红遍全球的 Hello Kitty

　　Hello Kitty isone of the most easily recognizable charactersin the history of modern culture. She's the smileless (well,mouthless) Mona Lisa. And this year, she's turning 40! But did youknow that Hello Kitty is not actually a cat? No? Well that'sprobably not the only thing you don't know aboutthe enigmatic Kitty。

　　HelloKitty可以说是现代文化中最容易一眼就认出的卡通形象了。她就是没有微笑(好吧，其实是没有嘴巴)的蒙娜丽莎。今年HelloKitty将迎来自己40岁生日。可是你知道么，HelloKitty其实并不是一只猫？怎么样，不知道吧！有关这只“神秘的小猫”你可能有更多不知道的事情呢！

　　Starting inOctober, the Japanese American National Museum in LA will hostaretrospective exhibition,entitled Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,looking at the history and influence of the character created byYuko Shimizu in 1974. The exhibition is curated byChristine R. Yano, professor and author of Pink Globalization:Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific. Yano sat down with CarolinaA. Miranda at LA Times, to talk Kitty and set the record straighton a few things。

　　今年10月，位于洛杉矶的日美国家博物馆将举办名为“你好！探索HelloKitty的超可爱世界”的回顾展出。展出将回顾清水优子在1974年创作这个卡通形象的由来及其在全球的影响。展出的组织者是克里斯蒂娜·河矢野教授，她也是《粉红全球化：HelloKitty的跨太平洋之旅》的作者。河矢野教授在做客《洛杉矶时报》时和编辑卡洛琳·米兰达一起聊起了HelloKitty并澄清了一些事情。

　　Turns outHello Kitty is not actually a cat. Which is strange because shelooks like a cat and is named Kitty. But nope, that is a girl inthe third grade。

　　HelloKitty其实并不是一只猫，这有点奇怪，因为她是一个长得像猫且名字叫Kitty(小猫)的卡通形象。但事实是，她是一个小学三年级的小女孩。

　　That's onecorrection Sanrio made for my script for the show. Hello Kitty isnot a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She isa friend. But she is not a cat. She'snever depicted onall fours. She walks and sits like a two-leggedcreature。

　　河矢野教授说：“这是三丽鸥公司对我参加展出的发言词中更正的一个部分。HelloKitty不是猫。她是一个卡通形象。她是一个小女孩，是我们的朋友，但她不是猫。她从来没有四只脚走路的形象，始终都保持着小姑娘的站姿和坐姿。”

　　Hello Kitty isa Brit! Her real name is Kitty White, and she was born on November1, making her a Scorpio (the stubborn shrew).Her parents are Mary and George White, and she lives outsideLondon. Her official height is listed as "Around 5 apples" and herweight is "Around 3 apples." She has a twin sister named Mimmy. ANDSHE HAS A PET CAT NAMED CHARMMY KITTY WHO LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE HER.The cat-looking non-cat has a cat. She also hasa hamster namedSugar who, um, kinda looks like a tiny, white pedobear。

　　HelloKitty还是个英国人，她的真名叫做KittyWhite，生日是11月1日，所以HelloKitty应该是天蝎座的(是个固执的小女孩)。他的父亲叫GeorgeWhite，母亲叫MaryWhite，他们一家居住在伦敦。据官方公布，她身高约为“五个苹果”那么高，体重约为“三个苹果”那么重。她还有一个叫做Mimmy的孪生姐妹。“而且她还养着一只叫做CHARMMYKITTY长得和她一模一样的宠物猫！”长得像猫但不是猫的卡通形象还养了一只猫……此外她还有一只叫做Sugar的小仓鼠，就像白色版本的小号萝莉熊。

　　Hello Kitty isubiquitous in the same way that a Calvin-peeing-on-something decalis, but cute and far more authentic.Seriously, there is a box (of twine andwire for some reason) on our kitchen table with Hello Kitty on it.She's everywhere. And she represents a very specific identity forAsian Americans. As Yano explains:"When Hello Kitty arrived in theU.S. in the mid-1970s, it was a commodity mainly inAsian enclaves:Chinatowns, Japantowns, etc.," explains Yano. "In talking toJapanese Americans who grew up in the 1970s, they say, 'That figuremeans so much to us because she was ours.' It's something they sawas an identity marker."

　　和HelloKitty影响力同样巨大的还有“尿尿的凯文”贴纸，但HelloKitty的形象更可爱更可信。说实话，我们的厨房用品中很多都有HelloKitty的形象。她几乎无所不在。她代表着日裔美国人的一种身份。“HelloKitty在70年代中期来到美国的时候，是作为一种商品主要在亚裔圈子如中国城、日本城等流行。”河矢野教授解释说：“我们和一些70年代长大的日裔美国人谈过，他们说‘这个形象对我们意义重大，因为这是我们日本的形象’。他们已经把Kitty看成了一种身份标记。”

　　本文选自《外研社》新浪博客，点击阅读原文。