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BBC 6 分鐘英語—What's the point of museums? 博物館的意義何在?

2023-0420-6min-english-Whats-the-point-of-museums

許多著名博物館的文物展品其實是來自於掠奪他人的文化遺跡而來,目前正受到要求歸還的呼籲聲浪。一起來聽聽 BBC 6 分鐘英語對這個話題的討論。

What's the point of museums? 博物館的意義何在?

BBC 6 分鐘英語在 2023 年 04 月 20 日播出的節目 中討論的是博物館所扮演的腳色。

許多博物館被批評為在帝國時代偷竊古代珍寶,這些物品,如著名的巴特農神廟大理石,應該被歸還。BBC 6 分鐘英語的主持人貝絲和尼爾討論了博物館在 21 世紀所扮演的有爭議的角色。同時和往常一樣,節目主持人也會教導聽眾一些相關詞彙與表達方式。

本周的問題

位於倫敦的自然歷史博物館,有一個宏偉的入口大廳,幾十年來,這裡有一個令人印象深刻的恐龍實體大小的模型。但是這只標誌性的恐龍叫什麼名字?
a) 梁龍迪皮(Dippy)?
b) 翼手龍泰瑞 (Terry)?
c) 暴龍泰倫 (Tyrone)?

詞彙

artefact 藝術品
具有歷史意義的物品,特別是非常古老的物品。

hunter-gatherers 狩獵-採集者
以在野外狩獵和採集食物為生的人,而不是靠耕種莊稼。

(move) up the ladder 向上移動
進步;取得進展

onwards and upwards 不斷向上
變得越來越好;改善

exhibition 展覽
在博物館中展示文物藏品,或在藝術館中展示畫作

interconnected 相互聯繫的
幾個不同的事物之間相互聯繫或相關。

中英文稿謄本

BBC 6 minute English – What's the point of museums?

點此看英文原稿

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Beth
And I’m Beth.

Neil
London has many tourist attractions, from Big Ben to Buckingham Palace. Would it surprise you to hear that many tourists’ top destination is actually a museum? The British Museum contains thousands of important artefacts – objects of special historical interest, including ancient Egyptian mummies, an Aztec serpent, and the Rosetta Stone. In fact, London has museums on every subject, from trains to fashion.

Beth
But recently many museums have been criticised for stealing ancient treasures during imperial times – the age of the British empire. Many argue that these treasures, such as the famous Parthenon marbles and Benin bronzes, should be returned. In this programme, we’ll discuss the controversial role of museums in the 21st  century, and as usual, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Neil
But first, I have a question for you, Beth. Another of London’s most visited museums, The Natural History Museum, features a grand entrance hall which, for decades, contained an impressive life-size model of a dinosaur. But what was this iconic dinosaur’s name? Was it:
a)    Dippy the Diplodocus?
b)    Terry the Terradactyl? or,
c)    Tyrone the Tyrannosaurus?

Beth
Ah, I think the answer is Dippy the Diplodocus.

Neil
OK, Beth. I’ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Anthropologist, Professor Adam Kuper, has written a new book, The Museum of Other People, which discusses the idea that many museum artefacts were stolen and should be given back. Here he speaks to BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed, about two sides of the debate: one which saw European culture as superior, and another which didn’t.

Prof Adam Kuper
These are the two great ideologies of the imperial age. One is that all societies begin from a very rough base… We're all…our ancestors were hunter-gatherers at one stage, and then they go through the stage of farming, industry… all this while they're getting smarter and smarter, their brains are getting bigger and bigger, and they’re moving from primitive magic to sophisticated religion, then maybe on to science. So, it's onwards and upwards. And that's the imperial idea… and we're going to help these other poor benighted people up the ladder with us. And opposed to this there's this other 19 century ideology which says, ‘no, this is an imperialist myth. We have our own culture. There are no better or worse cultures, there are just national cultures’.

Beth
Imperialists believed that mankind progressed through stages, starting as hunter-gatherers – people who lived before the invention of farming, and survived by hunting and collecting food in the wild. According to this view, white European culture was best because it was the most advanced, so it was their duty to help local cultures up the ladder, meaning to advance or make progress. Adam Kuper uses the phrase, onwards and upwards to describe a situation where things are improving, becoming better and better.

Neil
Of course, things didn’t get better for everyone, especially the people whose land and possessions were stolen. An opposing view argued that each culture is unique and should be valued and protected.

Beth
The legacy of colonialism is now being publicly debated, but the question of returning stolen artefacts remains complex. Firstly, since many of these treasures are hundreds of years old, to whom should they be returned? What’s more, the history behind these objects is complicated. In the case of the Benin bronzes, for example, questions can be asked about the actions of local leaders, as well as the European powers.

Neil
So how can museums display their artefacts to reflect this complex history. Here’s Professor Kuper sharing his ideas with BBC Radio 4’s, Thinking Allowed.

Prof Adam Kuper
I want to see a lot more temporary exhibitions and the kinds of exhibitions that I would be interested in are not about one particular tradition, but about the relationships between different cultural traditions. Everything is interconnected. Of course, these connections are sometimes violent, sometimes oppressive, sometimes very difficult, sometimes very painful. But things are changing.

Neil
An exhibition is a display showing a collection of artefacts. Adam Kuper wants exhibitions to tell truthful stories by showing the relationships between cultures, and how events are interconnected – connected or related to each other. And these stories must include all cultures, going back almost to the dinosaurs.

Beth
And speaking of dinosaurs, Neil, it’s time for you to reveal the answer to your question: what was the name of the famous dinosaur which greeted visitors to London’s Natural History Museum? I said it was Dippy the Diplodocus.

Neil
Which was the correct answer! The 26-metre-long dinosaur was displayed from 1905 until 2017 when it was replaced by the skeleton of a female blue whale promisingly named, Hope. OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned starting with artefact – anobject of historical significance.

Beth
Hunter-gatherers 
were people who lived by hunting and collecting wild food rather than farming.

Neil
If someone moves up the ladder, they advance or make progress.

Beth
The phrase onwards and upwards describes a situation where things are getting better and better.

Neil
An exhibition is a display of artefacts in a museum or paintings in an art gallery.

Beth
And finally, the adjective interconnected describes separate things which are connected or related to each other. Once again, our time is up. Join us again soon for more trending topics. Goodbye, everyone!

Neil
Bye!

廣播原稿中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的讀者能夠快速了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是,提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同,因此碰到超出自己專長的領域,常常會啞口無言,無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考 6 分鐘英語的對白稿,既可以讓自我練習英語對話時有貼切適當的素材,同時也能順便學些道地的表達方式,實是一舉數得。

使用上,可以在聽完一、兩次原始廣播之後,試著一邊看中文謄本,一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後,未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

BBC 6 minute English – What's the point of museums?

點此看中文翻譯

尼爾
你好。這裡是 BBC 學習英語的 6 分鐘英語。我是尼爾。

貝絲
我是貝絲。

尼爾
倫敦有很多旅遊景點,從大本鐘到白金漢宮。如果你聽說許多遊客的首要目的地其實是博物館,你會不會感到驚訝?大英博物館裡有成千上萬的重要文物—具有特殊歷史意義的物品,包括古埃及木乃伊、阿茲特克蛇和羅塞塔石碑。事實上,倫敦有各種主題的博物館,從火車到時裝。

貝絲
但最近許多博物館被批評為在帝國時代—大英帝國時代—偷竊古代寶物。許多人認為,這些寶物,如著名的巴特農神廟大理石和貝寧青銅器,應該被歸還。在這個節目中,我們將討論博物館在 21 世紀所扮演的爭議性角色。像往常一樣,我們還將學習一些有用的新詞彙。

尼爾
但首先,我有一個問題要問你,貝絲。倫敦另一個參觀人數最多的博物館,自然歷史博物館,有一個宏偉的入口大廳,幾十年來,裡面有一個令人印象深刻的恐龍實體大小的模型。但是這只標誌性的恐龍叫什麼名字呢?它是:
a) 梁龍迪皮(Dippy)?
b) 翼手龍泰瑞 (Terry)?
c) 暴龍泰倫 (Tyrone)?

貝絲
啊,我想答案是梁龍迪皮。

尼爾
好的,貝絲。我將在節目中稍後揭曉答案。人類學家亞當.庫珀教授寫了一本新書《他人的博物館》,其中討論了許多博物館的文物被盜,應該歸還的觀點。在這裡,他向英國廣播公司第四台節目《允許思考》講述了辯論的兩方:一方認為歐洲文化是優越的,另一方則認為不是。

亞當.庫珀教授
這是帝國時代的兩種偉大的意識形態。一個是所有的社會都是從一個非常粗糙的基礎開始的……我們都是……我們的祖先在某個階段是狩獵採集者,然後他們經歷了農業、工業的階段……所有這些,同時他們越來越聰明,他們的大腦越來越大,他們從原始的巫術到複雜的宗教,然後也許到了科學。因此,它是不斷前進和上升的。這就是帝國的想法……我們要幫助這些其他可憐的愚昧的人和我們一起向上提升。而與此相對的是另一種 19 世紀的意識形態,它說:「不,這是一個帝國主義的神話。我們有我們自己的文化。沒有更好或更壞的文化,只有民族文化」。

貝絲
帝國主義者認為,人類的進步是有階段性的,從狩獵採集者開始—在農業發明之前,人們就生活在野外,靠打獵和採集食物生存。根據這種觀點,歐洲白人文化是最好的,因為它是最先進的,所以他們有責任幫助當地文化向上爬升,意思是前進或取得進展。亞當.庫珀使用了一個片語,onwards and upwards來描述一種情況,即事情正在改善,變得越來越好。

尼爾
當然,事情並沒有對每個人來說都變得更好,特別是那些土地和財產被盜的人。一種反對的觀點認為,每一種文化都是獨一無二的,應該得到重視和保護。

貝絲
殖民主義的遺留問題現在正被公開辯論,但歸還被盜文物的問題仍然複雜。首先,由於這些寶物很多都有幾百年的歷史,它們應該歸還給誰?更重要的是,這些物品背後的歷史很複雜。以貝寧青銅器為例,我們可以對當地領導人的行為以及歐洲的權力提出質疑。

尼爾
那麼,博物館如何展示他們的文物來反映這一複雜的歷史。下面是庫珀教授在 BBC 第四廣播電台的《允許思考》節目中分享他的想法。

亞當.庫珀教授
我希望看到更多的臨時展覽,我感興趣的展覽種類不是關於某個特定的傳統,而是關於不同文化傳統之間的關係。所有東西都是相互聯繫的。當然,這些聯繫有時是暴力的,有時是壓迫的,有時非常艱困,有時非常痛苦。但事情正在發生變化。

尼爾
展覽是一個展示文物收藏的展覽。亞當.庫珀希望展覽通過展示文化之間的關係來講述真實的故事,以及事件是如何相互聯繫的—相互聯繫或相關。而這些故事必須包括所有的文化,幾乎可以追溯到恐龍時代。

貝絲
說到恐龍,尼爾,現在是你揭示問題答案的時候了:在倫敦自然歷史博物館迎接遊客的著名恐龍叫什麼名字?我說是梁龍迪皮。

尼爾
這就是正確的答案!這只 26 米長的恐龍從 1905 年開始展出,直到 2017 年,它被一隻雌性藍鯨的骨架所取代,它的名字叫「希望」。好了,讓我們回顧一下我們所學到的詞彙,從古代工藝品開始—具有歷史意義的物品。

貝絲
狩獵採集者是以狩獵和採集野生食物為生的人,而不是耕種。

尼爾
如果有人向上爬升,他們就會進步或取得進展。

貝絲
不斷向上這個片語描述的是事情越來越好的情況。

尼爾
展覽是指在博物館中展示文物或在藝術館中展示繪畫。

貝絲
最後,形容詞相互關聯描述了相互聯繫或相關的獨立事物。再一次,我們的時間到了。請再次加入我們,瞭解更多的趨勢性話題。再見,各位!

尼爾
再見!

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