以乐观的观点看待历史

... his statue was removed overnight and dismantled

他的雕像在一夜之间被移走和拆除

And it's partly because there is genuine scope for legitimate controversy about such major questions as: why did the Bolshevik Revolution happen in 1917, was Lenin's regime bound to lead to the excessive horrors of Stalinism, and why did Communism fall and the Soviet Union come apart? Substantial scholarly industries have long been addressing these questions and debating these issues, and there seems no reason to think that agreement on any of them is getting any closer.

　　而且这一部分是因为对于类似的主要问题的合理的争论还是存在的：为什么布尔什维克革命会在1917年爆发？列宁政权注定会使人们对斯大林主义产生过度恐慌吗？还有为什么共产主义会失败，苏联会解体？长久以来，大量的学术性研究都旨在解决这些问题和对这些问题进行探讨，但是看起来，人们还是没有就这当中的任何一个问题达成过进步性一致意见。

Such disputes about what constitutes the national past, and about what should be taught as the national past, are not confined to former Communist countries, and nor are they unique to professional historians.

　　类似什么组成了历史，哪些历史应该让人们知道的争论都不是这个前共产主义国家一国的事务，也不只是一些历史学家的责任。

Earlier this year, a huge row took place on the Texas Board of Education, which is responsible for designing the history curriculum taught in its state schools.

　　今年早些时候，在德克萨斯州的教育委员会中产生了巨大分歧。德克萨斯州的教育委员会是为其州立学校设计历史课程的机构。

FIND OUT MORE...

『更多信息』

● A Point of View, with David Cannadine, is on Fridays on Radio 4 at 2050 BST and repeated Sundays, 0850 BST

　　● 观点栏目，主持人大卫·康纳汀，在英国夏令时每星期五晚间八点五十分的四频道首播，在每星期日的英国夏令时八点五十分重播。

● Or listen to it on the iPlayer later  

　　● 或待会在iPlayer上收听。

Those activist members of a conservative inclination wanted a radical re-writing of the history syllabus, which would stress that the founding fathers of the United States, and the authors of its constitution, intended America to be a Christian nation, rather than one upholding the principle of the separation of church and state.

　　这些持有较保守意见的激进分子想要对历史教堂大纲做大刀阔斧的必革，这样做的效果是会强调出美国的建国之父们还有那些宪法编纂者，他们想让美国成为一个基督教国家，而不是一个持有教会与国家分立原则的国家。

They were also determined that greater attention should be given to Ronald Reagan, as the architect of national revival and the victor of the Cold War, and to such key conservative organizations as the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.

　　他们同时也决定，作为国家复兴的的建设者和冷战的获胜者，应该对罗纳德·里根倾注更大的注意力。同时他们也决定要对遗产基金公，道德多数派和国家步枪协会这样的主要保守组织给予注意力。

And they wanted to change the history textbooks as well as the history syllabus, by urging that the Texas curriculum be adopted in other states, and by applying direct pressure on major publishing companies to rewrite their national narratives accordingly.

　　他们希望改变历史教科书，也希望改变历史教堂大纲，他们采用的方式包括在其他州立学校推行德克萨斯州历史教授法，向一些主要的出版公司施加压力，要让他们相应地重新撰写国家历史。

20/20 vision

清楚地解析

As these examples of Russia and Texas suggest, such history wars are as much political as they are academic, and getting involved in them is not for the squeamish, as a glance at the recent correspondence columns of some of our newspapers will serve to show.

　　从俄罗斯和德克萨斯州的例子可以看出，有关历史的争议是政治性问题，也是学术性问题。对他们进行仔细研究一点也不过分。为了让大家了解读者对此的看法，我们会在“读者来信”专栏刊登一些读者来信以供参阅。

The Texas Board of Education wanted greater attention given to Ronald Reagan, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association

德克萨斯教育委员会希望大家对唐纳德·里根，道德多数派和国家步枪委员会倾注更多的注意力。

Soon after taking office, the new Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, expressed an interest in reforming the teaching of history in our schools, and he has certainly not lacked for advice as to what he should - or shouldn't - do.

　　在新任教育大臣麦克尔·戈夫上任后，他表示对历史教育改革感兴趣。而他应该做什么或不该做什么，人们一直都对此给予意见。

As is often the case, there seem to be two irreconcilable views: those who want the history syllabus to stress national endeavour and achievement, and those who want it to recognise the failings and blemishes which invariably besmirch any country's historical record.

　　现在的情况是，有两种截然不同的意见：一种是想要改变历史教学大纲，突出为不断建设好国家，政府和人民所做的努力和取得的成就。另一种是想要让人们认识到这个国家的衰落时期和所显现的缺点，这些负面的东西都会损害一个国家历史的完美性。

In this particular case, the correspondence soon degenerated into a far from edifying disagreement as to whether the British Empire had been a "good thing" or a "bad thing" - viewpoints which, in their irreconcilable simplicities, might have come straight out of 1066 and All That.

　　在这件事情上，公众的反应很快产生了一个没有什么可值得借鉴的不同意见，那就是大英帝国一直以来是“好”还是“坏”呢？这些观点，既是简单的，也是矛盾的，很可能是在1066年历史的基础上得出的。

There's no doubt that proponents of both of these interpretations of our national past can find ample historical evidence to support the very different arguments they are making. But it's more important - and it's much more difficult - to try to strike some sort of balance between them than it is to adopt either of these deeply entrenched adversarial positions.

　　毋庸置疑，这两种观点的支持者们都能的找到足够的证据来支持这两种不同的论断。但是，如果要找出两者之间的相同点可比从这两种根深蒂固的相对立的观点中挑一种要重要也困难得多。

Once upon a time, children, this was a British colony

孩子，从前，这里是英国殖民地。

One historian from an earlier time who knew this very well was George Macaulay Trevelyan. Towards the end of his life, he gave his considered verdict, and it was revealingly - and rightly - even-handed. Having lived through the devastation and the destruction of two world wars, he reluctantly agreed with Edward Gibbon that much of history was indeed a "register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind". But he also insisted that history was, in addition, "the register of the splendour of man, and of his occasional good fortune, of which our island has had more than its share".

　　从前有一位历史学家对此相当了解，他就是乔治·麦考利·特里维廉。在他生命的最后时刻，他给出了经过深思熟虑的对历史的看法。这种看法能给人启发，是正确的，是不偏不倚的。他经过了两次世界大战的洗礼，但还是有些不情愿地同意了爱德华·吉本的意见—历史确实是“对犯罪，罪恶和人类灾难的记录”。同时，他也坚持指出，“历史也是对人类辉煌的记录，对它偶尔出现的顺境的记录和对你能看到的整个岛屿还要多的世界的纪录”

If the teaching of history in our schools is to be reformed again, then both of these perspectives need to be very firmly - and simultaneously - borne in mind.

　　如果现在已经在教授的历史将要被又一次改革，那这种观点一定要坚定，同时，也将这种决心铭记在心。

But if he is serious about this matter, there are many other issues which Mr Gove will need to consider. Who, for example, should decide what history is taught in schools: should it be the government, or academic experts, or examination boards, or the schools themselves, or even the parents?

　　如果他真是这么想的话，那还有很多问题戈夫先生需要考虑的：谁来决定教授什么历史？应该由政府，学术专家还是考试委员会，还是学校又或是家长来决定吗？

What is the balance that should be struck between teaching the history of England, of Britain, of the British Empire, of Europe, of the United States, of China or of the world as a whole? Is the teaching of history about chronology and narrative, or about analysis and structure, or about information and detail, or about imagination and empathy, or about a combination of some or all of these things?

　　英格兰史，英国史，大不列颠史，欧洲史，美国史，中国史和世界史，这些历史之间的教授要怎样平衡呢？对历史的教授，是应该只对其年代史进行陈述，还是对其结构的分析的讲述，还是对这些历史信息和细节的论述，还是对有关历史的想像和对历史的感同深受的陈述又或是对这些方面的某一些或全部进行陈述呢？

Should it be concerned with extended periods of time, to give a sense of the length of the past, or with shorter periods which can be studied in greater depth? For how many hours a week should history be taught in schools, and to what age should it be made compulsory?

　　我们应该用很长的一段时间来学习历史吗？还是只用某一段时间，或在一段较短的时间，深入地学习它呢？一周要规定多长时间学习历史和在什么年龄一定要学习历史？

Who should decide what gets taught?

谁来决定要教怎样的历史？

Since I've spent the whole of my life as a professional historian, I'm naturally much concerned about these very important questions. But there is also a more specific interest I ought to declare: for the last 18 months, I've been leading a project, based at the Institute of Historical Research, which is looking into the history of the teaching of history in schools in England since it first became a serious activity early in the 20th Century.

　　因为我用了一生的时间来研究历史，所以自然我对这些重要的问题很关心。但是还有一种大家都普遍关心的问题：在过去的十八个月内，我一直在做一项研究，研究地点是历史研究院，研究的重点是在英格兰的学校教历史的历史。因为这个问题已经成为了二十世纪初一个重要的活动。

And one of our most important discoveries so far has been the extent to which similar questions have been asked across the decades and generations, and often in complete ignorance of how they've been answered before. At the very least, any discussion of the teaching of history in our schools should be informed by an historical perspective.

　　目前为止，一项很重要的发现是，在过去的几十年中，相同的问题被问的深度，但是人们通常不知道这些问题已经被回答过了。我觉得，对一些学校历史的教授问题至少应该是站在历史前景的角度上的。

We plan to publish some preliminary findings early in the autumn, and our full report by the middle of next year. Meanwhile, I shall be following Mr Gove's discussions and deliberations with the greatest of attention: and I very much hope that he may be no less interested in ours.

　　我们计划在今年秋天刊登初步发现，在明年中旬我们会刊登全部的研究报告。同时，我也会继续密切注意国务卿戈夫的一些针对历史的教育讨论和对其的商议，并且我也希望他会同样关注我们的研究报告。