1、The Euro 欧元 s Imagined Community20/03/2012 By Robert Shiller Great significance 意义；重要性；意思 probably too much has been attached 附加的；依恋的，充满爱心的 to a possible breakup of the eurozone. 欧元区 Many believe that such a breakup if, say, Greece abandoned the euro and reintroduced 再引入；再提出；再介绍 the drachma n. 古希腊的重
2、量单位；古希腊的银币名 would constitute 组成，构成；建立；任命a political failure that would ultimately 最后；根本；基本上 threaten Europes stability. Speaking before the Bundestag 德语(德国)联邦议院( 下院)last October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel put the matter starkly: 严酷地；明显地；毫无掩饰地“Nobody should believe that another half-century of
3、peace and prosperity in Europe is guaranteed. It is not. So I say: If the euro fails, Europe fails. That must not happen. We have a historical obligation 义务；职责；债务 to protect by all prudent 谨慎的；明辨的means at our disposal 处理；支配；清理；安排 Europes unification process begun by our forefathers more than fifty y
4、ears ago after centuries of hatred 憎恨；怨恨；敌意 and spilling of blood. None of us can foresee what the consequences 后果，结果；影响（consequence 的复数）would be if we were to fail.”Europe has had more than 250 wars since the beginning of the Renaissance 文艺复兴 in the mid-fifteenth century. So, it is not alarmist n.
5、杞人忧天者；大惊小怪者adj. 危言耸听的；忧虑的 to worry aloud about preserving the sense of community that Europe has enjoyed for the past half-century.In a fascinating, but largely overlooked book, How Enemies Become Friends, Charles A. Kupchan reviews many historical case studies of how nation-states with a long histo
6、ry of conflict managed eventually to become secure and peaceful friends. His examples include the formation of the Swiss Confederation 联盟；邦联；同盟(1291-1848); the creation of the Iroquois 易洛魁人（北美印第安人）；易洛魁语系 Confederation in the century or so before the first Europeans arrived in America; the establishm
7、ent of the United States (1776-1789); the unification of Italy (1861), and of Germany (1871); the Norway-Sweden rapprochement 友好；恢复邦交；友善关系的建立(1905-1935); the formation 形态；队形 of the United Arab Emirates (1971); and the Argentine-Brazilian rapprochement of the 1970s.Kupchan also examines 检查；调查 some no
8、table 值得注意的，显著的；著名的 failures of friendship: the United States Civil War (1861-65); the end of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1923); the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations (1960); the demise 死亡，终止；转让；传位 of the United Arab Republic (1961); and the expulsion 驱逐；开除 of Singapore from Malaysia (1965).Kupcha
9、n never mentions a common currency 货币；通货 as a condition of comity 礼让，友谊 among nations; in fact, economic integration 集成；综合 tends to follow, rather than precede . 领先，在之前；优于，高于, achievement of political unity. 团结；一致；联合；个体 Rather, he regards diplomatic adj. 外交的；外交上的；老练的 engagement 婚约；约会；交战；诺言 as the es
10、sential element to strategic 战略上的，战略的 accommodation 住处，膳宿；调节；和解；预订铺位 and mutual trust, and this is more easily accomplished if the states have similar social orders and ethnicities. 种族划分But Kupchans analysis implies that a common currency can help nation-states to build lasting friendships, for he a
11、rgues that friendship-building is most secure 有担保的after an identity-changing “narrative” takes root, leading to a sense that the nations are like members of a family. A common currency can help to generate 生成的；发生的 such a narrative. 叙述；故事；讲述For example, the Iroquois tell the story of a great warrior
12、战士，勇士；鼓吹战争的人 and skilled orator named Hiawatha, who, traveling with the mystic Deganawidah, negotiated the treaties that established their confederation. He advocated new condolence ceremonies to commemorate lost warriors and to replace wars of vengeance. 复仇；报复；报仇The new narrative was reinforced wit
13、h physical symbols, 符号；象征；标志 akin. 蛇行 to a currency or a flag 标记；衰退；枯萎 , in the form of belts 皮带（belt 的复数）；带子 of beads made of wampum, the Iroquois money. A surviving Hiawatha belt, dating from the eighteenth century (and probably a copy of earlier belts), contains symbols of the five nations Seneca
14、, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk much as the US flag contains stars representing each of its states. The belt also preserves Hiawathas status as the confederations forefather.Flags may be a more inspiring symbol of common destiny, but most of us do not carry them around, and many people never
15、display them, except perhaps at major sports events; their origin, rooted in battle standards, can seem uncomfortably aggressive 侵略性的；好斗的；有进取心的；有闯劲的. There is a European Union flag, but it is rarely seen anywhere but outside of EU government buildings.A British schoolteacher expressed the sentiment
16、. 感情，情绪；情操；观点；多愁善感 well in 1910: “We suspect the man who talks patriotism 爱国主义；爱国心，爱国精神 and imperialism 帝国主义, just as we suspect him who talks religion or any of the things that are of deepest value in life. We think him either a humbug or a shallow 浅的；肤浅的 person who has not realized the inadequacy
17、不适当，不充分；不完全；不十分 of words to express what is deepest.”And yet national currency, which we display every time we make a cash purchase, 购买；紧握；起重装置 arouses no such suspicions. So currency works as a constant, if latent, reminder of identity. In using it, one has the psychological experience of participa
18、ting with others in a common venture, and thus developing a sense of trust in both the endeavor 努力；尽力（等于 endeavour）and ones fellow-participants. 参与的；有关系的Every currency union chooses symbols of common cultural values for its coins and notes, and these symbols become part of the sense of shared identi
19、ty. We see the human faces on the notes so often that they come to seem like family, creating what the political scientist Benedict Anderson called the “imagined community” that underlies and sustains 维持；支撑，承担；忍受；供养；证实 a sense of nationhood.The euro notes feature v. 使有特色；起重要作用（feature 的过去分词）bridges
20、as they appeared throughout Europe in various epochs 新纪元；新时代, rather than images of actual structures 结构；构造；建筑物 that might seem to imply preferential 优先的；选择的；特惠的；先 regard for some countries. The town of Spijkenisse in the Netherlands is now in the process of building all seven bridges depicted 描述；描画
21、 on the euro notes. But the bridges remain symbols of European culture, in which presumably all Europeans share.Modern electronic technology will not eliminate 消除；排除 paper notes and coins soon, so there is still plenty of time to make use of the symbolic value of a common currency. Indeed, even if t
22、he eurozone breaks up, each European country could adopt a different currency but retain common symbols. For example, there could be a Greek euro, a Spanish euro, etc. The notes could even show the same pictures of bridges.Even electronic transactions. 交易；事务；办理；会报，学报 should be able to generate symbo
23、ls of peace, trust, and unity. The point is that if Europe can keep these symbols alive, even a eurozone breakup would not have the dire 直接的；直系的；亲身的；恰好的political consequences for Europe that so many predict.人们把欧元区可能崩溃的影响看得很严重也许是过于严重了。许多人认为欧元区的崩溃比如希腊放弃欧元，重新使用其货币德拉克马（Drachma）将意味着政治上的失败并最终会威胁到欧洲的稳定。德国总
24、理默克尔在去年 10 月的联邦议会演讲中毫不掩饰地指出： “没有人应相信欧洲肯定能享有另 50 年的和平与繁荣。这是不能肯定的。因此，我要说：如果欧元失败，欧洲也将失败。这决不能发生。我们身上承载着历史的使命，我们必须动用可以动用的一切审慎办法，捍卫欧洲的统一进程。五十多年前，在经历了千百年的仇恨和流血之后，我们的先辈开创了欧洲统一的进程。如果我们失败，没有人能预见会导致什么样的后果。” 为何为保持欧洲统一忧心忡忡 自 15 世纪中期文艺复兴以来，欧洲经历了超过 250 次战争。因此，为保留存在了50 多年的欧洲统一的观念感到忧心忡忡绝不是没有理由的。 在引人入胜但被大多数人忽略的著作化敌为友
25、（How Enemies Become Friends）中，查尔斯库普乾（Charles A. Kupchan ）研究了许多长时间冲突对立的国家，最终如何成为可靠与友好伙伴的历史案例。他的例子包括瑞士联邦（Swiss Confederation）的形成（1291-1848 ）、在欧洲人首次踏上美洲领土约一个世纪前易洛魁部落联盟（Iroquois Confederation）的形成、美国的建立（ 1776-1789）、意大利（1861）和德国（1871）的统一、挪威瑞典友好关系的重建（1905-1935）、阿联酋的形成（1971）及阿根廷和巴西的重新修好（70 年代）。 库普乾还探讨了一些著名的
26、化敌为友未果的例子：美国内战（1861-1865）、英日同盟（Anglo-Japanese Alliance）的结束（1923）、中苏关系的破裂（1960）、阿拉伯联合共和国（United Arab Republic）的分裂（1961 年）及新加坡脱离马拉西亚独立（1965 年）。 库普乾并没有提及共同货币是国家间友好的条件。事实上，经济一体化总是在政治联合之后（而不是之前）才出现的。库普乾认为外交才是战略融合和互信的基本要素，而具有相似社会秩序和民族的国家间更容易建立这种关系。 共同货币可促使民族团结 但库普乾的分析也表明，共同货币有助于民族国家建立持久的友好关系。他指出，友好关系的建设在身
27、份变换“叙述”（narrative）完成时最为稳固。此时，各民族彼此觉得像是同一大家族的成员。共同货币有助于产生这样的“叙述” 。 比如，易洛魁人中流传着一个关于伟大勇士和演说家海华沙（Hiawatha）的传说。他与神秘的德甘纳威达（Deganawidah ）一起穿行于美洲大陆，谈判确定了易洛魁部落联盟的相关条约。他建议使用新的悼念仪式来纪念死去的战士，从而避免冤冤相报的战争。 这一新“叙述” 进一步由实物符号来强化，类似货币或旗帜，是一种用易洛魁货币贝壳做成的数珠带。现今保存完好的一条海华沙带大约是 18 世纪的产物，很有可能是更早的海华沙带的复制品包括了五个易洛魁部落塞内卡（Seneca）
28、、卡育加（Cayuga ）、奥内达加（ Onondaga）、奥奈达（Oneida）和莫霍克（Mohawk）的符号。这与美国国旗包括了象征各州的五角星类似。这条海华沙带也保留了海华沙作为易洛魁部落联盟高祖的地位。 旗帜也许是较能激发共同命运的符号，但我们大多数人不会随身携带旗帜，许多人也不会随便展示旗帜，除非是像在大型运动会这样的场合。旗帜的起源战斗标志带有令人不安的侵略性。欧盟就有自己的旗帜，但除了欧盟政府大楼门外，你很难在其他地方见到它。 一名英国教师很好地阐述了 1910 年时的情绪：“我们怀疑大谈爱国主义和帝国主义者，正如我们怀疑大谈宗教或其他任何与生命最深刻价值相关的东西的人。我们认为
29、他不是骗子，就是过于肤浅，根本不知道最深刻的东西根本无法用语言表达的道理。” 但国家货币我们每次支付现金时都会展示一下则不会引起这样的怀疑。因此，货币可以作为恒久的（潜在）身份提醒。使用货币时，我们有与其他人共同参与的心理体验，并发展出一种对共同努力与对方的信任感。 所有货币联盟都会为硬币和钞票选择共同文化价值符号，这些符号也成为共同身份感的一部分。我们与钞票上的面孔朝夕相处，他们就好像是我们的家人一样，这催生出一种政治学家本尼迪克特安德森（Benedict Anderson）所说的“ 想象共同体”（Imagined Community ），而想象共同体正是产生和维持民族感的基础。 欧元钞票上
30、印的是欧洲各个时期的桥梁，而不是可能暗示某些国家特殊地位的实际结构的影像。荷兰鹿特丹正在建造欧元钞票上所印的七座桥梁。但这些桥梁只是欧洲文化的符号，而文化被认为是所有欧洲人所共有的。 现代电子技术短时间内还无法取代纸币和银币，因此欧洲还有充足的时间利用共同货币的象征性价值。事实上，就算欧元区崩溃，各欧洲国家也可以使用不同货币但保留共同符号。比如，可以让希腊欧元、西班牙欧元之类的共存。这些钞票甚至可以印上相同的桥梁图案。 即使是电子交易也应该也能够产生和平、信任和统一的符号。关键在于欧洲要能保住这些符号的活力，如果是这样的话，即便欧元区崩溃，也不会造成许多人所预言的政治后果。 作者 Robert J. Shiller 是耶鲁大学经济学教授。 英文原题：The Euros Imagined Community 版权所有: Project Syndicate, 2012.
