《電影之外的美國》書影
你無法知道，什么時候的一次輕輕觸動可以改變?nèi)松能壍馈Ｄ阋矡o法預(yù)料，一次偶然的相遇會延續(xù)出數(shù)十年的友誼。讓你跨洋越海，有了自己的孩子，而這個孩子的名字承載了兩個偉大國家對未來的期許。這次邂逅也成就了你捧在手中的這本書。
1997年，我剛開始我的外交生涯，在美國駐北京大使館擔任外交官，非?？释鲞M美國與中國的相互了解，就在這個時候我遇到了章珺。那個時候，她在中國中央電視臺電影頻道工作，是一位非常嚴肅真誠的作家。她滿懷好奇，希望更多地了解美國。進入會客室時，那只是一個工作面談，我們卻一見如故，道別時已心有靈犀。我們有很多共同的語言和志趣，我們對彼此國家的喜愛最終促使她來美國做訪問學者。從此，生活重塑軌道。這個來自最古老文明國度的，曾經(jīng)的好萊塢電影評論家在這個新的土壤中慢慢扎下根須，并且在這里萌發(fā)了強烈的展現(xiàn)“電影之外的美國”的愿望。
很快我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，4月11日是她的生日，我的生日是4月12日。但如果我們都身處對方的國家，因為時差，不論根據(jù)何種歷法，我們竟可以同時慶祝我們的生日，兩個生日一天過。我后來還了解到，章珺來自孔子的故鄉(xiāng)---中國東部的山東曲阜?？鬃邮菤v史上最偉大的教育家之一。恰如這位偉大的圣賢，章珺的父母也是桃李滿天下。而章珺追隨孔子和自己的父母，后來也從事教育。自1997年以來，我一直在向她學習有關(guān)中國和友誼的知識。我認為這本書便是根植于曲阜的一系列寶貴文獻中的又一個篇章。
最優(yōu)秀的社會故事講述者往往來自異域。十九世紀法國政治學家阿歷克西·德·托克維爾是最杰出的美國生活觀察家之一。他僅在美國旅行九個月后，就撰寫出了著名的《論美國的民主》。相比之下，章珺在美國已生活二十年之久，很少有人能像她這樣深入洞察美國生活的核心。她始終懷有一顆中國心，在講述她的第二故鄉(xiāng)--美國的故事時，她不僅表達了由衷的贊賞，同時也有嚴格的審視和善意的批評，展示出一個來自異域的家庭新成員的真情實感。
其實，章珺眼中的美國是一個延伸了的大家庭。這本書中的人物就像她的家人一樣鮮活。在與她的美國丈夫建立了家庭之后，她將視線投向更遠的地方，并在下一代身上也寄托了在不同文化間建立相互理解的希望。她給自己唯一的孩子取名為Amerina，這個名字越過太平洋，將美國和中國這兩個國家緊密聯(lián)系在一起。
這并不是章珺第一次展示起名的藝術(shù)。因為不滿意我的第一個漢語老師為我選擇的中文名字，我懇求章珺幫我重新起名。經(jīng)過一周的斟酌推敲，再見面時她帶來一個絕佳的名字，令我的許多中國朋友贊不絕口。它不僅接近于“湯姆”的英語發(fā)音，還使用了傳達“蒼天之下，萬國和睦“表意的漢字，寓意著上天賜予的和睦相處的祝福。對于一個剛嶄露頭角的外交官來說，這是一個何等吉祥的名字!
我朋友現(xiàn)在的名字是Jun Z. Miller，從這第三個名字上可以捕捉到她自身生活的變化。讀到這里你大概已經(jīng)知道Z意味著什么，它出現(xiàn)在英文字母表的末尾，然而又象征著她的故事的開始。希望你能像我一樣喜歡她寫的故事。
謹以此序表達我對章珺、她在中國的父母和她在美國的家人的感謝。
Tom Cooney(俞天睦)
2018年4月
Tom Cooney (俞天睦)，序言作者，書中篇目《兩個生日一天過》的主人公，曾任職于美國駐北京大使館新聞文化處；美國駐上海領(lǐng)事館領(lǐng)事和公共事務(wù)總監(jiān)；美國駐香港和澳門副總領(lǐng)事；現(xiàn)任美國駐阿根廷執(zhí)行大使。2010年任職上海期間，他帶領(lǐng)他的團隊促成美國參加上海世博會，并出任上海世博會美國館的副總代表。
柳明淮(Ming-huai Hall)，序言中文譯者，現(xiàn)任職于美國紐約州長辦公室，語言專家。
原文：
You never know when you will touch a life. You never know when a single encounter can lead to a decades-long friendship,to a leap across oceans, to a child whose name carries the promise of two great countries,to this very book in your hands.
I met Zhang Jun in 1997 when I was a junior diplomat stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, eager to build ties of mutual understanding between my country and China. She was an earnest writer for the movie channel at China Central Television and had a strong curiosity to learn more about the United States. We entered a meeting room as new professional contacts and departed it as kindred spirits. Our interests converged and ultimately helped her become a visiting scholar in the United States. From there, life took its course, and this one-time Hollywood movie reviewer from the most ancient of civilizations patiently grew roots in the New World and found a passion for telling America’s story "Outside the Movies."Only later did we discover that her April 11 and my April 12 birthday coincide perfectly whenever I am located in her birth country and she is in mine, a kind of shared leap day in defiance of all calendars. Only later did I discover that Zhang Jun hails from Qufu in eastern China, the birthplace of Confucius, one of the greatest teachers of all time. Like the great sage himself, her parents were also educators. And like her parents,Zhang Jun has become an educator, too. I have been learning from her about China and about friendship since 1997, and I consider this book to be another text in a long line of valuable texts with roots in Qufu.
The finest storytellers about a society often come from beyond its borders. One of the greatest observers of American life was the 19th-century French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville. His seminal Democracy in America was written after travelling around the United States for just nine months. By contrast, Zhang Jun’s observations are steeped in 20 years of living in America, and she is able like few others to go right to the heart of what it is to be an American. Her own heart indelibly Chinese,she tells the story of her adopted country not only with the affinity of a true admirer but also with the exacting eye of a Chinese family member who demonstrates affection through loving criticism.
Indeed, Zhang Jun has embraced America as her extended family. The characters in this book come alive like family. After starting her own family with an American husband, she went even further and invested her hopes of cross-cultural understanding in the next generation by naming her only child Amerina, a name that stretches across the Pacific to bind two countries.
Nor was this Zhang Jun’s first foray into the art of name-giving. Not satisfied with the first Chinese-language name selected for me by an early Chinese instructor, I turned to Zhang Jun to rechristen me in Chinese. She thought carefully for a week and returned to me with the perfect name that has drawn the admiration of many Chinese acquaintances ever since. It recalls not only the English phonetic sounds of Tom but also features beautiful written characters that convey a meaning of harmony under heaven. An auspicious name indeed for a budding diplomat!
My friend is now known as Jun Z. Miller, a third act of naming that captures her own personal transformation. But you know what the Z is for now. It comes at the end of the English alphabet, but it symbolizes the very beginning of her story. I hope you also enjoy it.
In appreciation of Zhang Jun, her parents in China, and her family in America,Tom Cooney 俞天睦
April 2018
Tom Cooney(俞天睦), author of the preface, the subject of "Two Birthdays On The Same Day" in this collection, has variously served as Press Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the Consulate and the Director of Public Affairs in Shanghai, and the Deputy Consul General of the US Consulate General for Hong Kong and Macau, is currently the Acting Ambassador of the United States in Argentina. During his term of service in Shanghai in 2010, he led his Pavilion team to promote the United States to participate in the Shanghai World Expo and served as Deputy Commissioner General of the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo.
電影之外的美國---作者簡介
章珺(Jun Z Miller)，旅美作家，江蘇蘇州人，生于山東曲阜，曾在北京讀書、工作十年，現(xiàn)定居美國華盛頓。
中國作家協(xié)會會員，已出版《歸巢》《此岸，彼岸》等四部長篇和散文隨筆集《簡單的快樂》，發(fā)表過上百篇的散文、隨筆、影評，參與多種電視節(jié)目的制作，編劇的電影《家園》獲得中國電視電影百合獎。
做過媒體，教過書，千山萬水之后，回歸年少時的夢想，渴望用真摯飽滿的文字，記錄呈現(xiàn)豐富美好的生活和情感。
