由布朗维尔小镇的诗歌繁荣,我们很容易联想中国乡村的文化贫瘠。在美国只要看到小镇,我总要在心里迅速列出个等式:美国小镇=中国小村。因为在中美的行政建制中,垫底的分别是镇和村,而在中国,村之上才是镇。所以,尽管我明白美国佬的镇和咱们的村完全不是一码事,还是忍不住要划等号,忍不住要比较,然后忍不住要惊奇一下,惊奇那些镇的小,和它们那种自觉的文化意识。那段时间里,适逢笔者所在的大学的亚洲世界中心搞亚洲 From the poetic prosperity of the town of Brownville, it is easy to think of the rural culture of China as barren. Whenever I see a small town in the United States, I always have a quick list of equations in my heart: American town = Chinese village. Because in the administrative system of China and the United States, the bottom is the town and village, while in China, the village is the town. So, even though I understand that the Yankee town and our village are completely different from one another, I still can not but wait for an equal sign. I can not help but wonder. That kind of conscious cultural awareness. During that time, I was in Asia at the center of the Asian world where I lived