Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Ben Xu and Yang Xuedong, 2015.05.20

Ben Xu, Lecturer at the Department in English at St. Mary’s College of California

1, In China, for a long time there was no distinction between anger and hatred, therefore many Chinese people easily remember vengeance and they often consider holding on to vengeance as something worth bragging. Class struggle is a kind of hatred and it is often understood as justified “loyal hatred”. “Firmly remember class hatred” is considered to be politically conscious. But actually this kind of enlightenment is just an abstract concept. There is actually no specific object for the hater to hate (if he sees a neighbor who is considered a “rightist” he is not going to beat him for no reason). Class struggle is an ideology, and it is not just an emotion studied in the discipline of psychology.
1, 在中国,长期以来愤怒与仇恨是不加区别的,因此不少国人特别容易记仇,还经常把记仇当作一件值得赞许的事情。阶级斗争是一种仇恨,也总是被理解为正当的“义愤”,“牢记阶级仇”被当成一种政治觉悟(“仇恨入心要发芽”“痛打落水狗”),其实这种觉悟只是一个抽象的概念,它并没有仇恨者愤怒的具体个人对象(他看见一个“右派”的邻居并不会无缘无故地去打他)。阶级仇恨是一种意识形态,已经不再是心理学所研究的“情绪”。

2, Before, in every political campaign there were always “meetings for fights” and “meetings for criticism” that many people just follow blindly. Nowadays though this kind of political struggles have stopped, but this habitual way of venting anger has been continuing. For every news events, the emotionally charged “agitated anger” online always outvoice rational analysis. This is reckless and irresponsible “agitated anger”. People vent all kinds of curse words.
2, 以前,每次政治运动都少不了让群众随声附和、发泄愤怒的“斗争会”和“批判会”。这样的政治斗争虽然停止了,但这种习惯性的发泄愤怒方式还在延续。每次发生新闻事件,网上情绪性的“激愤”总是压倒了理性分析,这是一种没有节制、也没有责任感的激愤,什么脏话都骂得出来。

3, Anger expressed in a group is different from anger expressed by individuals. Anger expressed by individuals is generally sincere; while anger exhibited in a group is different. For those individuals who are not necessary really angry, if they are in a group they could pretend to be very angry, especially if there are chances to show their “extreme anger”. It is common that some individuals realize their personal interests in an angry group.
3,在群体中表现的愤怒与个人的愤怒情绪不同。个人的愤怒一般有真实感,但群体中表现的愤怒,即使不愤怒的个人也可以假装得很愤怒,尤其是有表现“义愤填膺”的机会。在群体愤怒行动中达到私人的利益目的是常有的事情。

4, It is very common in China to demonstrate people’s legitimacy through venting anger, instead of reasoning. In news reports and political slogan there is always the words of “angrily lament” or “loudly command”. It is as if people get more legitimate if they could “angrily lament”, get upset and fight. The popular book Unhappy China is a book full of anger and lack of rationality.
4, 不是以讲道理,而是以发怒来表现自己正确,在今天的中国是普遍的现象。新闻报道和政治话语中也经常使用“怒斥”或“声讨”的说法,好像一怒斥、生气、讨伐就得了理似的。十几年前走红过的《中国不高兴》,就是一本很愤怒但说理千疮百孔的书。

5, A society with a “big fire” must be an unreasonable society. A society that is unreasonable also nurtures people with “big fire”. If there are more people in a society who are unreasonable and have “big fire”, the society will be less healthy. More than 2000 years ago Socrates had said that there is correlation between a healthy soul and a healthy state. This saying still stands today.
5, 火大的社会一定是一个不讲理的社会,而一个不讲理、无理可讲、无处讲理的社会也一定是一个人们会普遍火大的社会。一个社会里不说理的人、火大的人越多,整个社会也越不健康。2000多年前,苏格拉底就看到,一个健康的灵魂和一个健康的城邦之间有着某种可以相互印证的联系。这个看法在今天也还是同样适用。

Yang Xuedong: Director of Translation of Central Documentation Department in the Party’s Central Compilation & Translation Bureau

1, The construction of China’s international discursive power needs to consider changes in international society. We can’t just pay attention to Western society, especially not just consider the approval and acknowledgement of the United States. We also need to holistically consider the points of focus of different interest groups in the international society. Through proposing constructively, we need to actively respond to key concerns in the international society and play an active role in creating international consensus.
1, 中国的国际话语权建设应该充分考虑到国际社会的变化,不能只关注西方社会,尤其是不能只考虑美国的接受和认可,还要综合权衡国际社会中不同利益方的关注点,通过提出创造性方案,积极回应国际社会的重要关切,在打造国际共识中发挥主动作用。

2, Secondly, we need to deal with the relationship between state-led discourse and discourse in the society. The construction of China’s international discourse is explicitly led by the State, which is helpful for increasing the coherence of the discursive construction and it is also helpful to have a positive effect in a short amount of time, therefore raises attention from the international society. However, there are also obvious shortcoming for state-led discourse. First is that it does not correspond to international customs. Second is that the way of expression is too formatic and it is difficult to fully reflect China’s changes and dynamics in Chinese society since the reform and open up. To better the situation, on one hand we need to improve the construction system of nation-led discursive power, and absorb nutrition from vivid life in society. We need to shorten the gap between the state and the society and eliminate contradiction between the two. On the other hand, we also need to try to create more platforms and mechanisms through bilateral and multilateral international relations to strengthen China’s discursive power.
2, 其次,要处理好国家主导的话语与社会表达的话语之间的关系。中国的国际话语权建设,带有强烈的国家主导色彩,有助于提高话语权建设的一致性,并在短时间内形成集中表达的效果,提高国际社会的关注度。不过,国家主导的话语也有明显的不足。一是与国际社会的接受习惯不匹配,二是话语表达形式程式化过强,难以全面反映改革开放以来中国社会的变化和活力。要做到这点,一方面要改进国家主导的话语体系建设,从社会创造的鲜活话语中汲取营养,缩小国家与社会在话语表达上的差距,消弭二者之间的矛盾;另一方面,要在双边、多边外交中,搭建民间外交、公共外交的平台和机制,增强中国社会的话语权。

3,Third, we need to highlight the experience of China’s development. We particularly need to have a systematic summary of the governing experience and make it “universal”. The great achievement China has made in the past few years proves that our reform fits the rules of economic development. Many of our experiences could be universalized and could be referenced by other countries.
3, 第三,要重视将中国的发展经验,尤其是治国理政经验的系统总结,加以“普世化”。中国近年取得的巨大成就,说明我们的改革是符合经济社会发展规律的,其中的许多经验,也具有普适性,可供其它国家参考借鉴。

4, During the process of summarizing China’s development experience, we must avoid extremes - categorizing “Chinese characteristics” as the “Chinese exceptionalism”, which could shackle our thoughts and actions and alienate or even contrast the international society. Only do we systematically summarize China’s development experience, make it more abstract, theorize it, can we be more convincing in the international society, can we upgrade to rational thinking and dialogue from just presenting individual examples.
4, 在总结中国发展经验的过程中,一定要避免将“中国特色”极端化为“中国例外论”,给自己的思维和行动套上枷锁,并把自己疏离甚至对立于国际社会。只有系统总结中国的发展经验,将其抽象化、理论化,才能使对国际社会的说服,从简单地举例子提升到理性思考对话的层次。

5, We need to take advantage of multilateral mechanisms. Multilateral diplomatic events should not only rely to existing international organizations, we also need to continuously create new communication platforms and international organizations. On this point, most countries actually are on the same level. China should fully take advantage of its elevated economic status to strengthen its connection with each country. We have lots of room to grow.  
第四,要善于利用多边机制。多边外交活动除了要依靠现有的国际组织之外,还需要不断搭建新的多边交流平台,创建新的国际组织。在这点上,大部分国家实际上处于同一起跑线上,中国充分利用自己经济实力的提升,加强与各国联系的紧密度,我们将有更大的作为空间。

5, We need to pay attention to the textual support in international discursive power. Increasing discursive power is a kind of cultural development and we need to strengthen the translation and broadcast of Chinese cultural products. On one hand there is a lack of systematic planning of translation. There is imbalance of content and languages. There is a lack of attention on other developing countries. The second is that important official documents are main texts for China’s international discursive power, but there is no scaled effect of some documents, which constraints the upgrading of China’s international image as a transparent country. And it is not helpful for the international society to fully understand China’s system, policies and governing model.
5, 第五,要重视国际话语权的文本支撑。增强话语权也是一种文化建设,需要加强中国文化产品对外翻译和传播的工作。一是对外翻译缺乏统筹规划,内容和语种的配置不平衡,对发展中国家的需求重视不够;二是重要官方文件是中国国际话语权的主要文本,而一些文件的翻译还没有形成规模效应,制约了中国国际形象透明度的提升,不利于国际社会对中国制度、政策和治理方式的全面理解。

6, In the process of constructing international discursive power we need to be careful of two wrong trends: one is to think, plan and judge international publicity with the mindset of “domestic propaganda”. The ruling Party has accumulated rich experience of internal propaganda and has mastered a large number of channels and mechanisms. It is easy to start a campaign and create a coherent scenario within China. But when it is for international publicity, we must be careful not to overstress coherence, formality and one-direction. We need to increase our awareness of the recipients and interaction. The second is the mindset to pursue political performance. Discursive development is different from economic development. It needs funding, as well as time. We can’t be impatient and have “leap forward” or “image projects”, which might seem magnificent in form, but actually is not cost-effective, or they could even seriously damage China’s international image. Therefore we need to seriously study the rules and follow them during the construction of international discursive power. We need to learn our lessons and other people’s experiences, and explore suitable ways for China to increase its international status.

在国际话语权建设的过程中,应该警惕两种错误倾向:一是用“内宣”的思维来思考、规划和评价对外传播。执政党积累了丰富的对内宣传经验,并且掌握着大量的渠道和机制,也容易发动宣传动员,形成一致的舆论局面,但是在对外传播时候,切忌过度强调一致性、正式化、单向性以及高频率,应该有更强的受众意识、分众传播意识和互动意识。二是追求政绩的思维。话语权建设不同于经济工作,需要财政的投入,也需要时间的积累,不能急躁冒进,搞“大跃进”、“形象工程”,那样虽然形式上轰轰烈烈,但往往事倍功半,甚至严重损害中国的国际形象,因此要深入研究和遵循国际话语权建设的规律,积极总结经验教训,探索适应中国国际定位和国内期待的话语权建设途径。

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