英国金融时报12日发表专栏作家吉莲·邰蒂撰写的题为《欧元纸币为何用建筑代替头像?》的文章。文章说,几年前,在参加一场讨论欧洲单一货币困境的会议时,一位央行官员把手伸进口袋,掏出一张欧元纸币扔在桌子上。他指着那张皱巴巴的纸币断言道:“这就是欧洲的问题所在。上面只有窗户和桥梁!”
The British Financial Times published an article by columnist Gillian Tsiti on 12, entitled "Why are euro banknotes replaced by buildings?" The article said that, a few years ago, when attending a conference on Europe’s single currency dilemma, a central banker extended his hand and pulled out a euro banknote and threw it on the table. He pointed to that wrinkled banknote and asserted: “This is Europe’s problem. There are only windows and bridges on it.”
手里挥动着那张纸币,他继续解释道,当官员们创建这一现代欧洲货币体系时,他们不想因纸币上印谁的头像而引发令人不快的民族主义争论。因此,他们回避了这一问题,决定用建筑符号(如著名的桥梁)代替名人印制在纸币上,即用建筑立面替代面孔。
He continued to explain that, when officials created this modern European monetary system, they did not want to provoke an unpleasant nationalist debate about whose head the banknotes were printed. They therefore avoided the issue and decided to replace the celebrity with an architectural symbol (e.g. a famous bridge) on the banknotes, i.e., a architectural face.
对不经意的观察者而言,这似乎并不重要——尤其是在与移民危机、旷日持久的经济问题等欧洲其他困境相比较时。毕竟,大多数人从不会在意手中的钞票上印着什么,除非在政治纷争爆发之际(正如最近围绕美元纸币上缺少女性形象的争论一样)。
For careless observers, this does not seem important – especially when compared to other European dilemmas, such as the migration crisis, protracted economic problems, etc. After all, most people never put anything on the money in hand, unless political strife breaks out (as has recently been the case with the lack of a female image on dollar notes).
但如果想弄明白为什么向欧洲公民兜售欧洲统一梦如此艰难——或者为什么全球化在选民中激起了如此这样复杂的感受——不妨思考一下纸币上的面孔(或者为何不用面孔)。
But if you want to understand why it is so difficult to sell the dream of European unity to European citizens — or why globalization has given rise to such a complex feeling among voters — you might want to think about the face (or why you don’t need it) on a banknote.
在多数国家的货币中,纸币上印的都是国家英雄或领导人的形象。这并不奇怪。各种社会群体往往是由创世神话——以人为中心的神话故事——凝聚在一起的。从出生开始,人类就本能地对面孔敏感,无论是在圣经故事、好莱坞电影还是政治运动中,我们发现,人格化的叙事更容易记住。
In the currencies of most countries, banknotes are printed with the image of a national hero or leader. That is not surprising. Social groups are often congregated by creation myths — man-centred myths. Human beings are instinctively sensitive to their faces from birth, whether in biblical stories, Hollywood films or political movements, and we find that personalized narratives are easier to remember.
但今天的欧洲面临一个问题:缺乏清晰、由统一英雄主演的创世神话。当然,这里曾诞生过将欧洲大陆各部分统一起来的历史人物。从一个极端来看,我们有统一了欧洲大部的中世纪统治者查理曼大帝;从另一端来看,我们有20世纪的法国官员让·莫内,他被视为建立欧盟的元勋之一。如今,欧洲央行行长马里奥·德拉吉贡献了了另一种(勉强称得上的)凝聚力。但他们都并非在整个欧洲大陆获得普遍敬重的人物——或者无法与各个国家的英雄相提并论。
But today's Europe faces a problem: there is a lack of clarity and the creation myth by a unified hero. Of course, there were historical figures here who united parts of the continent.
……
全球化之梦也面临同样的问题。耶鲁大学教授杰弗里·加滕今年出版了《从丝绸到硅》一书,通过讲述世界各地10位曾打破过全球化壁垒的人物的经历,讲述了全球化的故事。这是一次引人入胜的尝试,尤其是它启发我们所有人都去思考该选择哪些人作为“十大全球化人物”。加滕选出的这些人都非常了不起,其中包括蒙古皇帝成吉思汗、罗伯特 克莱夫(也被称为“印度的克莱夫”)、旗下公司铺设了首条跨大西洋海底电缆的塞勒斯·菲尔德、英国前首相玛格丽特·撒切尔,以及科技先锋、英特尔前首席执行官安迪·格罗夫。让·莫内也在他的名单中。
This year, Jeffrey Garten, a professor at Yale University, published a book entitled From Silk to Silicon, which tells the story of globalization by describing the experiences of 10 people around the world who have broken the barriers to globalization. It was a fascinating attempt, especially when it inspired all of us to think about who should be chosen as the “Ten Globalists.” The people who were chosen by Gatten were remarkable, including the Mongolian Emperor Genghis Khan, Robert Clive (also known as “Clave in India”), Cyrus Field, former British Prime Minister Margaret Suchcher, who laid the first transatlantic submarine cable, and Andy Grover, former Chief Executive Officer of Intel, who was also on his list.
但通读这份名单时,我惊讶地发现,这些人中几乎没人公开为全球化辩护过。我们认为眼前互联互通的世界是理所当然的。相反,围绕全球化的辩论往往被唐纳德·特朗普、奈杰尔 法拉奇之流所主导,他们将反全球化的言论人格化。全球化英雄的形象则很难想象。
But when I read the list, I was surprised to find that few of these people have publicly defended globalization. We believe that the interconnected world is right now. On the contrary, the debate around globalization is often dominated by Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, who humanizes anti-globalization discourse.
或许这只是时间问题。如果欧元还能再存续20年,或许德拉吉的头像会出现在上面。到21世纪中叶,马克·扎克伯格、比尔·盖茨或者马云的面孔或许会成为网络一体化的符号。但现在越来越清楚的是,人们不能仅靠经济数据来反击民族主义——我们同样需要纸币上的面孔。如果任何人有建议,也许他们应该向那些设计这些欧元钞票的(无名)欧洲官员提出——如果欧元将继续存在的话。
Perhaps this is only a matter of time. If the euro survives for another 20 years, perhaps Draghi’s head will be there. By the middle of the twenty-first century, the faces of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, or Maun may become symbols of cyber integration.
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