism》是他生前最后的作品，文辞相当犀利，观点相当鲜明。当然最大亮点，就是此书犯了“政治错误”。自二十世纪中期以来，西方一直盛行“平权之风”，这股风潮时至今日，有愈演愈盛之势。譬如，黑人运动，女权运动归根结底都是平权运动。即通过运动来唤起人们的平等意识，强调权利的平等，改变种种歧视，不平等待遇，试图使人人拥有平等的权利。而这些运动势必会削弱原本的优势阶层。而William A. Henry III恰切就是原有的优势阶级，当然他写此书的目的并不是捍卫自己的利益，也不是抨击平权运动，而是揭示平权运动带来的负面影响，并加以抨击。
这些负面影响之中，最大的就是赞成美国人不思进取。在William A. Henry III看来，精英主义实际上是进取的代名词。因为有了精英主义，人们积极向上，希望自己也跻身精英阶层。而平权运动的兴起，实际上是为原有的弱势阶层开辟了特权，这样就导致了人们不思进取，甚至对精英主义嗤之以鼻。最终，这将影响整个美国的发展。
William A. Henry III的论述主要从拉美裔即黑人对美国的影响，女权运动对美国的影响，以及美国大学的窘境展开，几乎涵盖了美国当前平权运动的主要战场。所以找来非议是在所难免的。虽然William A. Henry III在书中一再限定范围，但是毕竟这是“政治错误”，翻了禁忌的分寸，所以遭到众多攻击。好在William A. Henry III实际上在写作此书时，已经时日不长，过了一年就驾鹤西去。以致于Reed Woodhouse在Featured in BBR January/February 1995写道：I can only imagine that Henry, sensing his life was coming to an end,was eager to publish the book even in its unfinished state rather thanleave it a mere torso at his death。在Reed Woodhouse看来，William A. Henry III不过是个受过良好高等教育的白人男子，而写作此书不过是时日已到，临死叫嚣而已。
我并不同意Reed Woodhouse的观点，William A. Henry III的确毕业于耶鲁，二人切他在书中很坦诚地承认了这一点。在我看来，其实他写作此书的原因是为了抵御反向歧视。所谓反向歧视的概念，就是在反对歧视的同时，对于原本的歧视主体收到了对方的歧视，也就是将歧视手提颠倒过来，而这种反响歧视实际上加深了两个群体间的隔膜，扩大了歧视，扩大了不平等。
举个例子而言，我们常说女士优先，实际上这是承认男女之间的不平等，虽然我们一再强调女士的优先，而这句话的潜台词是女士弱于男士，实际上是肯定了男性的强势。如果双方平等，又何必优先？而且，这句话倡导女士优先，反过来又强调了女性的特权，在实践中造成了男女的不平等。
当然Reed Woodhouse的评论并非全无道理，William A. Henry III在书中反复强调种种反向歧视，但始终未能提出解决方式，也许真的是时日已近。
这书确实犯了“简单，实用，无政治错误”的禁忌，但它是本好书，道出了不少美国人不敢说的话。贵在说真话！
手头上这本是2000年译林的版子，译者是胡利平，是“万花筒译丛”中的译本。译者胡利平出身外交官家庭，1977年考入了北京外国语学院英语系，毕业后又考上了北外的“联合国译训班”，随后成为中国第一代同声传译。
而本书的原著作者是William A. Henry III,查询wiki，得到一下结果：
William A. Henry III (1950-1994) was an American cultural critic and author.
Henry lived in Boston as a young man and began his career in journalism in that city, writing for the Boston Globe. His coverage of school desegregation in Boston won a (shared) Pulitzer Prize in 1975. He also wrote on the arts for the Globe, winning a second Pulitzer for his television criticism in 1980.[1]
In the 1980s he worked as an arts critic for Timemagazine, while pursuing his interests in cultural criticism and inAmerican politics. Among his notable works were his 1984 book, Visions of America, on the American presidential campaign of that year; his 1990 video documentary of Bob Fosse, Steam Heat, which won an Emmy; and his 1992 (print) biography of Jackie Gleason, The Great One.[2]
His final, and perhaps most notable, book was In Defense of Elitism,a work of social and cultural criticism that argued that societies andcultures might be ranked on a spectrum ranging from 'egalitarianism' to'elitism', and that the contemporary United States had moved too faraway from the latter; a view he defended with reference to collegeeducation, multiculturalism, and other topics. He died of a heartattack on June 28, 1994, while the book was coming to press.[3]
After his death, there was a mini-scandal when actor Sir Ian McKellen "outed" Henry's same-sex liaisons.[citation needed]Henry's widow publicly retorted that McKellen could hardly claim to"out" behavior that Henry himself had been totally out about, going sofar as to write an article on "outing" for Time in January of 1990.[4]She made it clear that Henry was genuinely married, and that she'd beenquite happy with him ... he just had "enormous appetites".
其实这本《In Defense of Elitism》是他生前最后的作品，文辞相当犀利，观点相当鲜明。当然最大亮点，就是此书犯了“政治错误”。自二十世纪中期以来，西方一直盛行“平权之风”，这股风潮时至今日，有愈演愈盛之势。譬如，黑人运动，女权运动归根结底都是平权运动。即通过运动来唤起人们的平等意识，强调权利的平等，改变种种歧视，不平等待遇，试图使人人拥有平等的权利。而这些运动势必会削弱原本的优势阶层。而William A. Henry III恰切就是原有的优势阶级，当然他写此书的目的并不是捍卫自己的利益，也不是抨击平权运动，而是揭示平权运动带来的负面影响，并加以抨击。
这些负面影响之中，最大的就是赞成美国人不思进取。在William A. Henry III看来，精英主义实际上是进取的代名词。因为有了精英主义，人们积极向上，希望自己也跻身精英阶层。而平权运动的兴起，实际上是为原有的弱势阶层开辟了特权，这样就导致了人们不思进取，甚至对精英主义嗤之以鼻。最终，这将影响整个美国的发展。
William A. Henry III的论述主要从拉美裔即黑人对美国的影响，女权运动对美国的影响，以及美国大学的窘境展开，几乎涵盖了美国当前平权运动的主要战场。所以找来非议是在所难免的。虽然William A. Henry III在书中一再限定范围，但是毕竟这是“政治错误”，翻了禁忌的分寸，所以遭到众多攻击。好在William A. Henry III实际上在写作此书时，已经时日不长，过了一年就驾鹤西去。以致于Reed Woodhouse在Featured in BBR January/February 1995写道：I can only imagine that Henry, sensing his life was coming to an end,was eager to publish the book even in its unfinished state rather thanleave it a mere torso at his death。在Reed Woodhouse看来，William A. Henry III不过是个受过良好高等教育的白人男子，而写作此书不过是时日已到，临死叫嚣而已。
我并不同意Reed Woodhouse的观点，William A. Henry III的确毕业于耶鲁，二人切他在书中很坦诚地承认了这一点。在我看来，其实他写作此书的原因是为了抵御反向歧视。所谓反向歧视的概念，就是在反对歧视的同时，对于原本的歧视主体收到了对方的歧视，也就是将歧视手提颠倒过来，而这种反响歧视实际上加深了两个群体间的隔膜，扩大了歧视，扩大了不平等。
举个例子而言，我们常说女士优先，实际上这是承认男女之间的不平等，虽然我们一再强调女士的优先，而这句话的潜台词是女士弱于男士，实际上是肯定了男性的强势。如果双方平等，又何必优先？而且，这句话倡导女士优先，反过来又强调了女性的特权，在实践中造成了男女的不平等。
当然Reed Woodhouse的评论并非全无道理，William A. Henry III在书中反复强调种种反向歧视，但始终未能提出解决方式，也许真的是时日已近。
这书确实犯了“简单，实用，无政治错误”的禁忌，但它是本好书，道出了不少美国人不敢说的话。贵在说真话！
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