近日，一段非洲女作家谈殖民历史的演讲在网络上快速传播，她在演讲中一针见血，揭露欧洲虚伪面目，并呼吁欧洲拿出勇气，正视历史。
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这段演讲是尼日利亚著名女作家奇玛曼达·恩戈齐·阿迪奇埃（Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie）在2021年9月出席德国洪堡论坛时，为两座民族历史博物馆的落成所作的主旨演讲。
面对历史 正视历史
阿迪奇埃指出：“今天的欧洲虽然没有直接否定殖民历史，但是它们用另一种方式来叙述历史，最终达到将这段历史抹去的目的。”
Europe has developed a way of telling the story of its colonial history that ultimately seeks to erase that history.
在比利时，学校只告诉学生们要帮助非洲，但是对其曾经对刚果的血腥统治只字不提。
法国前首相萨科齐在塞内加尔演讲时也说到，欧洲犯过错误，有过罪恶，但是不能让今天的一代补偿过去的一代所犯下的错误。
一句轻飘飘的“但是”就掩盖了欧洲对今天非洲落后现状所负的责任，将欧洲今天对非洲理所应当的帮助立刻抬上了道德的高地。
...it frees Europe of responsibility of a significant and traceable connection to the African present and it allows Europe the glow of charity.
阿迪奇埃用精彩的类比，揭露了欧洲政客否认历史的荒谬逻辑。
“如果我们承认，600年前的文艺复兴塑造了今天的欧洲，300年前的启蒙运动塑造了今天的欧洲，那么我们就不能说，仅仅100年前在非洲发生的事情是不重要的；恰恰相反，这段历史不可忽视。”
If we acknowledge that present-day Europe is shaped by the Renaissance of 600 years ago, by the Enlightenment of 300 years ago, then surely we cannot say that what happened merely 100 years ago in Africa no longer matters; it matters.
阿迪奇埃在演讲中还cue了一直以来不愿正视历史的大英博物馆，呼吁大英博物馆“能够重新思考一下自己拒不归还文物的行为”。
一起来看阿迪奇埃演讲的精彩片段：
It is not that Europe has denied its colonial history; that would be too crude. It's instead that Europe has developed a way of telling the story of its colonial history that ultimately seeks to erase that history.
并不是说欧洲否认了其殖民历史，这样说就太粗暴了，而是说，欧洲创造了另一种方式来叙述殖民历史，最终达到将这段历史抹去的目的。
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy gave a now infamous speech in Senegal in which he said I have not come to deny mistakes or crimes; mistakes were made and crimes committed, but no one can ask the generation of today to expiate this crime perpetrated by past generations.
法国前总统尼古拉·萨科齐在塞内加尔做过一场臭名昭著的演讲，他说，我来这里，不是为了否定错误和罪行，错误已经铸成，罪恶已经犯下，但是不能让如今的一代人去为前人犯下的错误赎罪。
This is central to the story that Europe tells itself about its colonial history. It is a story that basically says, yes colonialism happened,but... and whatever comes after the "but" is the focus of the story.
这就是欧洲讲述殖民历史的首选方式，基本上是在说，是的，殖民曾经发生过，但是……这个“但是”后面跟着的，才是故事的重点。
What the focus on the "but" does is that it absolves, it frees Europe of responsibility of a significant and traceable connection to the African present and it allows Europe the glow of charity.
它用一个“但是”宣告自己无罪，一句“但是”开脱了欧洲对当今非洲现状所负的显而易见的责任，为欧洲披上了一层慈善的光辉。
If we acknowledge that present-day Europe is shaped by the Renaissance of 600 years ago, by the Enlightenment of 300 years ago, then surely we cannot say that what happened merely 100 years ago in Africa no longer matters; it matters.
如果我们承认，600年前的文艺复兴塑造了今天的欧洲，300年前的启蒙运动塑造了今天的欧洲，那么我们就不能说，仅仅100年前发生在非洲的事情就不再重要了。它很重要。
When we talk about this art, we were told that they cannot be returned to Africa; for example, because Africans will not take good care of them.
在谈论艺术品的时候，总有人告诉我们，不能把这些艺术品还回非洲，说“非洲人没有能力保护艺术品”云云。
It is not merely condescending to say I cannot return what I stole from you, because you will not take good care of it; it is also lacking in basic logic, since when has the basis of ownership been taking good care of what is owned.
我从你这里偷来的东西现在不能还给你，因为我怕你照顾不好它，这样的说辞不仅极其傲慢，更缺乏基本逻辑，从什么时候开始，能否照顾好一个物品成为能否拥有这个物品的标准了？
It does not matter whether Africans or Asians or Latin Americans can take care of the arts stolen from them; what matters is that it is theirs.
非洲人民、亚洲人民、拉丁美洲人民能不能照顾好从自己被偷走的艺术品并不重要，重要的是这些东西本就是他们的。
The brilliant Nigerian artist Viktor Hickameno put it much better than I could and in very Nigerian terms, he says, "If I come and steal your wrapper, and I say I won't give you back your wrapper because you will not tie it properly around your waist or you will not wash it well and so the colors would fade or this or that, all are irrelevant. The wrapper is mine and I can do with it what I will. Give me back my wrapper because it is mine." It should be returned because Europe has defined itself as a place of certain values, progress, liberty, fraternity, tolerance, individual rights and most it all, the rule of law.
杰出的尼日利亚艺术家维克托·艾希卡默纳说过这样一段鞭辟入里的话：“我偷走了你的裹腰布，不还给你，因为我觉得你根本不知道怎么缠裹腰布，万一清洗不当，还会掉色等等等等，这些借口都与题无关。这是我的裹腰布，我有我自己的处置方式。把我的裹腰布还给我，因为它属于我！”既然欧洲自称是道德、进步、自由、友爱、包容、重视个人权利的地方，是法治的地方，那么就应该将窃取的文物归还。
A nation that believes in the rule of law, cannot possibly be debating whether to return stolen goods, it just returns them. So, if the dignity of those from whom the art was stolen does not matter, then surely this idea should matter that Europe should be what it claims to be, live up to the ideals with which you define yourself.
一个法治之地不会讨论要不要归还偷来的东西，而是会直接归还。如果当地人民的尊严对你们来说一文不值的话，那么至少请欧洲努力践行自己标榜的价值观，做到表里一致。
We cannot change the past but we can change our blindness to the past.
过去已经无法改变，但是我们可以改变自己漠视过去的态度。
Courage and hope are intertwined. Courage is an act of hope and hope is born of courage. Act of courage create hope, and there is nothing more essential to the human spirit than hope.
勇气和希望相辅相成。希望带来勇气，勇气孕育新的希望。勇气之举能够创造希望，而希望是支撑人类精神最重要的能量。
中外网友纷纷为阿迪奇埃的精辟演讲点赞，呼吁更多国家正视历史、弥补错误。
编辑：左卓
实习生：张超杰
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