【搬运译】叉婊Pitchfork评Rina Sawayama 2018年单曲“Flicker”

搬运自：网易云音乐专栏【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：豆目豆科

People of color are constantly stigmatized for their names, whether from biased hiring managers or teachers who butcher pronunciation while reading attendance sheets. These moments are often demeaning, like one of the most fundamental elements of someone's identity is burdensome or atypical. But on “Flicker,” the latest single from the Japanese-British artist Rina Sawayama, such experiences are transformed into an ecstatic, self-assured pop song meant to uplift people who, in her words, are “misunderstood for who [they] truly are.”

有色人种常常因为他们的名字（like “Sawayama”）而被冠以污名，无论这是来自有偏见的招聘经理，还是在读考勤表时对发音进行恶意篡改的老师。这些场景往往是充斥着歧视、贬低的目光，人们身份中最基本要素之一（“姓名”）变作负担或是异常。但在日裔英籍艺术家Rina Sawayama的最新单曲“Flicker”中，这样的经历被升华为一首欣喜若狂、自信满满的流行歌曲，旨在鼓舞那些用她的话说“被曲解了他们真正自我”的人。

“Flicker” reflects on Sawayama’s experience of having a “difficult” name herself; in the process, she subtly critiques social constructs that dictate what a “normal” name is. Over fluorescent synths and jittery drums, she urges listeners to take pride in their names and remember that they are better than the homogeneous faces on TV screens. “They flicker but they ain’t gonna shine like us,” she croons in the catchy, jubilant chorus, establishing that this is a song specifically for her community. People of color are so often expected to minimize their differences for those unwilling to engage with experiences unlike their own. With “Flicker,” Rina shines in spite of that pressure.

“Flicker”反映了Sawayama自己曾经有关“名字”的经历；在这个过程中，她巧妙地批判了决定何为“正常名字”的社会体系。在荧光闪烁的合成器和战栗的鼓点中，她敦促听众要为自己的姓名感到自豪，并牢记他们比屏幕上那些同质化的面孔更加美丽。这是一首专门为群众创作的歌曲，她在朗朗上口、欢快的副歌中唱道：“They flicker but they ain’t gonna shine like us.”有色人种经常被期望为那些看不惯与自己存在不同的人削除差异。在“Flicker”中我们看到，Rina在这种压迫下依旧大放异彩。