老外說老外

編者按：

“雙語視窗”欄目從2006年開辦，至今已經(jīng)走過了兩年的歷程，這些由在華外國友人撰寫的小文章，以他們在華所見所聞為切入點，生動具體地反映出東西方觀念、習(xí)俗的異同，也向我們提出了一個個既有趣又值得深思的問題。欄目一再連載得益于讀者反饋中的正面回應(yīng)。

“不識廬山真面目，只緣身在此山中”，換一個角度，從外國友人目光的折射中審視一下自己，更有助于全面地了解我們自身。同時，本欄目采用英漢對照形式，這些原汁原味的英文不僅有助于加深對作者原意的理解，也是一本學(xué)習(xí)現(xiàn)代英語的鮮活教材。

像大多數(shù)住在國外的法國人一樣，我現(xiàn)在比以往任何時候都更意識到自己是個法國人。在中國居住給了我所需要拉開的距離，從而以更批判的眼光來看我的同胞。這也幫助我了解了歐洲人與美國人是多么不同。當我還在歐洲的時候，我總是考慮法國人與德國人、意大利人和西班牙人的區(qū)別，而現(xiàn)在呢，我更多考慮的是其相似之處。一種文化上的沖突存在于歐美兩個大陸之間，在這一沖突中法國恐怕是美國對手中喊聲最大的一個。

爭論之一顯然是語言問題。就在不久前，作為一種國際語言，法語曾是英語的強勁對手，而說法語的人們至今仍在抵制英語的進犯。正如我結(jié)識的來自非洲、加拿大、瑞士、比利時及越南的說法語的朋友數(shù)量之多所證明的，在國際上法語決不是英語的微不足道的對手。而且，當我們承認英語的重要性時，我們指的是英國英語，并非美國英語。

另一個區(qū)別是政治性的。歐洲是許多小國組成的“馬賽克”，有著不同的語言和風(fēng)俗，而美國則是個大國，周圍的鄰國沒有強手與它競爭。很多歐洲國家都有過輝煌的時期，有過強盛時代以及文化上的影響力。這一時期對法國來說是從1648年到1815年，英國是19世紀，德國則是從19世紀晚期到20世紀早期。有的國家衰落了，同時又有別的國家在附近興起，歐洲歷史一直是這樣。從這個意義上說，美國更像中國這個大陸級的國家，周圍是一些小國（要知道即便是日本也只是近一個世紀才被視為強國）。這或許就是為什么當歐洲目前還太分散而不足以對大國形成威脅時，中國和美國都懼著彼此的原因之一。

與疆域大小上的區(qū)別相連帶的，則是在態(tài)度方面的很多區(qū)別。比如，你若讓個法國人談?wù)勊墓ぷ鳎麜嬖V你很多有趣的事：最近與一個客戶見面時所犯的大錯，或是辦公室新來的漂亮女秘書的升遷，換句話說，是給好朋友講故事。相反，換了美國人，他會開始“講解”他的工作，聽起來更像是老師講課，而不像朋友聊天。

法國電影也經(jīng)常采納坐在教室后面的“壞學(xué)生”的觀點。大眾化但卻精湛的電影恐怕是最有代表性的藝術(shù)形式。美國電影充斥著正面的警察（如《機械戰(zhàn)警》）和正面的戰(zhàn)士（如《藍博》），而法國電影則往往是以警察和軍人作為取樂對象。在歐洲，我們喜歡有紳士風(fēng)度的小偷、間諜以及向權(quán)勢挑戰(zhàn)的人們。他們身上有故事，有歷史，有內(nèi)涵，有著傳統(tǒng)意義上“好人”所缺乏的一切。人們總是在思考是什么使他們選擇了錯誤的道路，以及那究竟是不是真的錯了。

歐洲與美洲在經(jīng)濟格局上的區(qū)別也是十分明顯的。當“全球化”與“因特網(wǎng)”（這是我們這個時代叫得最響的兩個詞）到來時，歐洲的形象則是保守、令人可笑的膽小。批評歐洲的人們想使我們相信，我們不應(yīng)該有片刻猶豫，而是要立刻跳進這個現(xiàn)代化的世界中：只有一種經(jīng)濟模式，一種文化、一種語言。這該多么好啊！但法國人接著會問，這一經(jīng)濟模式是從哪里來的？哪種文化將會流行？我們將用哪一種語言進行交流？一想到我們正朝著在因特網(wǎng)上與沖浪者用簡化了的英語談?wù)撝粘５氖虑椋倚睦锞头浅：ε隆?/p>

我相信中國人很習(xí)慣美國處理問題的方式，實際上，對于中國人來說，理解歐洲人恐怕比理解美國人更困難。由于美國的技術(shù)優(yōu)勢，中國人往往會接受美國人的行事方法。而美國人的規(guī)矩并不是中國人的規(guī)矩，對此中國人恐怕并不喜歡。但是，中國人并不像我們那樣擔(dān)心全球的趨同：中國人正集中精力來追趕，來進一步掌握英語。

在全球化的汪洋大海中，我們法國人還只是靜靜地濕了濕腳：水很冷，因此我們不急于潛入水中，我們不想被淹死。如今中國人在這一海洋中游得很好，但他們不知道控制水溫與浪的高度。他們是好學(xué)生，不是老師。對于歐洲的“壞學(xué)生”來說，要在網(wǎng)絡(luò)方面領(lǐng)先已為時太晚，但下一步的先進思想有可能由他們提出來。法國人也許會讓人感到是好朋友，但不是好的商業(yè)伙伴。但我肯定，將來我們在兩方面都能行。

原文：

Like most French people living in a foreign country， I feel more French now than ever before. Living in China has given me the distance I needed to look at my compatriots with a more critical eye.

It has also helped me to realize that Europeans and Americans are very dissimilar. Whereas back in Europe I always used to think about the differences between the French and the Germans， or Italians and Spaniards， I now think more in terms of similarities. A cultural conflict exists between our two continents， one in which France may well be the most vocal adversary of America.

One point of contention is obviously language: Until relatively recently French was a strong rival of English as an international language， and French-speakers are still resisting the encroachment of English. As the number of my French-speaking acquaintances from Africa， Canada， Switzerland， Belgium and Vietnam attests， French is by no means a negligible competitor of English internationally. And when we do acknowledge the importance of English， we mean British English， not the American variety.

Another contrast is political. Europe is a mosaic of smaller countries， with various languages and customs， whereas America is one big country without any powerful neighbors to compete with it. Many European countries have had a period of glory， a golden age of power and cultural influence: for France it was the period from 1648 to 1815， for England the 19th century， for Germany the late 19th and early 20th century.Therehave always been declining powers and emerging ones nearby.In this sense America is more like China， a nation of continental scale surrounded by lesser states. (Remember that even Japan has only been considered a powerful country for about a century now.) This may be one reason why China and America seem so afraid of each other， while Europe is still too disunited to be much of a threat to these bigger powers.

Associated with this difference in scale there are many differences in attitude. For example， get a Frenchman to talk about his job and he’ll tell you funny stories: the last big mistake he made in a meeting with a client or the success of the pretty new secretary in the office-in other words， tales for good friends. In contrast， an American will start “explaining” what his job involves， sounding more like a teacher than a friend.

French films also often adopt the perspective of the “bad student” at the back of the classroom. Popular yet refined， cinema may be the most representative of the arts. American cinema is full of good cops (Supercop) and good soldiers (Rambo)， whereas French films tend to make fun of the police and the military. In Europe we like gentleman burglars， spies， people defying authority: they have a story， a past， depth-everything that conventional “good” people lack.One is always wondering what led them to choose the bad side， or indeed if it truly is the bad side.

The difference between Europe and America is apparent in economic arrangements as well. Europe is currently portrayed as conservative and ridiculously timid when “globalism” and the “Internet” those two buzzwords of our era， come up. One shouldn’t hesitate an instant， critics of Europe would have us believe， but plunge right into this modern world: and how wonderful it will be to have one economy， one culture， one language everywhere. But then French people ask where this economic model comes from， what culture will prevail， which language we shall use to communicate. I am personally quite scared when I think of what we are becoming， chattering with websurfers in simplified English about one-day problems.

I believe the Chinese are quite used to this American way of approaching problems， and that it is actually more difficult for Chinese people to understand Europeans than Americans. With America in the ascendant， the Chinese tend to accept American ways of doing things. The Chinese may not like the situation: American rules are not Chinese rules. Still， the Chinese don’t seem to share our fear of global homogenization：they focus on catching up， on learning better English.

We French are still quietly getting our feet wet in the sea of globalization：The water is chilly， so we take our time before diving in，we don’t want to drown. The Chinese are now swimming very well， but they don’t control the temperature of the water or the height of the waves. They are good students， not the teacher. But Europe’s “bad students” may after all be the people who have the next round of good ideas， it’s already very late for them to determine the character of the web. The French may strike others as good friends but bad business partners. I am sure we can be both.

（本欄目文章選自《北京青年報》“雙語視窗”，得到欄目編輯張愛學(xué)的授權(quán)。英文部分的稿費由本編輯部支付，請作者本人看到此啟事后與編輯部聯(lián)系，或發(fā)郵件至zhoujin_gongwu@sina.com）

責(zé)編：周 瑾