Personification in Reverse · 反向拟人化
The comparison can run the other way
- Unit 5 gave a human trait to a nonhuman thing. Here the CED reverses it.
- By assigning the qualities of a nonhuman object, entity or idea to a person or character, the narrator, character or speaker communicates an attitude about that person.
- So describing a man as a machine, a wall or a weather system is the same device running backwards.
Calling someone a machine may praise efficiency or protest that they never rest; direction matters.
比喻可以反向运行
- 第五单元是把人类特征赋予非人之物。这里 CED 把它反了过来。
- 通过把非人的物体、实体或观念的品质赋予某个人或人物,叙述者、人物或说话者传达出对那个人的一种态度。
- 因此把一个人描述为一台机器、一堵墙或一种天气,是同一手法的反向运行。
把人叫作机器，可以赞美效率，也可以抱怨他从不休息；比较的方向很重要。
Assigning nonhuman qualities to a person primarily... · 赋予人非人类属性主要是……
So the evidence points first at whoever made the comparison. · 因此，证据首先指向做出比较的人。
The purpose is an attitude
- The CED is explicit about what this device does: it communicates an attitude about that person or character.
- Not characterises them — communicates the speaker's attitude toward them.
- So the evidence points primarily at whoever made the comparison.
其目的是一种态度
- CED 明确说明了这一手法所做的事:它传达出对那个人或人物的一种态度。
- 不是刻画他们——而是传达说话者对他们的态度。
- 因此这份证据首先指向的是作出比喻的那个人。
Naming what the comparison ____ the person is usually how you find the attitude. · 命名比较____人物通常是你找到态度的方法。
Agency, feeling, or the capacity to be reasoned with. · 能动性、感受力或被理性对待的能力。
It usually takes something away
- Giving a person the qualities of an object generally removes agency, feeling, or the capacity to be reasoned with.
- He was a wall says he cannot be argued with; she went on like a clock says she cannot be interrupted.
- Name what the comparison denies the person — that is usually the attitude.
它通常拿走某样东西
- 把物体的品质赋予一个人,通常会拿走能动性、感受,或被讲道理的可能。
- 他是一堵墙是说他无法被辩驳;她像钟表一样继续下去是说她无法被打断。
- 要说出这个比喻剥夺了这个人什么——那通常就是那种态度。
What attitude does this comparison communicate? · 这个比较传达了什么态度？
Sort each description of a person by the attitude behind it. · 按态度对每个人物的描述进行排序。
This device is always hostile toward the person described. · 这种修辞手法总是对被描述的人物持敌对态度。
It can be admiration (a tide) or pity (a shut room) — read the object's associations. · 它可以是钦佩（如潮水）或怜悯（如封闭的房间）——阅读对象的关联。
This device points at the speaker, not the subject. The CED says it communicates an attitude about that person — so calling someone a wall is primary evidence about the person who reached for that comparison, and only secondary evidence about the one described.
这一手法指向的是说话者,而不是被描述者。CED 说它传达出对那个人的一种态度——因此把某人称作一堵墙,首先是关于伸手去够这个比喻之人的证据,其次才是关于被描述者的证据。
Match each comparison to what it displaces. · 将每个比较与其取代的内容匹配。
The displaced capacity is usually the whole complaint. · 被置换的机能通常就是整个核心问题。⟦number⟧
Not always hostile
- The attitude can be admiration: a person described as a tide is unstoppable, not inhuman.
- It can be pity: a person described as a shut room is someone who has been closed, not someone cold.
- So read the attitude from the object's associations, not from a rule.
并不总是敌意
- 这种态度也可以是钦佩:一个被比作潮水的人是不可阻挡,而不是不近人情。
- 它也可以是怜悯:一个被比作紧闭房间的人,是被关上的,而不是冷漠的。
- 因此要从这个物体的联想中读出态度,而不是从某条规则中读出。
Put the reverse-personification pass in order. · 将拟人化手法按顺序排列。⟦number⟧
The attitude is the CED's stated purpose, so it comes last and matters most. · 态度即CED陈述的目的，因此排在最后且最为重要。⟦number⟧
A reverse-personification pass
- Name the person and the nonhuman thing whose qualities they are given.
- Say which quality was transferred, and what human capacity it displaces.
- Then name the attitude the speaker has thereby communicated.
反向拟人检查
- 说出这个人,以及被赋予其品质的那个非人之物。
- 说出被转移的是哪一种品质,以及它取代了哪一种人的能力。
- 然后说出说话者由此传达出的态度。
Her mother went on like a clock. The transferred quality is regularity; what it displaces is the capacity to be interrupted or asked. The daughter has not called her mother cruel — she has said that speaking to her is not a two-way act, which is a sharper complaint.
*她母亲像钟表一样继续下去。*被转移的品质是规律性;它所取代的,是被打断或被询问的可能。女儿并没有说母亲残忍——她说的是,与她说话不是一件双向的事,而这是一句更锋利的抱怨。
Assigning nonhuman qualities to a person communicates an attitude about that person — so the evidence points first at the speaker. The comparison usually displaces a human capacity (agency, feeling, being reasoned with); name what it denies. The attitude may be hostile, admiring or pitying.
把非人的品质赋予某个人,传达出对那个人的一种态度——因此这份证据首先指向说话者。这类比喻通常取代某种人的能力(能动性、感受、被讲道理);要说出它剥夺了什么。这种态度可以是敌意的、钦佩的,或怜悯的。