现实百态 》 根 Roots: The Saga of an American Family 》
前言
艾里克斯·哈利 Alex Haley
亚历克斯·哈利（Alex·Haley）：美国黑人作家，1921年生于纽约州的伊萨卡，1939-1959年在海岸警卫队服役，其间当过记者。1965 年与人合写了黑人领袖马尔科姆·艾克斯的传记。在要找出黑人传统的欲望驱使下，他对冈比亚有关口头传说进行了调查研究，发现自己家族可追溯到七代之前的一个非洲人，他被作为奴隶于1767年运到安纳波利斯。哈利以大量史实为基础，增补一些细节，于1976年写出了长篇家史小说《根》。该书获1977年普利策特别奖，改编成电视连续剧上演后轰动全国。
前言
二十年前，当《根》风靡美国的时候，它是被列在“非小说类畅销书”中的。1977年4月，美国国家书籍奖金委员会把历史特等奖授予了《根》，以表彰这部“非虚构的历史作品”。但是它二十年来在全世界的流传表明，读者们通常并不是把《根》当作一般意义的历史来阅读，他们更多的是沉浸在对《根》所描述的家族命运的关切之中，为它深刻的主题、活生生的形象和丰富的情感所打动。《根》更应该是一部文学作品，是一部优秀的历史小说。虽然作者信誓旦旦地说他怎样在尘封的故纸堆中寻找历史的线索、书中的人物怎样是他的爷娘祖奶奶，这些都并不重要，重要的是它的历史真实性是融合在它的艺术价值之中的。
因此《根》应该进入世界文学名著的行列。
强调《根》是文学作品，并不意味我们贬低它的历史含量和认识价值，恰恰相反，形象大于思想，正是它的艺术再现，使读者们更深刻地认识了美国黑人乃至美国的一段历史。
回顾美国文学，以最敏感的黑人问题为题材的作品已形成了一个专门的类别，据说其中是《汤姆大伯的小屋》、《飘》和《根》影响最大，最有代表性。其实，前两部作品还不能和《根》相比，完全以黑人的生活为主要情节且以黑人为主人公的作品，《根》是有开创意义的。尤其它的独特的叙述方式，“从头道来”，从“根”挖起，以一代一代黑人的命运，以他们的苦难和追求，雄辩地展示了主题，赋予了《根》以史诗的光辉。
《根》挖掘了一条美国黑人之根。这条根开始在1750年早春，西非冈比亚河上的嘉福村。这是作者所称由他上推七代的祖先降生之地，这条根也是所有美国黑人之根的代表和象征。请看康达·金特从出世到被白人奴贩即“土霸”掳掠去之前，那一段非洲部落的生活是多么淳朴和谐。那播种和丰收季节的歌舞与祈祷、篝火前的长老议事会、森林中的男子成年典礼……这一切都显示着他们人与人之间的关系是优雅自如的，是和谐的；而那晨雾荡漾的肯必·波隆河上，独木舟划破了平静的水面，惊醒了狒狒，惊散了野猪，林间百鸟鸣啭，河上苍鹭齐飞……这又是一个多么和谐的自然环境！人们常说应该以人与人的关系、人与自然的关系如何来检测一个民族的文明程度，应该看到，康达·金特的民族决不是野蛮的。野蛮的是把他们当猎物掳掠去的白人“土霸”。这个后来成为美国黑人的家族的苦难史就是从康达·金特被捕捉开始的，他们的非洲之根就从此处断了。
曾有人批评《根》所描绘的非洲生活情景过于理想化和浪漫化了，不够真实。这样的指摘其实还是一个历史小说中“历史”和“小说”之间关系的老问题。《根》不是功能学派的社会人类学考察报告，它的细节应该服从它的主题和更深刻的历史真实。当第一代黑奴在遥远的异乡受尽又孤苦无告时，那只能在梦中相见的故土自然也就显得和天堂一样美好。作者所写的是一个民族的象征的历史，那非洲的根已被注入了深层的含义，是终极追求的代称。
尽管已经有很多作品记录了美国黑人所遭受的苦难，但读一读《根》仍然会使我们的心为他们的苦难而震颤。从越洋运奴船上那些“土霸”们种种令人发指的暴行，到美国南方种植园里无穷无尽的苦役，黑人们是生活在血泪之中。读者不会忘记这样一个情节：在黑奴拍卖台上，一位黑人母亲当众摔死了自己亲生的婴儿，为的是“你们对我所做的一切，休想再做到我孩子身上”。白人们对她做了什么？不必细说我们就可以想象这位母亲所蒙受的必然比死亡还要惨烈可怕，以致他不惜摧毁女儿刚刚获得的生命，免得她再经历母亲的苦难。然而《根》更突出了美国黑人精神上所受的，那种失去了人的尊严而给心灵带来的痛苦。书中反复地指出：人最宝贵的东西，是知道自己是什么人，是从哪儿来的；而“土霸”们最恶毒之处就是不让黑人有自己的语言、自己的风俗，让他们不知道自己的“根”。因此，黑人们无法真正得到解放。用书中的话来说：“就是为白人工作一千年后，你还是黑奴。”没有了来历，没有了归属感，黑人们只能世世代代被卖来卖去，即使在废奴以后，也只能是茫然的漂泊者。“我漂泊，我徬徨，兰斯顿·休斯之语也正是代表了这种心态。《根》就是把这种归属感的寻求作为己任，在一个黑人家庭七代的历史中开辟艰苦的探访之路。
经过十二年的探索，作者终于找到了自己的“根”。他把这一过程写在了小说的最后部分，增加了此书的纪实色彩。他通过祖祖辈辈口耳相传的片言只语的非洲话，终于找到了冈比亚河畔祖先的村落，找到了他的黑奴第一代祖先康达·金特的来历。
掘到这条“根”是很了不起的，也使全书的主题完成了自己的乐章。受此鼓舞，事实上七十年代末许多美国黑人也掀起了一股寻根热潮。但是，是不是找到了自己祖先的村落也就真正找到了自己的尊严和价值了呢？恐怕不尽如此。美国的黑人问题是一个社会问题，而种族问题只是这个问题的标签。找到了种族意义上的根，并不等于找到了解决这个社会问题的根。割断黑人的民族传统，以蒙昧压制他们，并不是白人统治者肆虐的主要手段，至少不是唯一手段。即使到今天，即使在一些方面的境遇得到了不同程度的改善，即使寻到了根，美国黑人要想获得真正的平等、自由与解放，他们也还有许多事情要做。不过那是《根》以外的事情了。
其实《根》不仅挖掘了美国黑人之根，它也必然触及美国白人之根。
美国是白人统治的国家，黑人是以奴隶的身份被强制送到美洲大陆的。因此白人是主人。书中就描写了几位不同的主人：买下康达的约翰主人冷酷残暴，他的哥哥华勒主人“富有同情心而仁慈”，买下济茜的李主人下流无耻，是十足的人渣，墨瑞主人又似乎分外开通。然而所有这些主人--“好”主人和坏主人，都有一个共同处，那就是一切必须按照白人的规则行事，黑人永远只能听任宰割，在主人面前只能说“是”。在这个黑白分明的世界里，就白色主人整体而言，伪善和残暴只是对黑人交替使用的手段。对这一点，《根》揭露得很清楚。几个不同面目的白人主人其实都有这一根靠奴隶制度以自肥的根。
美国的白人来自何处？他们不用探寻也知道，来自欧洲。到“新大陆”来寻发财梦的人，大多数是走投无路而背井离乡。他们当中冒险家、受者、破产者和赌徒有的是。在美洲这块“充分自由”的土地上，他们的劣根性在对待有色人种时便不再受伦理道德乃至法律的约束而得以自由地表现。因为他们的意志就是法律，他们的欲望就是伦理。正如书中的黑人所说：“在他们成立一个新殖民地后，首先就盖一座法院，以通过更多的法律，然后再盖一间教堂来证明他们是徒。”鲁滨孙靠火枪和《圣经》征服了星期五，美国的白人征服者也是靠这两样役使他们的奴隶。当他们靠剥削黑人致富了，甚至当他们的孩子吃黑人奶妈的奶长大了，他们仍然没有忘记给黑人奴隶多加一条锁链。书中不止一次借鳄鱼和小男孩的故事叹道：这是一个思将仇报、弱肉强食的世界。白人对黑人是有太多的历史欠账，时至今日也没有真正解决的美国黑人问题就是蓄奴制和种族歧视的后果，也是美国的一条病根。
美国常常以“最、最自由、最讲”自诩，而《根》正是向世人揭示了最没有、最没有自由、最没有的黑人家族的历史，它的社会认识意义与《美国的悲剧》、《愤怒的葡萄》等美国文学史上的名篇是一致的。
《根》当然不是一部完美的作品，在它问世之初就有颇多争议。但是经过了二十年时间的冲刷，它没有淹没在无数过眼即逝的畅销书中，说明它具有名著的生命力。也正因为此，它值得我们进一步指出它的不足之处。
作者把主题建立在“寻到根就寻到一切”这一观念上，他希望黑人寻到根就寻到了尊严；白人寻到根就能了解和理解黑人；天下所有人都来寻根，就能相容相通。这只能是一个善良的愿望。我们尊重这个愿望，希望这个愿望能促进人类的和睦相处；但是从思想意义上说，与前人的作品相比，《根》的主题并没有本质的突破。所以书中的黑人们大多是在忍耐、顺从和对剧变的恐惧中度过一生。当他们得到自由，经营有成以后，自建的教堂、草地上野餐便成了他们莫大的快乐。
《根》在艺术上的成功显而易见。它塑造的人物各有特色，即使身份相似，性格也决不雷同。最为人难忘的自然是康达·金特和鸡仔乔治。前者的刚强坚毅、后者的聪明善良和乖巧浮浪莫不跃然纸上。几个白人主人也描写得栩栩如生不落俗套。尤其是华勒主人，他有教养。仁慈、宽容，作为医生四处救死扶伤，可是一旦他觉得自己的规矩被侵犯就立刻变得冷酷残忍。这个白人形象很有代表性。
作者是以写家史的心态来创作，因此这部作品没有小说传统的结构方式。它大体按照二百多年的时间顺序安排情节，详略得当，只是有关斗鸡的描写，虽然精彩但有些冲淡主题。它的叙事质朴自如，引人入胜。它以饱满的感情、丰富的想象力和优美细腻的笔触拨动读者的心弦，使我们读完这本书掩卷沉思之时，会想到更多的东西--关于“根”
艾柯
Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It was adapted into a hugely popular, 12-hour television miniseries, Roots, in 1977, and a 14-hour sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, in 1979.
Plot introduction
Brought up on the stories of his elderly female relatives—including his Grandmother Cynthia, whose father was emancipated from slavery in 1865—Alex Haley purported to have traced his family history back to "the African," Kunta Kinte, captured by slave traders in 1767. For generations, each of Kunta's enslaved descendants passed down an oral history of Kunta's experiences as a free man in Gambia, along with the African words he taught them. Haley researched African village customs, slave-trading and the history of African Americans in America—including a visit to the griot (oral historian) of his ancestor's African village—to produce this colourful and imaginative recreation of his family's history from the mid-eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century which led him back to his heartland, Africa.
Characters in "Roots"
* Kunta Kinte – original protagonist: a young man of the Mandinka people, grows up in the Gambia in a small village called Juffure and is raised as a practising Muslim before being captured and enslaved. Renamed "Toby"
* Master Lord Calvert – plantation owner who buys Kunta (called John Reynolds in the TV series)
* Dr. William Waller – doctor of medicine and John's brother: buys Kunta from him (called William Reynolds in the TV series)
* Belle Waller – cook to the doctor who Kinte marries (called Belle Reynolds in the TV series)
* Kizzy Waller – daughter of Kinte and Belle (called Kizzy Reynolds in the TV series)
* Missy Anne – Dr. Waller's niece, who lives on his brother's plantation but visits Dr Waller regularly. She befriends Kizzy and teaches her the basics of reading/writing by playing "school".
* Tom Lea – slave owner in North Carolina to whom Kizzy is sold (called Tom Moore in the TV series)
* George Lea – son to Kizzy and Tom Lea, he is called "Chicken George"
* Matilda – who George marries
* Tom Murray – son of Chicken George and Matilda (called Tom Harvey in the TV series)
* Cynthia – the youngest of Tom and Irene's eight children (grand daughter of Chicken George)
* Bertha – one of Cynthia's children; mother of Alex Haley
* Simon Alexander Haley – professor and husband of Bertha; father of Alex Haley
* Alex Haley – author of the book and central character for last 30 pages; great-great-great-great-grandson (7 generations) of Kunta Kinte.
Literary significance and criticism
Historical marker in front of Alex Haley's boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee (2007)
Haley earned a Pulitzer Prize special award in 1977 for Roots and the television miniseries garnered many awards, including nine Emmys and a Peabody.
Haley's fame was marred, however, by charges of plagiarism. After one trial, in which he admitted that passages of Roots were copied from The African by Harold Courlander, Haley settled out-of-court for $650,000. Haley claimed that the appropriation of Courlander's passages had been unintentional. In 1988, Margaret Walker also sued Haley, claiming that Roots violated the copyright for her novel Jubilee. Walker's case was dismissed by the court.
Additionally, the veracity of those aspects of the story which Haley claimed to be true have been challenged. Although Haley acknowledged the novel was primarily a work of fiction, he did claim that his actual ancestor was Kunta Kinte, an African taken from the village of Juffure in what is now The Gambia. According to Haley, Kunta Kinte was sold into slavery where he was given the name Toby and, while in the service of a slavemaster named John Waller, went on to have a daughter named Kizzy, Haley's great-great-great grandmother. Haley also claimed to have identified the specific slave ship and its specific voyage that transported Kunta Kinte from Africa to North America in 1767.
In the concluding chapter of Roots Alex Haley stated:
“ To the best of my knowledge and of my effort, every lineage statement within Roots is from either my African or American families' carefully preserved oral history, much of which I have been able conventionally to corroborate with documents. Those documents, along with the myriad textural details of what were contemporary indigenous lifestyles, cultural history, and such that give Roots flesh have come from years of intensive research in fifty-odd libraries, archives, and other repositories on three continents. ”
Haley goes on to say that most of the dialogue and necessary incidents are novelized, based on what he knew took place and what the research led him to feel took place.
Genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills and historian Gary B. Mills revisited Haley's research and concluded that his claims were not true. According to the Millses, the slave named Toby who was owned by John Waller could be definitively shown to have been in North America as early as 1762. They further said that Toby died years before the supposed date of birth of Kizzy.
There have been suggestions that the griot in Juffure, who, during Haley's visit there, confirmed the tale of the disappearance of Kunta Kinte, had been coached to relate such a story.
Although a friend of Haley's, Harvard University professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the general editors the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature, has acknowledged the doubts about Haley's claims, saying, "Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex actually found the village whence his ancestors sprang. Roots is a work of the imagination rather than strict historical scholarship. It was an important event because it captured everyone's imagination."
There is no doubt, however, that Roots led to a surge of interest in family genealogy across the country.
Scholarship
* Gerber, David A. “Haley’s Roots and Our Own: An Inquiry Into the Nature of a Popular Phenomenon.” Journal of Ethnic Studies 5.3 (Fall 1977): 87-111.
* Hudson, Michelle. "The Effect of 'Roots' and the Bicentennial on Genealogical Interest among Patrons of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History," Journal of Mississippi History 1991 53(4): 321-336
* Ryan, Tim A. Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery since Gone with the Wind. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008.
* Skaggs, Merrill Maguire. “Roots: A New Black Myth.” Southern Quarterly 17. 1 (Fall 1978): 42-50.
* Taylor, Helen. “‘The Griot from Tennessee’: The Saga of Alex Haley’s Roots.” Critical Quarterly 37.2 (Summer 1995): 46-62.
Television and audio adaptations
Roots was made into a hugely popular television miniseries that aired over eight consecutive nights in January 1977. ABC network television executives chose to "dump" the series into a string of airings rather than space out the broadcasts, because they were uncertain how the public would respond to the controversial, racially-charged themes of the show. However, the series garnered enormous ratings and became an overnight sensation. Approximately 130 million Americans tuned in at some time during the eight broadcasts. The concluding episode on January 30, 1977 has been ranked as the fourth most watched telecast of all time by the Nielsen corporation.
The cast of the miniseries included LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, Leslie Uggams as Kizzy and Ben Vereen as Chicken George. A 14-hour sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, aired in 1979, featuring the leading African-American actors of the day. In December 1988, ABC aired a two-hour made-for-TV movie: Roots: The Gift. Based on characters from the book, it starred LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, Avery Brooks as Cletus Moyer, Kate Mulgrew as bounty hunter Hattie Carraway, and Tim Russ as house slave Marcellus (Coincidentally, all four actors have become prominent as leading actors in the Star Trek franchise).
In August 2006, author Ilyasah Shabazz, (daughter of Malcolm X) recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign encouraging reading of Alex Haley's books to commemorate Haley's 85th birthday.
In May 2007, BBC America released Roots as an audiobook narrated by Avery Brooks. The release coincided with Vanguard Press's publication of a new paperback edition of the book, which had gone out of print in 2004, and with Warner Home Video's release of a 30th anniversary DVD boxed set of the mini-series.
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请给我换一个看看！ 拜托，快把噪音停掉！我读累了，想听点音乐或者请来支歌曲！
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