(MUSIC)
Hard economic times and social conflict have always offered a rich source of material for artists and writers. A painter's colors can show the drying of dreams or the flight of the human spirit. A musician can express the tensions and uncertainty of a people in struggle. The pressures of hard times can be the force to lift a writer's imagination to new heights.
经济困难和社会冲突时期，常常为艺术家和作家们提供丰富的创作源泉。画家用色彩表现梦想的破灭或人类的战斗精神。音乐表现出拼搏中人们的紧张和不安。艰苦时期所带来的压力也使作家们的想象力实现了飞越。
So it was during the nineteen-thirties in the United States. The severe economic crisis -- the Great Depression -- created an atmosphere for artistic imagination and creative expression. The common feeling of struggle also led millions of Americans to look together to films, radio, and other new art forms for relief from their day-to-day cares. This week in our series, we tell about American arts and popular culture during the nineteen-thirties.
所以，在上世纪三十年代的美国，大萧条为艺术家们营造了一个刺激想像力和创造力的难得氛围。苦日子也让成百上千万美国人在电影、广播和其他新的艺术形式中寻找短暂的欢娱，摆脱日常生活的苦恼。本周建国史话系列节目，我们讲述二十世纪三十年代期间的美国艺术和流行文化。
(MUSIC: Benny Goodman Orchestra: "Let's Dance")
The most popular sound of the nineteen-thirties was a new kind of music called "Swing." And the "King of Swing" was a clarinet player named Benny Goodman.
上个世纪三十年代最受欢迎的音乐是一种新的音乐，叫摇摆乐。摇摆乐之王是一位单簧演奏者，名叫班尼.古德曼。
Benny Goodman and other musicians made swing music extremely popular during the nineteen-thirties.
古德曼和其他一些音乐者们使摇摆乐成为20世纪三十年代最受欢迎的音乐形式。
Swing was a new form of jazz. Many of its first players were black musicians in small, unknown groups. It was only when more well-known white musicians started playing swing in the middle nineteen-thirties that the new music became wildly popular.
摇摆乐是爵士乐的一种新形式，最先演奏摇摆乐的都是些不知名小乐队的黑人音乐人。直到1930年代中期，一些著名的白人音乐家开始演奏摇摆乐，才让摇摆乐开始风行一时。
One reason for the popularity of swing music was the growing power of radio during the nineteen-thirties.
摇摆乐流行开来的一个重要原因是这个时期广播的力量越来越大。
Radio had already proven in earlier years that it could be an important force in both politics and popular culture. Millions of Americans bought radios during the nineteen-twenties. But radio grew up in the nineteen-thirties.
在此之前，大家已经知道，广播在政治和流行文化上能够发挥重要作用。二十年代时，数百万美国人开始收听收音机，但广播发展的旺盛时期则是在三十年代。
(MUSIC: Singing Sam sings "Reminiscing")
SINGING SAM: "Howdy, Folks. Yes, it is your old friend Singing Sam, so let's just settle back and reminisce a bit, what you say, huh?"
(MUSIC: Frank De Vol: "On the Radio")
Producers became more skillful in creating programs. And actors and actresses began to understand the special needs and power of this new electronic art form.
Swing was not the only kind of music that radio helped make popular.The nineteen-thirties also saw increasing popularity for traditional, classical music by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and other great composers.
广播节目制作人的节目制作技巧更加精湛，演员也开始了解这种新传媒方式的特性和力量。广播不仅仅推动了摇摆乐的流行，同时也让贝多芬、巴赫等一些伟大音乐家的传统古典音乐加倍受到广大听众的喜爱。
(MUSIC)
In nineteen-thirty, the Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS, began a series of concerts by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday afternoons. The next year, on Christmas Day, the National Broadcasting Company, NBC, began weekly opera programs from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
1930年，哥伦比亚广播公司在每周日下午，举办由纽约爱乐乐团演出的系列音乐会。次年，全国广播公司也开始举办每周歌剧音乐会。
(MUSIC: Toscanini conducts NBC Symphony in Brahms)
In nineteen-thirty-seven, NBC asked Arturo Toscanini of Italy to lead an orchestra on American radio. Toscanini was the greatest orchestra leader of his day. Millions of Americans listened on Christmas night as Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra began playing the first of ten special radio concerts.
1937年，全国广播公司邀请意大利著名指挥家阿尔图罗.托斯卡尼尼指挥交响乐队在广播中播出。托斯卡尼尼是当时世界上最伟大的指挥家。他与美国国家广播公司交响乐团合作演出了10场特别广播音乐会，数百万美国人在圣诞期间聆听了这一系列音乐会的第一场。
It was a great moment for both music and radio. For the first time, millions of average Americans were able to hear classical music by great composers as it was being played.
这是音乐和广播的一个伟大时刻。数百万普通美国人第一次通过广播聆听伟大音乐指挥家现场指挥的古典音乐会。
Music was an important reason why millions of Americans gathered to listen to the radio during the nineteen-thirties. But even more popular were the many series of weekly programs, whether comedy, suspense, or drama.
音乐是20世纪30年代让无数美国人聚集在收音机前的一个重要原因，但更受欢迎的是当时每周播出的新喜剧系列节目。
(MUSIC: Rossini: "William Tell Overture")
FRED FOY (Original Announcer for "The Lone Ranger"): "The Lone Ranger Rides Again...Easy, steady, big fella"
Families would gather around the radio, and thrill to the adventures of "The Lone Ranger," or laugh at the funny experiences of such comics as Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen and his wooden ventriloquist's dummy Charlie McCarthy, WC Fields, and George Burns and Gracie Allen.
ANNOUNCER: "Yes, it's ‘Maxwell House Coffee Time,' starring George Burns and Gracie Allen."
Radio helped people forget the difficult conditions of the Great Depression. And it helped to bring Americans together and share experiences.
广播让人们忘却了大萧条所带来的痛苦，让美国人团结在一起，分享他们的经历。
(MUSIC: Benny Goodman Orchestra: "Don't Be That Way")
Swing music. Classical music. Great comedy programs. The nineteen-thirties truly were a golden period for radio and mass communications. But it was also during this period that Hollywood and the American film industry became much more skilled and influential.
摇摆音乐、古典音乐和喜剧节目使1930年代成为广播和大众传媒的一个黄金时期。而好莱坞和美国电影业也在这一时期更加娴熟并发展壮大。
(SOUND: Film Projector)
In previous years, films were silent. But the "talkies" arrived in the nineteen-thirties.
在此之前，美国只有无声电影。1930年代出现了有声电影。
(MUSIC: Selznick Studios Theme)
Directors could produce films in which actors could talk. Americans reacted by attending film theaters by the millions.
有声电影的出现，把无数美国人吸引到电影院里看电影。
(MUSIC: Max Steiner's Main Title to "Gone with the Wind")
It was a great time for Hollywood.
对于好莱坞来说，这是一个伟大的时期。
The films had exciting new actors. Spencer Tracy. Bette Davis. Katharine Hepburn. The young Shirley Temple. The most famous film of the period was "Gone with the Wind" with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in the starring roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara.
无数的新演员粉墨登场：斯宾塞.特蕾西、贝蒂.戴维斯、凯瑟琳.赫本和小演员秀兰.邓波儿，数不胜数。这一时期最著名的电影是克拉克.盖博和费文丽演绎的《飘》，他们在电影中分别出演白瑞德和斯嘉丽。
RHETT BUTLER: "No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how."
SCARLETT O'HARA: "Oh, and I suppose you think you're the proper person."
RHETT BUTLER: "I might be. If the right moment ever came."
Directors in the nineteen-thirties also produced such great films as "It Happened One Night," "Mutiny on the Bounty," and "The Life of Emile Zola."
上世纪三十年代其他的著名电影包括《一夜风流》、《叛舰碟血记》和《左拉传》。
(MUSIC)
The success of radio and films, as well as the depression itself, caused problems for many Americans newspapers during the nineteen-thirties. The trouble was not so much that readers stopped buying newspapers. It was that companies talked about their products through advertisements on radio instead of buying advertising space in newspapers.
这一时期广播和电影的成功使美国报业面临困境。问题不是没人买报纸了，而是企业开始选择在广播里做广告，而不再通过向报纸买版面做广告了。
(SOUND: Maxwell House Radio commercial)
GRACIE ALLEN: "Another cup of Maxwell House coffee, George?"
GEORGE BURNS: "Sure, pour me a cup, Gracie."
GRACIE ALLEN: "You know, Maxwell House is always good to the last drop."
GEORGE BURNS: "And that drop's good, too."
ANNOUNCER: "For America's Thursday night comedy enjoyment, it's George and Gracie. And for America's every day coffee drinking enjoyment, it's Maxwell House. Today, more Americans buy and enjoy Maxwell House than any other brand of coffee at any price."
(MUSIC)
Nearly half of the nation's independently-published newspapers either stopped publishing or joined larger companies during the nineteen-thirties. By World War Two, only one hundred-twenty cities had competing newspapers.
20世纪30年代，将近半数独立发行的报纸要么停发，要么加入大型报业集团。到二战爆发时，美国只有120座城市拥有彼此竞争的报纸。
Weekly and monthly publications faced the same problem as daily newspapers -- increased competition from radio and films. Many magazines failed. The two big successes of the period were Life Magazine and the Reader's Digest.
与日报一样，周刊和月刊也受到来自广播和电影的冲击，许多杂志社倒闭了。但也有两家杂志社取得了成功，一是《生活》，一是《读者文摘》。
"Life" had stories for everyone about film actors, news events, or just daily life in the home or on the farm. Its photographs were the greatest anywhere. Reader's Digest published shorter forms of stories from other magazines and sources.
《生活》杂志主要向大家介绍电影演员、新闻事件和人们日常生活或在农场的生活，它的照片是最棒的。《读者文摘》则从别的杂志和其他刊物中摘录文章。
(MUSIC)
Most popular books of the period were like the films coming from Hollywood. Writers cared more about helping people forget their troubles than about facing serious social issues. They made more money that way, too.
这一时期的畅销书籍与好莱坞的电影一样，作家们更关注如何让人们忘却痛苦，而不是叙述此刻严重的社会问题。也只有这样他们才能赚钱。
But a number of writers in the nineteen-thirties did produce books that were both profitable and of high quality. One was Sinclair Lewis. His book, "It Can't Happen Here," warned of the coming dangers of fascism. John Steinbeck's great book, "The Grapes of Wrath," helped millions understand and feel in their hearts the troubles faced by poor farmers.
但有一些作家也创作了高质量的畅销作品。其中之一是辛克莱.刘易斯，他的小说《不能发生在这里》，警告人们即将来临的法西斯的威胁。约翰.斯坦贝克的著名小说《愤怒的葡萄》让无数的美国人理解和感受到贫穷农民所面临的困难。
(MUSIC)
Erskine Caldwell wrote about the cruelty of life among poor people in the southeastern United States, and James T. Farrell and Studs Terkel wrote about life in Chicago.
厄斯金.考德威尔的作品真切地反映了美国南方穷人的生活，还有詹姆士.法雷尔的小说向人们介绍了芝加哥人的生活。
The same social concern and desire to present life as it really existed also were clear in the work of many American artists during the nineteen-thirties.
上世纪三十年代，许多美国艺术家的作品也同样反映了他们对当时社会生活的关切。
Thomas Benton painted workers and others with strong tough bodies. Edward Hopper showed the sad streets of American cities. Reginald Marsh painted picture after picture of poor parts of New York City.
托马斯.本顿描绘了强悍、粗犷的工人。爱德华.霍珀的绘画则反映了美国城市中令人心碎的荒凉街道。
The federal government created a program that gave jobs to artists. They painted their pictures on the walls of airports, post offices, and schools. The program brought their ideas and creativity to millions of people.
联邦政府推出一项计划，为这些艺术家提供工作，让他们在飞机场、办公楼和学校的墙壁上绘画。这个项目把这些艺术家们的思想和他们的创造力传达给无数的美国人。
Indeed, we are proud to have, in the lobby of our VOA building, several such murals by artist Ben Shahn, capturing many facets of the American experience in the nineteen thirties.
(SOUND/MUSIC)
At the same time, photography became more important as cameras improved in quality and became smaller and more portable. Some photographers like Margaret Bourke-White and Walker Evans used their cameras to document the difficult conditions of the Depression.
与此同时，照相机质量不断提高，携带起来也更加方便，摄影也就越来越重要了。玛格丽特.伯克-怀特和沃克.埃文斯等摄影师，用他们手中的照相机向人们展示了大萧条时期人们处境的艰难。
(SOUND)
The German émigré Alfred Eisenstaedt's photographs of new events and celebrities appeared regularly on the covers of Life.
(SOUND)
Alfred Stieglitz was another famous photographer in the nineteen thirties. He not only helped to establish photography as an art form, but was influential through his galleries in introducing avant garde artists from Europe to the public.
(SOUND)
The nineteen thirties were a particularly productive time for landscape photographer Ansel Adams, who also turned to photographing factories and industrial themes.
All this activity in the arts and popular culture played an important part in the lives of Americans during the nineteen-thirties. It not only provided relief from their troubles, but expanded their minds and pushed their imaginations.
20世纪30年代，艺术家们的创作活动在美国人生活中扮演了重要角色，它不仅让人们从苦难中获得新生，而且还启发了人们的心智，拓展了人们的想象空间。
The tensions and troubles of the Great Depression provided a rich atmosphere for artists and others to produce works that were serious or just plain fun. And those works, in turn, helped make life a little better as Americans waited, worked, and hoped for times to improve.
大萧条所带来的紧张和苦难为艺术家们提供了良好的创作氛围，艺术家们创作了大量作品，有的严肃，有些仅仅为博人一笑。但这些作品，为那些在苦难中等待、努力和期待复苏的美国人或多或少带来了一丝欢乐。
Our program was adapted from a script written by David Jarmul. You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at 51voa.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English.
I'm Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
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Contributing: David Jarmul
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