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| Shirley Hazzard |
| 雪莉•哈澤德 |
| 圖片來源：http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/04/30/orangequ30.xml |
| 主要文類：Novel |
| 資料提供者：May Su/蘇子惠 |
| 關鍵字詞： |
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小說家、作家
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May Su/蘇子惠
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 家庭背景
聯合國
婚姻生活
作品簡介
「通俗」與「嚴肅」的文學戰爭：史蒂芬•金 vs. 雪莉•哈澤德
去國者
現況
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家庭背景 |
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一九三一年一月三十日，小說家雪莉•哈澤德在澳洲雪梨出生。她成長在摩斯曼區（Mosman）富裕的中上家庭，上有威爾斯血統的父親雷吉諾•哈澤德（Reginald Hazzard）和蘇格蘭血統的母親凱瑟琳•史坦因（Catherine Stein）。二○年代期間，她的雙親進入一家負責建造雪梨港灣大橋（Sydney Harbour Bridge）的英國公司工作，進而相識結婚，婚後定居雪梨。早慧的哈澤德四歲時便對詩產生濃厚興趣，並尊奉詩人為精神導師，後來就讀雪梨昆伍德學院（Queenwood College），生平頭一遭遇上義大利戰俘，此後在她的生活及寫作中，義大利均扮演了重要角色。哈澤德早年因父母外交公職而旅居世界各地，時值一九四七年，年僅十六歲的哈澤德進入香港英國情報局，負責監控中國內戰事務。她曾寓居香港二年，隨後偕親人赴紐西蘭首都威靈頓二年之久，其後經倫敦前往紐約定居，直到一九五○年父親雷吉諾被任命為澳洲貿易專員，她的生活於焉起了變化。
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聯合國 |
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一九五一年，哈澤德父母宣布分居，決定離開紐約。哈澤德選擇留在原市，一九五二年開始擔任聯合國祕書處（United Nations Secretariat）文書僱員。一九五六年秋天，她被調派到那不勒斯（Naples）工作一年，深深愛上了這座城市，也引發了她的寫作靈感。哈澤德長期在《紐約客》發表創作，經濟游刃有餘，於是一九六二年自聯合國離職，展開專職寫作生涯，後來更躍身為聯合國激進異議人士。她在《 Defeat of an Ideal: A Study of the Self-Destruction of the United Nations 》（理想的敗局：聯合國之自毀研究，1973 年）一書中細述聯合國弊害，其他非小說如《 Countenance of Truth: the United Nations and the Waldheim Case 》（真實的面目：聯合國和沃德海姆事件，1990 年）討論「沃德海姆」（Kurt Waldheim）事件（關於前德國軍官和聯合國祕書長沃德海姆競選奧地利總統爭議）、《 Greene on Capri: A Memoir 》（回憶卡布里島上的格林， 2000 年）則描述美國作家格雷安•葛林（Graham Greene）與她的情誼。一九八五年《 Coming of Age in Australia 》（澳洲時代的到來）出版，其中收錄了她在澳洲國家廣播電視公司 鮑伊爾講座（Australian Broadcasting Corporation Boyer）的演講稿。
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婚姻生活 |
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一九六三年一月，哈澤德在紐約友人穆里愛•史派克（Muriel Spark）舉辦的宴會上遇見法蘭西斯•史蒂格穆勒（Francis Steegmuller 1906-1994 ，著名文學譯者、傳記家），據哈澤德的說法，二人是一見鍾情，於一九六三年十二月二十二日結婚後，搬進紐約曼哈頓上東區（Upper East Side），不時往返義大利那不勒斯及卡布里島（Capri）寓所。二人攜手走過三十一年婚姻，直到一九九四年十月，八十八歲的史蒂格穆勒因心臟衰竭辭世為止。在許多公開出版的哈澤德傳記資料中，反映出史蒂格穆勒在世時，與哈澤德所共享的文學生涯強度。丈夫對文學的熱愛，也間接豐富了哈澤德的寫作與談話內容。六○年代初期起，夫婦二人對紐約文學及文化的影響力一直持續到史蒂格穆勒過世為止。在哈澤德九○年代著作中，包括一九九七年雪梨學院（Sydney Institute）的公開演說，在在顯示她參與國際文學及文化事業不輟，其中也不乏澳洲等議題。
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作品簡介 |
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雪莉•哈澤德謙稱自己寫作進度緩慢，在創作過程中體驗到苦樂參半。她運用獨到的文字力量及恐怖的美感，反映出人類自身處境。哈澤德在數十年文學生涯中，創作了六本小說以及四本非小說，發表數個短篇作品如手冊、論文和隨筆。她在非小說作品中嚴詞攻訐聯合國，甚而發表數篇評論、訪談與討論文章。至於她在小說中描述的愛情故事，則可視為角色進入自我內心的歷程。她的作品咸認具有世界觀以及歐洲人士的感性，戰爭背景也是其中重要主題，對映出角色身心皆流離失所的困境。
一九六○年，哈澤德嘗試投稿《紐約客》，結果短篇小說一舉通過採用，陸續有五個短篇問世，全部收進一九六三年短篇小說作品《Cliffs of Fall and Other Stories》（墜落懸崖，1963年）。她的 長篇小說分別是《The Evening of the Holiday》（假日之夜，1966年）、《The Bay of Noon》（正午的海灣，1970年）以及《The Transit of Venus》（愛神的變貌，1981年），《愛神的變貌》更拿下美國國家書評獎（National Book Critics' Circle Award），另著有短篇小說集《墜落懸崖》和《 People in Glass Houses 》（玻璃房中人，1967年）。一九七六年七月二十六日，哈澤德在《紐約客》發表的短篇小說〈A Long Story Short〉（長話短說）還抱走了一九七七年奧亨利獎 （O.Henry Award）。
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《大火》 |
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哈澤德創作二十餘載，首度以長篇小說《 The Great Fire》（大火）連奪二○○三年美國國家書卷獎（National Book Award ）以及二○○四年澳洲邁爾斯 • 富蘭克林獎（Miles Franklin Award）而大放異彩，這部小說並獲得二○○四年曼氏布克獎（Man Booker Prize for Fiction）和二○○五年國際 IMPAC 都柏林文學獎（International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award）雙料提名。《大火》故事背景設定在二次大戰後的亞洲，主角奧爾德雷德•雷斯（Aldred Leith）戰時在中國，戰後被派往日本廣島，製作原子彈爆炸調查書。回溯現實生活中的一九四七年，哈澤德父親被任命為駐香港澳洲貿易專員，一家乘搭船飄洋過海五天，哈澤德在日本廣島上岸時親睹原子彈破壞的威力，可怕的戰爭夢魘終其一生縈繞不去，不時影響她的寫作風格。哈澤德自一九四七年至一九四八年間，與一名三十多歲的英國退伍軍人墜入愛河，後來她的父母出面干預，二人關係無疾而終。哈澤德寫作《大火》時，便以這段戀情作為小說情節主軸。《大火》以戰後族群離散情況為故事背景，政治的恐怖（例如投擲原子彈在長崎和廣島上空）與其對人性的負面影響歷歷可見，更進一步揭開殖民體制真相。
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「通俗」與「嚴肅」的文學戰爭：史蒂芬•金 vs.雪莉•哈澤德 |
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哈澤德以小說《大火》獲頒美國國家書卷獎同年，暢銷作家史蒂芬 • 金（Stephen King）也在台上領取終身成就獎，此舉引起耶魯大學教授哈洛•卜倫（Harold Bloom）和哈澤德的不滿，咸認他無法與之前得主菲利普•羅斯（Philip Roth）和亞瑟米勒（Arthur Miller）相提並論，不配得到該獎。現年五十九歲的史蒂芬• 金曾出版暢銷小說《魔女嘉莉》（Carrie） 和《幽光》（The Shining ，又名《鬼店》）風靡廣大讀者 ，他籲請出版界人士撥冗閱讀包括自己作品在內的暢銷書，並強烈要求美國國家圖書基金會不要利用他來「裝點門面」（tokenism），更表明對於「那些向來自豪從不看約翰•格里遜（John Grisham）、湯姆•克蘭西（Tom Clancy）、瑪麗•海金斯•克拉克（Mary Higgins Clark）等暢銷作家作品的人士」感到忍無可忍；然而另一方面，花費十餘年光陰才完成得獎小說《大火》的哈澤德則上台反駁他：「就算給我們一份當前最暢銷的書目，我也不認為，我們會從中得到更多滿足。」哈澤德還向美聯社記者表示，自己沒有時間看金的作品，眼下正在讀莎士比亞和康拉德。
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去國者 |
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哈澤德沒有拒絕身為澳洲作家的使命，但堅稱其創作調性不受國家所限制。她定居紐約二十五年，在美國總統尼克森下台後甫獲得公民身分，為了避開國家認同的尷尬，她不承認自己是「去國者」（expatriate），強調以「四海一家」為榮，然而她的小說主角多是流離失所（displaced）的美國人或澳洲人，前者散居香港和義大利，後者則在倫敦與紐約間漂泊徘徊。
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現況 |
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已擁有美國公民身分的哈澤德現居紐約，不定期往返義大利卡布里島寓所。哈澤德在專職作家中不算多產，其文章講究深度和體裁。據說她不慣用電腦打字，迄今仍用手寫文章，家中擺設不見電視及電話答錄機。或許科技設備付之闕如，令哈澤德得以敏銳地注視世俗微不足道的事物，從而呈現出人性最有力也最愚昧、最美麗也最醜惡等各個層面。二○○五年，哈澤德接受美國藝術暨文學學會（US Academy of Arts and Letters）頒贈霍威爾勳章（William Dean Howell Medal），彰顯了她對文學的非凡貢獻。
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References
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“Shirley Hazzard,” in Contemporary Authors Online. (A profile of the author's life and works)
“Shirley Hazzard,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 289: Australian Writers, 1950-1975. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Selina Samuels. Gale, 2004, pp. 114-120.
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Novelist, Story Writer
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May Su/蘇子惠
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Family Background
United Nations
Marriage
Works
Popular fiction clashing with literary fiction: Stephen King vs. Shirley Hazzard
Expatriate
Current Situation
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Family Background |
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Born on January 30, 1931 in Sydney, Australia, Shirley Hazzard is a writer and novelist who grew up in upper-middle-class Mosman. She is the daughter of Reginald Hazzard and Catherine Stein Hazzard. Her Welsh father and Scottish mother had met in Sydney while working for the British firm that built the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1920s, and they remained in Sydney after marriage. At the age of four, Hazzard strated an early fondness for poetry, and considers the poets are her mentors. Later she attended Queenwood College in Sydney and had her first encounter with Italy when she saw some Italian prisoners of war. Italy then played an enormous role in her writing and life. Hazzard traveled the world during her early years, a result of her parents' diplomatic postings. In 1947, at the age of 16, she was engaged by the British Intelligence in Hong Kong to monitor the civil war in China. Hazzard remained in Hong Kong for two years, then traveled with her family to Wellington, New Zealand, for two years, then on via London to New York, where her father was appointed Australian trade commissioner in 1950.
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United Nations |
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In 1951, her parents announced their separation and decided to leave New York. Hazzard chose to remain there and took up a position as a clerical employee in the United Nations Secretariat between the years 1952 and 1962. In the autumn of 1956, she was transferred to Naples for one year and began her lifelong passion for the city which inspired her writing. In 1962, her continued work with The New Yorker allowed her the financial freedom to leave the United Nations and become a full-time writer. She had since become a passionate opponent of the United Nations, detailing her opinion of its weaknesses in Defeat of an Ideal: A Study of the Self-Destruction of the United Nations in 1973. She has also written nonfiction works Countenance of Truth: the United Nations and the Waldheim Case (1990) about the Kurt Waldheim case, and the memoir Greene on Capri: A Memoir (2000) about her friend, Graham Greene. In 1985, Coming of Age in Australia was published, a collection of her Australian Broadcasting Corporation Boyer lectures.
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Marriage |
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In January 1963, Hazzard met Francis Steegmuller (1906-1994), an eminent literary translator and biographer, at a party given by their mutual friend Muriel Spark in New York. Hazzard later described the encounter as love at first sight. Hazzard and Steegmuller married on December 22, 1963. Hazzard and Steegmuller lived in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and apartments in Naples and Capri from the time of their marriage until Steegmuller's death in October 1994 from heart failure at the age of eighty-eight. The intensity of their shared literary lives characterizes much of the published biographical information about Hazzard. Steegmuller's literary passions also proliferated Hazzard's writing and conversation. Their contributions to the literary and cultural establishments of New York were sustained from the early 1960s until Steegmuller's death. Hazzard's own literary output through the 1990s, including a speech delivered in 1997 to the Sydney Institute, evidences her continuing participation in an international literary and cultural life as well as Australian issues.
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Works |
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Shirley Hazzard describes herself as a slow writer who finds the process of literary creation both rewarding and painstaking. She is a writer with an extraordinary appreciation for the terrible beauty and power of words in the human condition. Throughout her career, she has produced six novels, a number of short stories including one compendium, essays, articles and four non-fiction works, which include two scathing attacks on the United Nations as well as critical reviews, interviews and discussions. Within Hazzard's novels, romance is an inner journey of the characters through the realm of theie selves. Hazzard's works have the qualities of cosmopolitan outlook and European sensibility. War also strongly features in her works as a backdrop to the characters's physical and psychological displacement.
In 1960, Hazzard sent a story she had written to The New Yorker. Five more subsequently followed and her first collection of stories, Cliffs of Fall and Other Stories, was published in 1963. Hazzard's novels include The Evening of the Holiday (1966), The Bay of Noon (1970), and The Transit of Venus (1981), which won the National Book Critics' Circle Award. She is also the author of two collections of short fiction, Cliffs of Fall and Other Stories (1963) and People in Glass Houses (1967). She won the 1977 O. Henry Award for her short story "A Long Story Short" published in The New Yorker on July 26, 1976.
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《 The Great Fire 》 |
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Hazzard won the 2003 National Book Award and the 2004 Miles Franklin Award for The Great Fire (2003), her first published work of fiction in more than 20 years. This book was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Great Fire is set in post-WWII Asia, where its main character Aldred Leith, a 32-year old English war veteran in 1947, is traveling through China to research a book near Hiroshima. In 1947, Hazzard's father became an Australian Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong. The family spent five weeks at sea on the ship and landed first in Hiroshoma. She witnessed the devastation of the atomic bombs there. The horror of this impression was never to leave her and often creeps into her writing. Between the years 1947-48, she fell in love with an English war veteran who was in his 30s. Her parents may have ended the relationship, but she was to return to this heart-wrenching affair as the basis for her latest novel, The Great Fire. It is a complex love story, set against a background of post-war Diaspora, depicts the political horror and their impact upon humanity (such as the dropping of the bombs upon Nagasaki and Hiroshima ), and the unraveling of the colonial system.
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Popular fiction clashing with literary fiction: Stephen King vs. Shirley Hazzard |
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In 2003, Stephen King accepted an honorary National Book Award. But not everyone including Yale professor and critic Harold Bloom and Shirley Hazzard thought him worthy of a prize previously won by Philip Roth and Arthur Miller. The 56-year-old King, whose many best sellers include Carrie and The Shining, called for publishing people to spend more time reading writers of popular fiction like him. King urged the book foundation not to make his award a case of “tokenism.” And King said that he had no patience "for those who make a point of pride in saying they have never read anything by John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Mary Higgins Clark or any other popular writer." Hazzard, who took more than a decade to complete her winning novel, rejected King's notion. “I don't think giving us a reading list of those who are most read at this moment is much of a satisfaction,” she said on stage, later telling The Associated Press that she hasn't had time to get around to one of King's novels, adding that Shakespeare and Joseph Conrad are on her current reading list.
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Expatriate |
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Hazzard does not reject her designation as an Australian writer but insists her temperament is not national. She only took out United States citizenship twenty-five years after she began living in New York, on the resignation of Richard Nixon. Eschewing nationalistic identifications, she does not consider herself as an expatriate, and emphasized that “to be at home in more than one place” (Gordan and Pasca). However, her novels are full of displaced Anglos in Hong Kong and Italy, or displaced Australians in London and New York.
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Current Situation |
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As an American citizen, Shirley Hazzard now lives in New York and divides her time between New York and Capri, Italy. Hazzard is not a prolific writer, but she is a novelist of style and profundity. It is said that she prefers handwriting to typed input and does not own a television or an answering machine. Perhaps the lack of the expected in her life allows her to view the mundane and ordinary in an astute feeling and render the most powerful and dull, the most beautiful and terrible aspects of humanity. In 2005, Hazzard was awarded the William Dean Howell Medal from the US Academy of Arts and Letters.
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References
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“Shirley Hazzard,” in Contemporary Authors Online. (A profile of the author's life and works)
“Shirley Hazzard,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 289: Australian Writers, 1950-1975. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Selina Samuels. Gale, 2004, pp. 114-120.
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