感恩節 感傷節?

Thanksgiving? Or Day of Mourning? 感恩節？感傷節？  摘自:http://www.lampful.com/node/1877
Today is Thanksgiving Day, one of the most important and commonly observed holidays in the United States. Typically families would get together to have a lavish feast consisting of turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato. This day is said to be the worst time to travel, as millions of people rush (fly, drive, ride) to return home at the same time. It goes without saying that this holiday is accompanied by drinking, football (American football, that is), and shopping.

11月22日是感恩節，美國最重要以及最大衆化的假期之一。這一天美國家庭通常都會聚在一起吃一頓豐盛的晚餐，有火雞，紅梅醬以及甜土豆。 這一天的交通是全年最糟糕的，因爲成百上萬的人都在同一時間趕回家（或搭飛機，或開車）。 這假期當然少不了醉酒、美式足球以及購物。


Historically, Thanksgiving commemorates and celebrates the first harvest of the earliest settlers from England who landed in now Virginia and Massachusetts almost 400 years ago. As legend has it, in 1621, the English pilgrims—nay, colonizers—invited a group of Native Americans (Grand Sachem Massasoit and Wampanoag), who taught them how to fish, grow crops, and survive the harsh winter, to celebrate their first harvest and to give thanks to God. The English fed their guest for three days and the Native Americans in return brought 5 deer as gifts. History books tell us that the two peoples were grateful and respectful to each other and the feast was a manifestation of their mutually generosity and friendship.
回顧歷史，感恩節是爲了紀念及慶祝差不多400年前最早從英格蘭搬到維珍尼亞以及曼特斯特的移民者的第一場大豐收。據傳，在1621年，英國的”朝聖者”—不，應說是殖民者—邀請了一群曾經教過他們捕魚、種田、過嚴寒冬天的本土美國人(所謂的印第安人)來一起慶祝第一場豐收以及感謝上帝恩典。英國人待客三天，而本土美國人也送給他們五頭鹿作爲回報。歷史教課書告訴我們這兩個民族互相感激及尊敬，而這場筵席就是兩民族友誼及慷慨的象徵。

The First Thanksgiving, reproduction of an oil painting by J.L.G. Ferris, early 20th century. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.


And yet to Native Americans, Thanksgiving Day represents something very different. It is insulting and derogatory; it is a reminder of history, but not the one taught in history books written by the colonizers. Native American and their allies observe Thanksgiving as a day of mourning. They mourn the rape of their land and the massacre of their ancestors. It symbolizes the beginning of centuries of genocide, slavery, and injustice; it reminds them of the hideous crimes of their “generous and grateful” colonizers. The fact that it is a day of celebration is ironic, to say the very least.
然而對本土美國人來說，感恩節有著不同的意味。它有屈辱、貶低的意思，它令他們回憶起並非殖民者在歷史書中所寫那樣光輝的痛苦歷史。本土美國人以及他們的同盟者將感恩節視作感傷節。他們對自己領土被強佔以及祖先屈受的殘忍行爲而感到悲痛。這個節日象徵著一個充滿種族滅絕、奴役、不公平對待世紀的開始，它讓本土美國人想起那些“慷慨及充滿感激”的殖民者的醜惡罪行。這是一個具有諷刺意義的節日。


Many would defend that the meaning behind the holiday has changed; that it is about giving thanks to one another; that it is a rare occasion when families would go out of their way and put aside conflicts to gather; that it is no longer associated with the tragedies and wrongdoings of the past. Some might also say that it is exactly because of the past conflicts that we should highlight the positive events between the two cultures/peoples; that we should celebrate friendship not again and again remind how wide the fissure between the Natives and the European-Americans is; that we should move on.
很多人會辯解，今天感恩節背後的意義已經不同。感恩節是關於對他人的感激。這天，家庭成員會鮮有地放下成見，走到一起；這一天，已經同過去的悲劇及充滿過錯的歷史無關。有些人也許會認為正正因爲過去那些鬥爭我們更加應該強調兩民族間積極的一面，慶祝友誼，而不是一而再再而三地去提醒人們本土美國人與從歐洲移民來的美國人之間有多大鴻溝。我們應該向前看。

But move on how and to where? Can the victors unilaterally tell the victims to let go of the past and move on and celebrate the friendship they once shared? Can we and should we strip away the meaning and history of such an important holiday? Can we celebrate when others mourn? Can we forget before we were forgiven? Can we reconcile when the injustice from the past is yet to be reconciled and in fact still exists in a different form, described with a different language?
但是向前看到哪里？怎麽看？勝利者能單方面告訴受害者，他們應該忘掉過去，積極振作來慶祝兩個民族間曾經擁有的友誼？我們能夠並且應該抹去如此重要一個節日在歷史上的意義嗎？我們能在他人哀悼的時候慶祝嗎？在我們被諒解之前，我們能忘記過去嗎？當過去的不公平仍舊以不同的形式存在，我們能夠修補關係嗎？


Certainly no one would admit that they are celebrating the massacre of millions of Native Americans with millions of turkey (46 millions each year, to be more precise). But when your neighbor, from whom you took the land you now live on, is still mourning and grieving their lost and still suffering, isn’t it only respectful to not commemorate it with joy (and unnecessary bingeing)? Shouldn't this be a time to solemnly remind ourselves the true history of this country, and the tragedy behind the prosperity of the New World? Shouldn’t this time be spent on reconciling with the victims of colonization and the subsequent “inner colonization”? Shouldn’t this be a time to eradicate similar oppressions perpetrated here and elsewhere?
當然沒有人會承認他們在用無數隻火雞（更爲精確的來說，每年感恩節前約四千六百萬隻）來慶祝上百萬的本土美國人糟受的殘忍屠殺。但當你的鄰居，那些曾經被你搶佔了領土的人們，仍在爲他們所失去以及所承受的一切痛苦而感到悲哀時，不去狂歡（以及沒有必要的痛飲）難道不是最基本的尊敬嗎？這難道不應該是一個讓我們牢記歷史真相、在這“新世界”繁華背後的悲劇嗎？我們難道不應該在這時候把時間花在與那些受害者和解，並去消除“內在殖民” (inner colonization)嗎？難道我們不應該這時候努力消除在世界各地正在進行, 類似的壓迫嗎？


If we were to give thanks on this very day, we should be giving thanks to those who have forgiven us. Their forgiveness is a grace that contemporary United Statsians do not deserve.
如果我們要在這一天感恩，我們應感謝那些曾經原諒過我們的人，這些人的饒恕是當代美國社會或許不配得擁有的恩典。