High Life

HIGH LIFE 43 In 2006, Yao was awarded the Military Order of St James of the Sword by the Portuguese state, in recognition of his outstanding contribution and achievements in the dissemination of Portuguese culture. “It is literature that keeps me in Macau,” Yao explains when we meet on a warm spring afternoon at the University of Macau, where he is widely adored by his students. “I began to translate Portuguese poetry after coming to Macau and then co-coordinate the publication of the Portuguese Author Literature Series with Ana Paula. “At that time there were not many people who were good at both literature and Portuguese language, so I always had a lot to do and felt that I was quite useful, which made me very happy. “That’s why I have stayed here for over 20 years. The power of literature is quite big sometimes.” However, when it came to poetry, Macau seemed very much like an isolated island to Yao in the beginning. It was not until 2001, when he started to make frequent contact with poets and writers from mainland China, that Yao was able to learn and build his own writing style. He focused on social reality, referring to the difference between eastern and western civilizations and making modest criticisms of certain social events in the form of ridicule or irony. 门。”一个温暖的春日午后，我们坐 在澳大洒满阳光的咖啡馆里和这位广 受学生爱戴的姚老师聊天。 “来澳之后我开始翻译葡萄牙的 诗歌，后来又一起策划‘葡语作家’ 丛书系列。当时澳门也没有很多既懂 文学又懂葡语的人，就是觉得自己挺 有用武之地，倒也挺满足的。一直忙 于翻译等很多事情，感觉挺开心。 所以我就也没再想着去美国或其他 地方。文学的力量有时候还是挺大 的。”回首往事，总是令人感慨。 但就中文诗歌的创作而言，当年 的澳门更像是个孤岛。直至2001年 前后，他开始频繁接触内地的诗人和 作家，才开始逐渐找到自己的写作风 格——关注社会现实、参照东西文明 差异、对一些事件以调侃或反讽的形 式进行一些温和的批判。 这一点上，同为诗人的詹昌政的 评论可谓非常恰当：“姚风（姚京明 的笔名）的人生态度与处事哲学，决 定了反讽止于‘嘿嘿一笑’，不尖酸， 也不辛辣，然而四两拨千斤，总能触 及灵魂。” 文学创作之外，无论是担任澳大 教授的姚京明，还是曾经担任过澳门 文化局副局长的姚京明，一直都在自 然而然地承担起中葡文学互相传播的 摆渡人。