【新書推薦— 書寫自然╱自然書寫:美國原住民作家】
美國西部並不是牛仔需要征服的地域,而是原住民居住存活的地點。 美國西部不需被白人寄託荒野之情懷,而是原住民作家祖靈的所在。 一八六〇年是美國原住民銘記的歷史,因為納瓦霍部族被迫遷徙至五百公里外保留區。 對離流失所、寢食不濟的原住民之衝擊,這段歷史傷痛作家們銘記,直至今日。
Annie Proulx在《懷俄明州故事集》中描述美國西部地形艱困與雄偉,Louise Erdrich《The Round House》描述北達科他一家庭遭受不公對待,衝突圍繞著圓屋(原住民部落用於膜拜)開展。 Ellen Meloy所身處的科羅拉多州與前兩者頗有相似之處。在普立茲非小說類決選作品,Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky中,Meloy討論到美國西部特產種資源綠松石,因之特殊色澤與質地常用於珠寶與雕塑。納瓦霍部族(Navajo)視綠松石為聖物,暫不提經濟效益,此物之保存對當地居民有迫切的必要性與重要性。 對作者而言,地景所淬鍊出的物品不只是所有物,也是大自然化學與物理作用產生。引用其他作家對自然的描述和借用原住民部族對大自然環境的了解,不可忽略的更是:作者對科普知識的掌握。沒有艱深難懂的名稱,只在環境因素— 沙漠、海水、石頭、天空— 交互影響下書寫,她的風格在眾多作品中獨樹一格。積極為環境與歷史貢獻全新篇章,Ellen Meloy如同湍流河中經得起考驗的石頭,啟發讀者、同儕與部落群體,催生原住民文學。
In this invigorating mix of natural history and adventure, artist-naturalist Ellen Meloy uses turquoise—the color and the gem—to probe deeper into our profound human attachment to landscape. From the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Bahamas to her home ground on the high plateaus and deep canyons of the Southwest, we journey with Meloy through vistas of both great beauty and great desecration. Her keen vision makes us look anew at ancestral mountains, turquoise seas, and even motel swimming pools. She introduces us to Navajo “velvet grandmothers” whose attire and aesthetics absorb the vivid palette of their homeland, as well as to Persians who consider turquoise the life-saving equivalent of a bullet-proof vest. Throughout, Meloy invites us to appreciate along with her the endless surprises in all of life and celebrates the seduction to be found in our visual surroundings.