书之皮相

Reporter： Africa， of course， is a hugely diverse and complex place， yet， when thinking about Africa， many book illustrators come up with the same image， a lone Acacia tree with a burnt orange sky or sunset as background， and maybe an Elephant silhouette. There you go. Thats Africa. Simon Stevens of Columbia University called this phenomenon out. He posted a collage of 36 different book covers with that exact image， illustrations for stories by a variety of different authors from Joseph Conrad to Barbara Kingsolver. Neelika Jayawardane couldnt help but laugh when she saw the collage. She grew up in Zambia and is now an associate professor of（English） post-colonial literature at SUNY， Oswego， in upstate New York， and shes an editor at “Africa is a Country”. So you…you teach post-colonial literature？ Neelika： I do， and so many of the book covers that my students buy and read all have those book covers， and they must negotiate with the view that…that book cover presents， their preexisting views， and then whats in the covers. Much of the semester is spent renegotiating their understanding of this complex place rather than the book cover version that theyve already come into contact with all their lives， and then that the book covers sort of reinforce.

Reporter： So I can only imagine what went through your mind when you actually saw 36 different book covers…altogether， I mean， its kind of a mind blower.

Neelika： It was！ I was so surprised， but， in a way， you know， it…it wasnt that much a shock because whether its Nigeria or South Africa， Mozambique， Botswana or Zambia， its that same kind of distended belly of the setting sun with the Acacia， and I have to say that I grew up with that very Acacia tree， gigantic shading tree， outside of my home. So， its not that it doesnt exist， but its not the only thing that exists in southern Africa or in east Africa.

Reporter： How do these publishers manage to keep a lock on the world supply of orange and ochre and beige ink？ Thats what I want to know.

Neelika： I wish I knew. I think we cant even find it. All my painter friends complain about that…that they cant find that. They cant find orange any more， yeah.

Reporter： Neelika， for you， what is the one image of Africa youve never seen on a cover， which must have its day， someday， on a book？

Neelika： I…I keep coming back to， theres a photograph that I have of me in 6th grade， and its with， I have a British teacher， whos come there， hes wearing a tie and a white shirt and all of us 6th grade kids are lined up under him， and theres a couple of British kids， several Indian kids， one kid with a， hes Sikh， hes got a turban， and one of them is wearing a bow tie because that was a special day for photographs. And I look at us and I remember this is…this is my view， and its a complex view of what Africa is， and I think “Oh， this is the image I think of when I think of my school.” And I…I want that kind of a school child picture that isnt about a fraught school child in danger of being kidnapped by Boko Haram， or whatever， because I grew up in enormous safety and with enormous， like， kind of competitive spirit about our academics， and a lot of， like， love to， about learning， and I dont think that many people imagine that as an African theme or an African everyday.

记者：无疑，非洲是极为多元复杂的一个地方。然而，一想到非洲，许多插画家的脑海里就会浮现同一幅画面：火红色的天空下或是落日斜晖中，孤零零地屹立着一棵金合欢树，也许还有一抹大象的剪影。就是如此，那就是非洲。哥伦比亚大学的西蒙·史蒂文斯大胆地指出了这个现象。他用三十六本书的封面做成了一幅拼贴画。这些书的作者中既有约瑟夫·康拉德，也有芭芭拉·金索佛，那些书尽管作者不同，但封面插画都不外乎刚刚提到的那般描绘。看到这幅拼贴画的时候，妮丽卡·楂雅沃德忍俊不禁。她在赞比亚长大，现于纽约州北部的纽约州立大学奥斯维戈分校任副教授，执教（英国）后殖民文学，她还是博客“非洲是个国家”的主笔。嗯……你教的是后殖民文学？

妮丽卡：是的，我的学生们买来的或读过的很多书全部都是那样的封面，他们必须得在其封面代表的意义、自己先前的观点以及书的内容之间不断修改、调整想法。学期里的大部分时间，他们都是在重新梳理对非洲这个复杂地方的理解，而不是仅仅局限于那些生活中频繁出现的封面印象及其固化的刻板理解。

记者：我能想象得出你看到那三十六个不同封面时心里是什么感觉……总之，我是说，真是难以置信。

妮丽卡：的确！我很惊讶。在那些封面上，无论是尼日利亚、南非、莫桑比克、博茨瓦纳还是赞比亚，永远都是一轮夕阳伴金合欢树的相似风景。但在某种程度上，那并没有令我特别震惊。因为我们家门口确实有那么一棵巨大、庇荫的金合欢树陪伴我长大。所以，问题并不是说封面上的“经典”景象不存在，而是说，那景象并不是南非或东非的唯一面貌。

记者：我真想知道这些出版社是怎么垄断全世界的橙色、赭色和米黄色油墨的？

妮丽卡：我也想知道啊，可我认为我们无法作答。我的画家朋友們都在抱怨……抱怨他们都找不到橙色颜料用了。他们再也找不到橙色颜料了，耶。

记者：妮丽卡，对你而言，非洲的形象是什么样的？你会怎样描绘那幅你没在任何一本书的封面上见过，但有朝一日定会成为封面的画面？

妮丽卡：我……我总是会回想起六年级时拍的一张照片。那是和一位来自英国的老师的合影，他身穿白衬衫，打着领带，带领我们所有六年级生排队拍照。我们中有两三个英国孩子，有来自印度的同学，还有一个孩子信仰锡克教，包着头巾。由于那天是照相的特殊日子，其中一位学生还打了领结。看着那时的我们，我觉得这就是……我心目中对非洲一种说不清道不明的印象。我心想：“啊，一想到学校，我的脑中就会跳出这个画面。”还有……我不希望那是一张孩子们时刻为“博科圣地组织”绑架儿童而担惊受怕的照片或其他类似的照片，因为我自己成长的环境其实十分安全，大家都在学业上你赶我追，对学习充满热情。我猜，这和多数人臆想中的非洲或非洲人的日常生活很不一样。