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新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > 《英语文摘》杂志 > 贬值了的期望

Diminished Expectations
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/05/18 13:59  英语文摘

  By Phil Zabriskie

  For many Asians, America no longer stands for peace, freedom and liberty 2

  对许多亚洲人来说,美国不再代表和平、自由和解放

  译者点评:9·11后,人们所期待的似乎都发生了:反恐报复,伊拉克战争,“战后”重建,萨达姆被俘,但期待的价值却与时俱减。双子塔象征的资本繁荣,它所凝聚的华尔街形象,似乎不再具有昔日夺目的光彩了;在霸权、专制、武力征服面前,自由、民主、平等、和平和民族主权也不再能光复如初了。也许,萨达姆的审判和美英的撤军能给人们带来新的期待,然而,等到人们彻底从沉睡的美国梦中醒来时,开国元勋们或许早已开始重修宪法于泉下矣!

  For nearly a year after 9/11, in conversations throughout Southeast Asia, I encountered sympathy and admiration for the U.S. “Where are you from?” a diplomat or a street vendor would ask. “America,” I’d reply, “New York City.” This would elicit expressions of outrage at the terrorist attacks, generous inquiries into the wellbeing3 of my friends and family and then perhaps a mention of the war in Afghanistan. From the impoverished or oppressed, a request often followed: please tell your President to *send help4. A faint belief that *he might5 was detectable. A sense that *he could6, through benign gestures or a forceful imposition of will, was unmistakable.

  Those kinds of conversations are no more. They7’ve been replaced by versions of an exchange I had recently in Kuala Lumpur. A Malaysian political analyst asked about my provenance8. As I replied his eyes narrowed. *“Can you explain what your President is doing?”9

  Before I moved to Asia two years ago, I had underestimated how much psychological space America—the nation and the ideals it represented—occupied in the world. But over the past few months, and especially since the start of Gulf War II, it’s become apparent that respect for America has severely diminished. Pledges to bring freedom and (maybe) democracy to the citizens of Saddam’s horrifying regime—which only Tony Blair articulated effectively10 during a U.N. debate marked by the cynical opportunism of all parties involved—*ring hollow when voiced by the Bush camp.11 Making war to bring peace is a hard sell, especially when TV images provide *stark reminders12 of the real human costs of that conflict. What’s more, though the war in Iraq is still in its early stages, the inability of the U.S. and British forces to deliver a swift victory—and the early success militiamen have had in temporarily sidetracking13 the march to Baghdad—is *chipping away at14 the aura of American military invincibility. It has happened before, in Somalia in 1993 for example, but never was there this level of roundtheclock coverage of each roadblock and minor setback. And never before were there networks that tailored15 their broadcasts as platforms for American righteousness (Fox News Channel16, most bombastically) or the U.S.’s tactical and moral fallibility (alJazeera17 and alArabia).

  America, to many Asians, once represented ideals of life, liberty18 and the pursuit of happiness. People whose lives were proscribed19 by poverty or tyranny or both at least knew there was a place where freedom was said to ring20. The place’s existence stirred hope in the most hopeless circumstances. And millions emigrated and found better lives there. Some religions allow *the earthbound21 to imagine a heaven that might one day welcome them into its splendor; so, too, did America—a secular *promised land22 —allow the world’s dispossessed to believe its liberty, and its prosperity, could one day be theirs as well. They forgave or overlooked U.S. foreignpolicy sins such as a coddled23 dictator in the Philippines, illegal invasions in Cambodia or deadly subterfuge in Laos. The stirring ideals of America’s founding fathers continued to resonate abroad even if the ideals’ caretakers24 occasionally ignored them.

  In Asia and beyond25, however, the exported26 and willfully internalized American dream has been punctured by months of failed and feckless diplomacy, by the Bush Administration’s disregard for international opinion and now by sandstorms, *alleged errant missiles27 and the fact that war is rarely quick and never clean. Last month in Yogyakarta28, Indonesia’s intellectual center, numerous students told me that yes, they would like to work in the U.S. —because there were no jobs at home, not because they admired America. Religious and community leaders expressed anger toward the Bush Administration—not, they stressed, at the American people—as well as disappointment that it seemed to be abandoning the precepts for which it had been most respected. Quite simply, they feel *let down29.

  Asians I’ve met used to say America is the country that defeated the Nazis and won the cold war. Now, in the mainstream, I hear that America “was” the country that *performed those noble services30. This 21st century incarnation, with Bush at the helm, “is” the country that they feel countenances31 Israeli occupation of Palestine, that never articulated a convincing or consistent case for war against Iraq, and that has temporarily suspended tenets of its own Constitution. We shouldn’t be surprised at the vehemence of the protests around Asia or that the debate has become *as much about Bush’s America as32 Saddam’s Iraq. This is the anger of betrayal, *fueled in part by33 the frantic outcry that emerges when one realizes that what he or she has idealized cannot or will not *live up to34 those expectations. -

贬值了的期望

  9·11过去将近一年后,我在整个东南亚与人交谈时,听到的都是对美国的同情和赞赏之词。外交官或街头商贩都会问:“你从哪儿来?”我回答说:“美国,纽约。”这会引出对恐怖主义袭击的愤慨,对朋友和家人的问候,然后也许还要提一提阿富汗战争。而穷人或受压迫者则往往要接着提出请求:请你们的总统派人援助我们吧。他会派人来的,这一线微弱的希望还是可以察觉出来的。通过仁慈的举止或把意志强加于人,他是能够派人来的,这种感觉是毋庸质疑的。

  现在,不再有那种谈话了。取而代之的是我最近在吉隆坡进行的一次交流的各种翻版。一位马来西亚的政治分析家询问我的来历。我回答时,他却眯起了眼睛。“你能解释一下你们的总统在做什么吗?”

  两年前移居亚洲之前,我低估了美国——这个民族和它所代表的理想——在世界上所占的心理空间。但在过去的几个月里,尤其是第二次海湾战争开始以来,对美国的尊重显然大大减少了。当布什阵营发表给萨达姆恐怖政权下的公民带来自由和(或许)民主的诺言,而在联合国举行的一次辩论会上,当与会各方都玩世不恭地玩弄机会主义时,只有托尼·布莱尔明确地表达了观点。这一诺言显得空洞乏义。通过发动战争推行和平可是难以让人接受,尤其是当电视画面严酷地提醒人们那场冲突的真实人员伤亡的时候。更有甚者,尽管伊拉克战争仍然处于初期阶段,当地民兵早期成功地暂时牵制联军直奔巴格达,美英军队未能宣布速战速胜,这使美军战无不胜的光环暗淡下来。这种事情以前就发生过,比如1993年在索马里,但从来没有像这次这样全天候的报道每一个路障和每一次微小的挫折。也从来没有这样的新闻网络按特殊需要把新闻广播当作宣讲美国正义(最夸张的是福克斯新闻台)、讨论美国的战术和道德错误的论坛(如半岛电视台和阿拉伯电视台)。

  对许多亚洲人来说,美国曾经代表着生活的理想、自由和对幸福的追求。那些被贫穷或暴政或二者剥夺了生活权利的人们至少还知道,有那么一个据说将响彻自由号角的地方。那个地方的存在在最无望的环境下唤起了希望。数以百万计的人们移居那里,过上了更好的生活。有些宗教允许凡人想像天堂终有一天会欢迎他们进入圣境;美国亦然,这片人间乐土让世界上被剥夺一切权利的人们相信,它的自由和它的繁荣终有一天也会变成他们的。他们原谅了或放任了美国在外交政策上犯下的罪行,如在菲律宾纵容独裁者,在柬埔寨的非法入侵,或在老挝玩弄的致命花招。美国国父们那些激动人心的理想仍然响彻域外,即便这些理想的看护者们偶尔对它们不屑一顾。

  然而,在亚洲及其他地区,这个出口的和恣意内化的美国梦破灭了,原因是几个月来失败的和不负责任的外交政策,布什政府不顾国际舆论,还有现在又遇上了沙尘暴、所谓发射失误的导弹和很少有速战速决从不误伤的战争的事实。上个月,在印度尼西亚的知识中心日惹,无数学生对我说,是的,他们愿意在美国工作——因为本国没有工作,而不是因为他们羡慕美国。宗教和社区领袖们对布什政府——他们强调说不是对美国人民——表示愤怒和失望,因为它正在抛弃使它最受尊敬的那些准则。非常简单,他们感到失望。

  过去,我见过的亚洲人常说,美国这个国家打败了纳粹,赢得了冷战。现在,我见过的亚洲人中主要流传这样一种说法,美国这个国家“曾经”从事过那些崇高的事业。以布什为舵手,美国这个国家现在“是”21世纪的化身,这些亚洲人感到它支持以色列占领巴勒斯坦,从未提出令人信服的或前后一致的攻打伊拉克的理由,而且暂时中止了自己宪法规定的信条。整个亚洲掀起了抗议的热潮,对布什的美国的争论已经与对萨达姆的伊拉克的争论一样多了,这没有什么好奇怪的。这是对背信弃义的愤怒。当一个人意识到他或她一直奉为理想的东西不能够或将不会满足那些期望时,就会发出这声愤怒的呐喊。(陈永国 摘译自 Time Apr. 7, 2003)




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