Time travel wins fans

Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s smartest physicists, once said: “I’m obsessed by time.
作为世界最为智慧的物理学家之一，斯蒂芬•霍金曾说过:“我对时间非常痴迷。”

Many of us are, and the popularity of time travel TV series has just proved that.
我们中的很多人亦是如此，因为“穿越剧”的走红已经证实了这一点。

After Palace and Startling by Each Step achieved startling ratings last year, Palace 2 aired on January 20, attracting time travel fans back to TV.
随着去年《宫》和《步步惊心》接连获得令人赞叹的收视率之后，《宫2》于今年1月20日开播，引来无数“穿越迷”的追捧。

“It’s fun to watch characters travel back in time and deal with the conflicts between modernity and ancient times,” Xia Xiaoyan, who works for a foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai, told China Daily.
上海某外企职员夏晓燕（音译）在接受《中国日报》记者采访时表示：“看到剧中人物穿越到过去，应对古今之间的矛盾冲突，真是太好玩了。”

Time travel series connect both today and the past, thus offering room for imagination, said Cai Yinong, the producer of Startling by Each Step.
《步步惊心》制片人蔡艺侬认为，“穿越剧”将古代和现代连接起来，为观众提供了更多的想象空间。

Dream of heroism
英雄主义情节

Imagination creates a chance for the young to fulfill a dream that’s hard to achieve in reality.
丰富的想象力使得青年人能够有机会实现那些现实中难以企及的梦想。

Taiwan writer Xi Juan is a pioneer of time-travel stories in China. In 1993 she published a love story about a young woman time traveling to ancient times.
台湾作家席绢可谓是中国“穿越剧”的鼻祖。1993年，她出版了一本讲述一名年轻女子穿越回古代的爱情小说。

The protagonist’s modern personality and perception of love helps her win the heart of a cool, handsome martial art master. Such a plot satisfies female fans’ love fantasy.
主人公凭借现代社会的个性以及对爱情的独特观点，令冷俊帅气的侠客为之倾心。这样的情节满足了女性读者们对爱情的幻想。

Starting from late 1990s, novels about men traveling back to the past prevailed, with A Step Into the Past as the most popular example.
从上世纪90年代末开始，有关男主角穿越回古代的小说作品盛行于市，《寻秦记》便是当时最火的一部。

In these stories, the male protagonists accomplish great things with their modern skills and wisdom.
在这些故事中，男主角运用现代的记忆和智慧干成了许多大事。

It’s usually a “dream of heroism come true”, along with enviable romances.
此类作品通常讲述的是 “英雄梦成真”的故事，此外还伴随着令人艳羡的恋情。

The big success of the TV series adapted from A Step Into the Past in 2001 has inspired TV production companies to buy up similar time travel tales. Last year saw their popularity peak.
2001年，电视剧《寻秦记》获得的巨大成功使得电视剧制作公司纷纷收购类似“穿越”题材剧本。就在去年，“穿越剧”达到了鼎盛时期。

Eye candy
人物养眼

“I’m hooked by the shows because they are characterized by dramatic and poetic love and have eye-pleasing actors,” Xia explained her love for time travel TV series.
谈及自己对于穿越剧的喜爱，夏晓燕（音译）解释说：“我之所以对这类戏十分着迷，主要是它们主打惊心动魄、同时又充满诗情画意的爱情故事和一众养眼的男演员。”

Her comment echoes a 2011 survey by Great Marketing Research Co Ltd in China. When asked about what’s so appealing about time travel TV series, 21 percent of respondents answered: “Those attractive characters.”
她的想法正好与国内一家市场信息有限公司于2011年进行的一项调查相呼应。当被问及“穿越剧”为何如此吸引人时，有21％的受访者回答：“极具魅力的人物角色。”

A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer, according to the survey.
该调查还发现其更为主要的原因在于此类剧可以让人感觉到很放松。

Cai Yinong agrees. “Many people are facing tremendous pressures in their fast-paced lives, so this genre is more relaxing than other shows as it provides people with a terrific outlet to escape reality,” Cai told China Daily.
蔡艺侬（音译）也对这一观点表示赞同：“现代人总是要在快节奏的生活中面对无穷无尽的压力，所以这类题材的电视比其他节目更能让人感到放松，也为人们提供了一个极佳的逃离现实的宣泄途径。”

Cultural nostalgia
文化怀旧

“Which dynasty would you like to live in if you could travel to the past?” asked a survey jointly launched by Shanghai University and Shanghai Social Sciences Association last December.
去年12月，由上海大学和上海社会科学院联合推出的一份调查报告问及：“如果穿越到过去，最你想回到哪个朝代？”

About 60 percent of the 2,543 respondents chose Tang Dynasty, while Qing Dynasty, and the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were the other top two destinations.
在2543名受访者中，有60％的人选择唐朝，另外两个热门选项分别是清朝和春秋战国时期。

Ouyang Guangming, professor at Shanghai University, said at the press release: “The survey result reflects people’s definition of the good days: prosperous economy and culture, steady society, fair and uncorrupted politics, and opening up to the outside world.”
上海大学教授欧阳光明在该活动的新闻发布会上表示：“该调查结果反映出人们对美好时代的定义：即经济文化繁荣昌盛，社会安定，官场公正廉洁，对外开放不闭塞。”

The love for time traveling is universal.
人们普遍存在一种“穿越”情结。

Woody Allen’s latest movie Midnight in Paris, which has been nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards, features modernity versus cultural nostalgia.
伍迪•艾伦的新作《午夜巴黎》已经被提名角逐2012年奥斯卡最佳影片，最佳导演，最佳原创剧本和最佳艺术指导等奖项。该片一大亮点就在于现代与文化怀旧的对抗。

“The past seems so much more vivid, more substantial, than the present... The good old days are so alluring because we were not around, however much we wish we were,” The New York Times commented.
《纽约时报》评论道：“过去的日子似乎比当下更生动，更充实…过去的美好时光一直诱惑着我们，因为时光不能倒流，无论我们多么希望也无法回到过去。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》，详情请见《21世纪英文报》940期