经济学人380:土耳其的文化雄心(1)

 　　Turkey’s cultural ambitions

　　土耳其的文化雄心

　　Of marbles and men

　　大理石和人

　　Turkey gets tough with foreign museums and launches a new culture war

　　土耳其对外国博物馆采取强硬态度，并发动一场新的文化战争

　　IN THE spring of 1887 a Lebanese villager named Mohammed Sherif discovered a well near Sidon that led to two underground chambers¹. These turned out to be a royal tomb containing 18 magnificent marble sarcophagi dating back to the fifth century BC. The Ottoman sultan, Abdul Hamid II, ordered the sarcophagi exhumed², placed on rails and carried down to the Mediterranean³ coast, where they were sent by ship to Istanbul. The largest sarcophagus was believed to contain the remains⁴ of Alexander the Great. The coffin⁵ is not Turkish and Sidon is now in Lebanon, but the sarcophagus is regarded as Istanbul’s grandest treasure, as important to the archaeology⁶ museum there as the “Mona Lisa” is to the Louvre.

　　1887年春，一个名叫穆罕默德·谢里夫的黎巴嫩村民在西顿附近发现一口通向两个地下室的井。这是一座建造于公元前五世纪的皇家墓室，里面有18尊雕刻精美庄严肃穆的大理石棺。奥斯曼帝国苏丹阿卜杜勒?哈米德二世下令发掘这些文物，它们被装上火车运到地中海沿岸，在那里这些石棺被装船运到伊斯坦布尔。人们相信最大的石棺里安放着亚历山大大帝的遗体。这些棺材不是土耳其的，而且西顿现在属于黎巴嫩，但是这些大理石棺被看做伊斯坦布尔最伟大的宝藏。考古博物馆对它们的重视，丝毫不亚于卢浮宫看重“蒙娜丽莎”。

　　The mildly Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led by the Justice and Development (AK) party, likes to think of itself as the heir of the Ottoman sultans. The Turkish authorities have recently launched a wave of cultural expansionism, building new museums, repairing Ottoman remains, licensing⁷ fresh archaeological excavations⁸ and spending more on the arts. A grand museum in the capital, Ankara, is due to open in time for the centenary of the Turkish republic in 2023. “It will be the biggest museum in Turkey, one of the largest in Europe; an encyclopedic museum like the Metropolitan⁹ or the British Museum (BM),” boasts an aide to Ertugrul Gunay, the culture and tourism minister. “It’s his baby, his most precious project.”

　　伊斯兰正义发展党领导的温和伊斯兰政府（总理雷杰普?塔伊普?埃尔多安）喜欢以奥斯曼帝国苏丹的继承人自居。最近土耳其当局掀起一波文化扩张的浪潮，建造新的博物馆，修复奥斯曼时代的遗迹，准许新的考古发掘，在艺术方面加大投入。2023年首都安卡拉的一座雄伟的博物馆会向土耳其公众开放。“它会是土耳其最大的博物馆，是欧洲最大的博物馆之一，是类似于大都会艺术博物馆或大英博物馆的百科全书式的博物馆”文化旅游部部长图鲁尔?居纳伊的助手豪情满怀地说道，“这是他的孩子，是他最看重的工程。”

　　Turkey’s cultural plans at home are coupled with an unprecedentedly¹⁰ bold campaign to bring back treasures that it believes were stolen, which now sit in Western museums. These plans enjoy political support across the spectrum¹¹ and the backing of all Turkey’s museum directors. The campaign targets many more objects and museums than the government has so far let on. “We are not waging a battle,” says Mr Gunay. “But this is definitely a struggle in the field of culture. And we are determined¹² to boost our efforts in a more determined and more persistent¹³ way.”

　　土耳其国内的文化布局伴随着一场空前激烈的战斗，目的是要收回他们认为以前被盗走现在收藏于西方博物馆的珍品。这个计划得到了各阶层的政治支持并受到土耳其各个博物馆馆长的力挺。这场活动瞄准的文物和博物馆比迄今为止政府宣称的还要多。居纳伊说：“我们不是在发动战争，然而这的确是文化领域的斗争。我们将义无反顾，我们的努力将会更坚定，更持久。”

　　The Turkish authorities are using a mix of entreaty¹⁴ and threats to ensure they get what they want. They are refusing to lend treasures abroad, dragging their feet on licensing foreign archaeological digs and launching public campaigns they hope will shame Western museums.

　　土耳其当局用恳求和威胁的手段确保得到他们想要的东西。他们现在拒绝把文物借给外国，拖延颁发外国考古发掘的许可证，而且挑起了旨在让西方博物馆羞愧的公众运动。

1 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

2 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

3 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

6 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

7 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

8 excavations   

n.挖掘( excavation的名词复数 )；开凿；开凿的洞穴（或山路等）；（发掘出来的）古迹

参考例句：

• The excavations are open to the public. 发掘现场对公众开放。
• This year's excavations may reveal ancient artifacts. 今年的挖掘可能会发现史前古器物。 来自辞典例句

9 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

10 unprecedentedly   

adv.空前地

参考例句：

• The National-Day celebration this year was an unprecedentedly great occasion. 今年国庆日庆祝仪式空前盛大。
• "This is undoubtedly a good one," the teacher insisted. "Unprecedentedly good! Just listen -- " 洋教师说，“这文章写得当然好，而且绝妙无比，你们听——” 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

11 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

13 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

14 entreaty   

n.恳求，哀求

参考例句：

• Mrs. Quilp durst only make a gesture of entreaty.奎尔普太太仅做出一种哀求的姿势。
• Her gaze clung to him in entreaty.她的眼光带着恳求的神色停留在他身上。