出版与作家生涯2019spectator.co.uk
我们为什么要在书里写献词？
Why do we write dedications in books?
导读
这篇文章讨论书籍中一个常被忽略的惯例：为什么作者要把一本书献给某个人，以及这短短几行字如何让书与人产生联结。对写作者来说值得一读，因为它提醒我们：献词是文字里最私密的一笔，用极少的话就能把一段关系、一份感激或一个主题安放在书的最前面。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
献词要落到具体的人与具体的处境：老师写“愿你拥有美好时光，并记得你的老师”，比干巴巴的“献给某某”动人得多。
- 02
献词本身可以承担叙事功能：《小王子》先献给一位大人，用三个理由层层铺陈，最后改成“献给还是小男孩时的他”，让献词成为全书主题的引子。
- 03
在赠书或礼物上题一句话，能让物件从“一件东西”变成“一段关系的凭证”，这种私密感是公开文字替代不了的。
- 04
献词也是承认传承的方式：点明启发过你的人或作品，等于给读者画一张知识谱系的草图，也交代了这本书的来处。
HN 评论精选
献词用一句话把书和一段具体的师生记忆绑在一起，让礼物变成私人信物；这位读者因此养成了送书必题字的习惯。
我手头有一本书，上面有旧日老师写的献词。他教一群十四岁孩子地理，有时不得不严厉才能让我们安静下来学习。有一次我独自坐着，在桌子底下读《指环王》——那本超厚的版本，三部加附录——太专注了，没看到他走过来。他叫我的名字，我抬头，他问我在干什么，我说在看书，他皱了皱眉，回到讲台。几个月后的家长会上，他当着所有人的面叫住我妈。我妈以为他要说坏话，但他其实是说，看到一个小小年纪的学生读书他很骄傲，不过她该告诉我，这类书有地方读，课堂中间不是其中之一。他还给了她一本书让她转交给我——一本讲成吉思汗帝国的书，上面的献词写着：“我把这本书献给你，愿你度过美好的时光，并记得你的老师”。这已经是很好的礼物了——我爱书——但献词让这本书变得格外特别。从那以后，我送书给别人时（我至今仍常送书，书是我的热爱之一）都会写上几句，主要因为我觉得这能让那本书对那个人来说变得特别。
fernandotakai查看英文原文
i have a dedication on a book by an old teacher. he used to teach geography to a bunch of 14 year olds, so he had to be harsh sometimes to get us quiet enough to learn. once, i was sitting by myself during his class and i was reading lord of the rings under the table (it was that HUGE edition that has the 3 books + appendix) -- i was so focused i didn't see him coming. he called my name, i looked up, he asked me what i was doing. i said reading a book, he scowled, and went back to the front of the class. months later, at the parents-teacher conference, he called my mom out in front of everybody. my mom thought he was going to say something bad, but in fact, he said he was proud to see a young student reading but that she should tell me that there are places to read those kind of books, and middle of class is not one of them. he also gave her a book so she could give it to me -- a book on genghis khan's empire. it had a dedication that said: "i dedicate this book so you can have nice moments and remember your teacher"[0] (shitty translation from ptbr, sorry). it was already a great gift -- i loved books -- but the dedication on the book made it so much more... special. since them, whenever i give books to people (and i still do frequently, books are one of my passions), i write something nice, mostly because i feel that it makes that specific book special to that person. [0] https://i.imgur.com/rK3y2wp.jpg
献词可以不是一句话，而是一段小叙事——《小王子》用层层理由和最后的“修正”，把献词写成了主题的引子。
有些献词不只是“献给妈妈”或“献给爸爸”。我最喜欢的一条献词之所以特别，是因为它把作者和故事绑在了一起。圣埃克苏佩里《小王子》：“请孩子们原谅我把这本书献给一个大人。我有一个严肃的理由：他是我在这个世界上最好的朋友。我还有另一个理由：这个大人什么都懂，连给孩子看的书也懂。我还有第三个理由：他住在法国，在那里又冷又饿，需要一点安慰。如果这些理由还不够，我就把这本书献给这个大人还是孩子时的那个孩子。所有大人最初都是孩子——虽然很少有人记得。于是我修正我的献词：献给还是小男孩时的莱昂·维尔特。”
foxfired查看英文原文
Some are not just to mom, or dad, or from your two wise daughters. One dedication in particular is my favorite, because it ties the author to the story. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint−Exupery > I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown−up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown−up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown−up grew. All grown−ups were once children−− although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication: > To Leon Werth when he was a little boy
献词把批量处理的旧书变成有温度的历史文物——一句题字能保存下跨越百年的私人关系。
几年前我整理一批还没编目的旧童书。我随手翻开一本薄薄的灰皮书，1870年代的，封面上印着一个穿毛皮的男孩站在维京船上，很漂亮。里面是一位祖父写给孙子的温柔献词，我记得大意是关于冒险和惊奇。窥见一百多年前一位老人和孙子之间的关系，感觉很特别。它让整理这些书这件原本乏味的工作有了意义，也让这本书不再只是19世纪儿童文学的一个样本，而变成了儿童文化的一件历史文物。
tokai查看英文原文
A couple of years ago I was sorting an uncatalogued batch of old children books. At random I leafed through a thin grey book, from the 1870s, with a beautiful print on the cover of a young boy in furs on a viking ship. Inside was a tender dedication from a grandpa to his grandson. Something about adventure and wonder as I recall. Getting a peek into the relationship between an old man and his grandson, well over a hundred years ago, was really something. It enlightened the otherwise mundane job of sorting these books for me. It made the book some much more than an example-document of 19th century children literature, and turned it into historic artefact of children culture.
献词也是对传承的公开致谢，标出这本书的来处和它所借力的前辈。
献词是一种承认：知识像树一样生长，每一部新作品都有过去的根基和基础，那是被用作灵感和借力以攀上新高度的东西，没有它，那些高度也许就无法达到。有一句说得很好：“如果我能达到新的高度，那是因为我追随了灵感来源所树立的榜样。”
zarro查看英文原文
Its an acknowledgement that knowledge grows like a tree, and every new creative work has a root or foundation in the past which was used as inspiration and leverage to reach new heights and without which, perhaps those heights might not have been possible to reach. A good one - "If I've been able to reach new heights, it's because I strove after the examples set by my inspirations."
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