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本帖最后由 大眼睛同学 于 2011-12-28 11:43 编辑
【中文标题】封闭的中国——无法平衡的“智力战”
【原文标题】The closing of Chinese minds
Commentary: China runs ‘intellectual trade’ deficit with the U.S.
【登载媒体】Markt Watch
【来源地址】http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-closing-of-chinese-minds-2011-12-25?link=MW_latest_news
【译 者】 大眼睛同学
【翻译方式】 人工
【声 明】 欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn。
【译 文】
BEIJING ( Caixin Online) — In 1979, a group of Chinese editors was about to visit the United States. Asked what they would like to see, one solemnly replied: “We want to know how the party secretary of New York controls The New York Times.”
北京（财新在线）1979年，一队中国编辑记者团在访问美国时，综合自己的所见所闻，严肃地提出了一个问题：“我们想知道纽约的党委书记是如何控制纽约时报的？”
An American diplomat explained that there were two major political parties in the U.S., but The New York Times belonged to neither and the newspaper had no relations with the government. The listeners were perplexed and incredulous.
一名美国外交官解释说，在美国政治及社会生活中起重大作用的有两个政党，但《纽约时报》不从属于他们其中的任何一个，我们的报纸与政府没有任何关系。在场的听众感到困惑和不可思议。
Fast forward some 30 years, and the state-run Xinhua News Agency is flashing its logo on a giant billboard in Times Square. The swagger and deep pockets that enable official media to take on such visibility belie a serious lack of understanding of what makes the Americans tick.
飞速发展的30年间，官方媒体新华社有如时代广场上闪烁着的巨大广告牌，招摇而财大气粗的它模糊了真实信息的能见度，以至于很多人至今无法理解美国发展的源动力。
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences inaugurated the Institute of American Studies in 1981. In the interests of modernization, China was eager to learn from the U.S. and the Americans reciprocated by providing generous funding and resources to facilitate the discovery.
中国社科院美国研究所于1981年落成。为了获得现代化的利益，中国积极的学习美国。美国人也很慷慨的提供资金和资源，帮助其研究。
In a recent online interview marking the 30th anniversary of the Institute of American Studies, Wang Jisi, who served as the director from 1992 to 2005, lamented that emphasis on policy issues is coming at the expense of gaining a comprehensive understanding of America. He blames the uneven quality of research output on the resources constraints.
最近，恰逢美国研究所成立30周年之际，曾在1992年至2005年间担任负责人的王缉思在接受采访时感叹：对政策的过分强调让我们丧失了一个全面了解美国的机会，部分资源的限制造成了今天许多研究成果的质量参差不齐。
The institute was chronically short of funds, relying primarily on grants from the government and outside sources, such as the Ford Foundation, a private U.S. organization. The penury once even prompted a staff member to suggest operating a taxi company to generate revenue.
该研究所长期缺乏资金，主要依靠政府与一些外部资源的资助，如福特基金会，美国的民间组织等。经济最拮据的时候，甚至有一名工作人员建议经营出租车公司维持发展。
With the rise of China as a power to be reckoned with, Americans are more inclined to know more about China than to sponsor China’s study of America. Dr. Wang, now dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, notes that when the Chinese people are invited to America, it is so Americans can learn about China, not for the visitors to gain a deeper understanding of America.
随着中国的迅速崛起，美国人更倾向于进一步了解中国，而非继续赞助中国对美国的研究。现在在北京大学国际关系学院王院长指出，当中国人被邀请至美国时，美国人就可以了解更多关于中国的信息。
In my field, many journalists and journalism professors have been invited to visit the U.S. They have enhanced American scholars’ understanding of the changing Chinese media landscape, but their own comprehension of the American media remains at the textbook level.
在我这一领域，许多从业人员和相关专家学者都曾受邀访问美国。他们的到访，加强了美国学者对变化着的中国媒体景观的深入了解，但自己对美国媒体的了解却仅限于教科书水准。
While the legend of Walter Cronkite as the iconic TV anchor lives on, few have heard of Bill O’Reilly or have an inkling that the conservative made a highly successful industry out of talk radio and the Fox News Channel. Still bashing corporate greed for killing the American news media, they seem oblivious to the assault on media profits by technological changes that have made some quality media outfits more like millstones around the necks of their owners than cash cows. Relying on a few translated volumes of media studies, or, worse, polemics in the Chinese press, they are out of touch with the American reality.
他们虽然知道电视主播Walter Cronkite传奇的一生，却很少有人听说过时政评论员Bill O’Reilly，或者知道这位保守派曾经在电台脱口秀和福克斯新闻频道取得了极大的成就。技术的进步使得专业媒体装备变成了累赘而不是摇钱树，媒体的利益因此受到明显的损害，尽管如此依然在抨击贪婪的大集团打压新闻媒体。
Terry Lautz, a former program director for Asia at the Henry Luce Foundation, wrote last year in the Chronicle of Higher Education that China has a deficit in the “intellectual trade” with the United States. In short, Chinese people know less about the United States than Americans know about China.
亨利 · 卢斯基金会的前项目主任 Terry Lautz 在他去年编写的《亚洲高等教育纪事 》 中提到中国在对美的“知识贸易”中出现赤字。简而言之，就是中国人不像美国了解中国那般了解美国。
If political communication through the media is vital to understanding the American democratic process, China can only blame itself for the deficit.
媒体是民众了解美国民主进程，促进有效政治沟通的重要阵地。至于中国嘛，要怪就怪自己有意而为之的“赤字”吧！
There is a widely held conceit in China that the Chinese have America all figured out. Certain self-satisfied people cite statistics that since 2009, China has surpassed India in sending students to American universities, and the number reached a whopping 157,558 in the 2010/2011 academic year.
中国长期自负的以为早就完全了解美国。一些沾沾自喜的人特别指出：自2009年以来，中国在2010～2011年间去往美国留学的人数已经高达157，558，远超印度。
For some, American interests and values are known and accessible through popular culture. What better way to understand American culture than by watching “Desperate Housewives”?
对于一些人来讲，美国吸引他们的是自己的大众文化。怎样更好的了解呢？看看《绝望的主妇》就知道了！
In fact, the more the Chinese think they know about America, the greater their incapacity to change their prejudices. Conspiracy theories, such as the notion the CIA maintains an office in every CNN bureau, abound. In that vein, the New York Party Secretary gaffe has legs.
实际上，很多中国人觉得自己越了解美国，就越觉得无力改变其中的偏见。阴谋论的谣言散布于CNN办公室的每一个角落。如此想来，纽约有市委书记这回事有人会信也不足为怪了。
Mr. Lautz believes that it is in America’s interest for China to have a “clear, objective and nuanced understanding” of the U.S. The benefit is mutual. Now, that money is no object for China, it should redress the intellectual imbalance by supporting the training of a generation of young scholars studying American economy, society, history and culture.
Lautz 先生认为，美国对中国有着“明确的目标和细致入微的理解”，彼此的利益是共存的。如今，对于中国来说钱就不是问题，应该用来支持青年学者学习美国的经济、社会、历史和文化，以矫正这一代人的“知识失衡”问题！
On a more basic level, language and writing skills should be strengthened and young minds should be set free to break new ground and think independently. The payoff would be handsome for both countries.
回到一个基本点，年轻人应该不断加强语言能力和写作技巧，获得独立思考的自由。这对于两国人民都有好处。
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狗仔卡
发表于 2011-12-28 11:29
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