評(píng)論
打印
Since no one knew much about the real Columbus, it was easy to invent a mythical one?
既然沒(méi)人了解真正的Columbus是什么樣的，發(fā)明出一個(gè)神話中的他就變得很容易了？
Exactly. And this mythical Columbus, it became a reflection of the society which chose him.
沒(méi)錯(cuò)！而這個(gè)被神化了的Columbus成為了選擇他的這個(gè)社會(huì)的縮影。
So in the early history of the United States, Columbus represented an escape from the political institutions of Europe.
所以在美國(guó)的早期歷史中，Columbus代表著從歐洲的政治體制中的逃脫。
He was the solitary individual who challenged the unknown.
他成為了只身挑戰(zhàn)未知的那個(gè)人。
And now there was this new democracy, this new country in a world without Kings.
然后就有了這個(gè)新的民主，有了這個(gè)不存在君王的國(guó)家。
Columbus became sort of the mythical founder of the country.
Columbus某種程度上成為了這個(gè)國(guó)家的神話中的創(chuàng)建者。
So as historians, we wouldn’t want to study these myths about Columbus and mistake them for facts about Columbus.
所以，作為歷史學(xué)家，我們不會(huì)想研究這些關(guān)于Columbus的神話，并且把它們誤認(rèn)為是關(guān)于Columbus的事實(shí)。
But if we are trying to understand American culture, then we can learn much by studying how America adapts Columbus for its own purposes.
但是如果我們?cè)谠噲D理解美國(guó)文化，那我們通過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)美國(guó)是如何根據(jù)自己的意志轉(zhuǎn)化Columbus的就能學(xué)到很多。
Evaluations of Columbus then will reflect what Americans think of themselves.
對(duì)Columbus的評(píng)價(jià)將會(huì)反映出美國(guó)人是如何看待他們自己的。
Oh, there is a quote, something like, “societies reconstruct their past rather than faithfully record it.”
有一句引用的話，好像是“社會(huì)重建它們的過(guò)去，而不是忠實(shí)地記錄下來(lái)?！?/div>
And how that reconstruction takes place and what it tells us, that’s something we are going to be paying a lot of attention to.
而那種重建是如何進(jìn)行的以及它告訴了我們什么，才是我們要多加關(guān)注的內(nèi)容。
