爱尔兰都柏林大学 赖小琪
最近央视英文主播芮成钢在首尔G20峰会闭幕日当天向美国总统奥巴马提问在网上引发了强烈的争议. 本来奥巴马打算把最后一次提问的机会让给韩国记者, 可是芮成钢却以 “代表亚洲” 的身份来向奥巴马提问, 于是很多网友便认为芮成钢抢了韩国记者的 “麦克风”, 是一种不雅的表现. 另外更有人指责芮成钢 “口出狂言”, 说他 凭什么 “代表亚洲”, 真是有损中国人的颜面. 当天芮成钢提问奥巴马一幕在全球直播后, 成千上万的网友便在论坛里对芮成钢发进攻击, 组成了所谓 “反芮派”.
看了那些评论, 我真的有一种忍俊不禁的感觉. 有时候明明很小的一件事情, 一到了大众的眼里, 就会不断地放大, 最后变成了 关系到 “国家民族尊严” 这样的大事. 看过当时视频的人都知道, 当时奥巴马提问以后, 韩国记者没有人发言. 当时坐在芮成钢旁边的那位韩国记者也缄默不语. 芮成钢还好心提醒他可以提问了, 可是那位记者却摇摇头, 表示没有问题可问. 这时候为了避免当时冷场的尴尬, 他才站起来提问的. 当时奥巴马还不太情愿给他提问, 还特意地问了一下韩国记者们有没有要提问的, 结果没有人举手, 最后才让芮成钢提问的. 这样能够算抢了韩国记者的 “麦克风”吗? 发出这样的言论的人真的让人无语.
另外, 说到 “亚洲代表”, 大家似乎对此感到很不满. 很多人对 “代表”一词感到敏感是因为他们不了解这个词的中英意义的差别. 在国际场合中，韩国记者就代表韩国，中国记者代表中国，这是本身就是一种默认. 在G20峰会上, 芮成钢来自亚洲, 说自己是 “亚洲代表” 也没有什么不妥的. 如果有一天你走出国门, 在外国人看来你就是代表中国. 这个 “代表中国”并不是说你是国家的重要人物, 而是说你的一言一行会影响到国际友人对中国的看法. 所以芮成钢当时说他 “代表亚洲” 并无不妥.
这让我想起了去年的伦敦举行的G20峰会上, 芮成钢向奥巴马提问的两个问题也引来国内不少人的抨击, 其中包括80后的作家韩寒. 当时芮成钢在两个问题中分别提到了自己 “代表中国” 和 “代表世界”. 很多人质问他 “你凭什么代表中国, 代表世界? 你是哪号人物?” 当时看了这样的评论我同样哑言失笑. 很多人虽然擅长英语, 可是他们却无法真正了解某些词在英语语境下和在特殊国际场合中的真正意义. 比如说, 芮成钢当时所说的 “代表中国”和 “代表世界”, 我们要结合当时他的问题来理解, 不能断章取义. 他当时的两上 “代表” 的真正意义是 “我站在中国角度来问” 以及 “我站在世界角度来问”。
芮成钢是我最喜欢的央视英语主播. 虽然说崇拜他高超的英语能力, 特别是口语能力是喜欢他的一个重要方面, 但是让我最佩服他的是他一路走向成功的坚韧与不屈. 之前看过他写的两本书, 一本是>, 另一本是介绍金融危机中美国的状况. > 让我看到这个著名央视主持一路走向辉煌的艰辛与不易, 同时更激发了我向他学习的决心. 可能大家都是英语的爱好者, 我对他书中描述的一些他学习英语的心理发展过程以及一些落差深有同感. 看完了他向奥巴马提问的问题以及奥巴马的回答, 坐在电脑前的我忍不住拍案叫绝. 芮成钢的提问客气中包含有犀利的抨击与讽刺, 而奥巴马则擅长玩弄文字游戏, 把锋尖转移, 以一种长远的眼光来回答问题, 一方面既巧妙地回答了芮的问题, 另一方面也得体地褒奖了自己. 短短的几分钟视频, 让我看了五次! 下面我把自己的视频中听到的对话写了下来, 供大家欣赏!
Obama: From everything I can see, this decision was not the one designed to have an impact on the currency, on the dollar. It was designed to grow the economy. And there are some legitimate concerns that we have very low inflation and that a huge danger in the United States deflation and that we have to be mindful of those dangers going forward because they won’t be good for the United States or for the rest of the world. That is just my observation about what I think the intent was.
Rui: Obama, I am actually Chinese. But I think I get to represent the entire Asia. We are one family here in this part of the world.
Obama: Absolutely. Your English is better than my Mandarin also.
Rui: My question is very simple. You mentioned “interpretation”. I know part of the difficulty of being American president is that some of the decisions you take and actions you make will be interpreted in the ways that are not what you thought they would be or what you meant they would be. For instance, some of the actions you’ve taken were interpreted as untied business domestically in the United States. And as someone just mentioned, some of the actions taken by the U.S government that you represent as well were interpreted as sacrificing other countries’ interests for America’s own benefits. You find yourself constantly being interpreted in thousands of different ways. How do you address these interpretations?
Obama: With wonderful press conference like this, it gives me an opportunity to hopefully provide my interpretation. And you make a valid point. We live in a connected world. Everything I say, everything my administration does, and everything my aids do is interpreted in one fashion or another. In America we call it “spin”. And there is a “spin cycle” that is going on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And I think that in this media environment, it is in some way more challenging to make sure that your message and your intention are getting out on a consistent basis. But you know, I think that if I am consistent with my actions and I am consistent with my goals, then over time hopefully, people look at my overall trajectory and they can draw accurate conclusions about what we are trying to do and would respect business. For example, we have in the United States some battles between myself and some in the business communities issues like financial regulations or health care. At the same time, I said repeatedly that on this trip, we can’t succeed unless American business succeeds. And I am going to do everything I can to promote growing and prospering sales and goods both in the United States and abroad. The fact is that American economy is growing, trade is expanding, and the stock market is up. I think it is an indication that I mean what I say. And hopefully by the end of my administration, businesses will look back and say, “You know what? Actually this guy was pretty good at business, even if at any given point in the road it may be frustrating. |
