#外媒新闻语料翻译# 【第82篇 修改后的译文】
BE THE CHANGE
At what point did it no longer seem possible to satirize the world we live in? Was it when the Commander-in-Chief called himself a “very stable genius”? Or the news alerts that seem to make the very idea of jokes unserious or unseemly? Satire reveals truth through exaggeration. The task becomes more difficult when everyone agrees that reality has gone too far.
The funny, ravenous, and strange novels of Nell Zink look at American culture from the fringes, following activists and misfits as they contend with the absurdities of the modern world. Her first book, “The Wallcreeper,” tells the story of a woman who leaves her husband to commit ecoterrorism while taking on a string of deadbeat lovers. “Nicotine” follows squatters in New Jersey whose homes are divided by identitarian interests, such as feminism, indigenous rights, and smoking.
Zink’s satires are not restrained by the conventions of social politeness or narrative structure. Characters uncover secrets only to be killed off. The most consistent quality of her books is a desire to flout rules. This satire is especially angled at those who want to turn the margins into a movement. “Why exactly 20-somethings are considered so vital to protest movements, I never figured out, seeing as how they never vote and have no money,” a character in “The Wallcreeper” reflects. The tenants’-rights activists in “Nicotine” are as concerned about their own living standards as they are about any universal right to housing. “You want to control the left,” another character says, “offer it cheap rent.” It’s exciting and cool to be part of a group that’s trying to change the world, the novels suggest. But don’t forget: those attempts usually go nowhere.
Zink knows the fringe herself. She spent the first decades of her career writing for an audience of one at a time, seemingly unconcerned by whether her work reached a broader public. Born in Virginia, she lived abroad in Israel and then in Germany, working as a bricklayer and as a secretary, among other jobs. The novels she wrote took the form of e-mails to friends. The recipient of one such e-mail was Jonathan Franzen, who helped her publish her first novel, with a small feminist press, for a three hundred-dollar advance.
修改后译文：
改变现状
从何时起，讽刺我们所处的世界看似不再可能了？是在特朗普总统自诩为“非常稳定的天才”之时吗？还是在新闻警告人们开玩笑不严肃也不恰当之时？讽刺通过夸张的手法揭示真理，但当所有人都一致认为现实已经太离谱时，用讽刺揭示真理就变得愈发困难。
内尔·辛克（Nell Zink）的小说风格奇特、内容有趣，揭露人性的贪婪。小说从社会边缘群体的视角观察美国文化，讲述了激进分子和异见人士如何与现代世界的荒谬现象做斗争。她的第一部小说《红翅旋壁雀》(The Wallcreeper)讲述女主人公离开丈夫去从事生态恐怖主义，同时又和一群二流子暧昧不清。另一部小说《尼古丁》描述的则是新泽西州一群擅自占住空房者，他们的家园按照相同的兴趣来划分，如女权主义、土著权利、吸烟等。
辛克的讽刺作品不受社交礼貌和叙事结构等传统的制约，其中的人物一旦揭秘就会被灭口，这些作品最大的共同点是藐视规则的渴望。这种讽刺特别针对那些想把鸡毛蒜皮的事变成运动的人。《红翅旋壁雀》中的一位人物表示：“我一直不明白，20多岁的年轻人既不投票，也没有财力，却在抗议运动中被视为主力”。《尼古丁》中的房客权利活动家们既关心自己的生活水平，又关心普遍的住房权。另一个人物说：“想要控制左派，就得降低他们的租金。” 辛克的小说表明，成为一个试图改变世界的团体的一员是件让人兴奋、时髦无比的事，但别忘了：那些尝试通常都是竹篮打水一场空。
辛克自己非常了解社会边缘群体。在她职业生涯的头几十年里，她一次只为一个读者群写作，似乎毫不在意自己的作品是否能有更多的读者。她生于美国弗吉尼亚州，先后在以色列、德国生活，从事过多种职业，如砖瓦工、秘书。她写的小说都是通过电子邮件发给朋友的，其中就包括了美国著名小说家乔纳森·弗兰岑（Jonathan Franzen），正是他帮助辛克在一家小型女权主义出版社出版了她的第一部小说，预付款为300美元。
指导教师：西南科技大学外国语学院 马继红
校对：西南科技大学外国语学院 陈清贵 陈压美