TED演讲:奥威尔现象(1)

 　　If you've watched the news or followed politics 如果你看新闻或者关注政治，

　　chances are you've heard the term Orwellian thrown around in one context or another. 那么你很有可能听说过“奥威尔现象”频繁地出现在不同的语境中。

　　But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, or why it's used so often? 但是你曾停下来想过这个词究竟是什么意思吗？它为什么被这样频繁地使用？

　　The term was named after British author Eric Blair known by his pen name George Orwell. 这个词是以英国作家埃里克·布莱尔命名的，他的笔名就是乔治·奥威尔。

　　Because his most famous work, the novel "1984," depicts¹ an oppressive society under a totalitarian government. 因为在他最著名的作品《1984》中描述了一个被极权主义政府压制的社会。

　　"Orwellian" is often used simply to mean authoritarian². 所以“奥威尔现象”经常被简单地指代专制主义。

　　But using the term in this way not only fails to fully³ convey Orwell's message, 但是这样使用它不仅没能完全传达奥威尔的意思，

　　it actually risks doing precisely⁴ what he tried to warn against. 甚至有可能适得其反。

　　Orwell was indeed opposed to all forms of tyranny, 奥威尔确实是反对各种形式的专政，

　　spending much of his life fighting against anti-democratic forces of both the left-wing and the right. 他倾其一生对抗反民主力量，不论是左翼还是右翼。

　　But he was also deeply concerned with how such ideologies⁵ proliferate⁶. 但是他也非常担心这种思想滋生扩散的方式。

　　And one of his most profound insights was the importance that language plays in shaping our thoughts and opinions. 他最著名的一个见解就是语言在塑造思想和意见中起到重要作用。

　　The government of "1984"'s Oceania controls its people's actions and speech in some ways that are obvious. 《1984》中的大洋国政府用一种明显的方式控制了人们的行动和言语。

　　Their every move and word is watched and heard, 他们的一言一行都被监视，

　　and the threat of what happens to those who step out of line is always looming⁷ overhead. 行为异常的下场时刻威胁着所有人。

　　Other forms of control are not so obvious. 其他的控制形式没有这么明显。

　　The population is inundated⁸ with a constant barrage⁹ of propaganda made up of historical facts and statistics manufactured in the Ministry¹⁰ of Truth. 所有的人民都被蒙蔽在“真理部门”捏造的所谓“史实”和数据中。

　　The Ministry of Peace is the military. Labor¹¹ camps are called "Joycamps." 和平部负责军事，劳动营被叫做“欢乐营”。

　　Political prisoners are detained and tortured in the Ministry of Love. 政治囚犯被“友爱部”囚禁和折磨。

　　This deliberate irony¹² is an example of doublespeak, 这种故意的讽刺就是“双重思想”的一个例证，

　　when words are used not to convey meaning but to undermine it, corrupting¹³ the very ideas they refer to. 言语不为传达却为扭曲其含义，曲解了每个观点的本意。

　　The regime's control of language goes even further. 政权的言语控制还有更甚。

　　Eliminating words from the English language to create the official dialect of Newspeak. 剔除媒体发布中的英语词汇以塑造官方说法。

　　A crudely limited collection of acronyms¹⁴ and simple concrete nouns 一个简陋、满是缩写和简单名词的集合，

　　lacking any words complex enough to encourage nuanced or critical thought. 缺乏能够表达细微和关键观点的复杂词汇。

　　This has an effect on the psyche¹⁵ Orwell calls, "Doublethink," 这就产生了一种被奥威尔叫做“双重思想”的心理现象。

1 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

2 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

6 proliferate   

vi.激增，(迅速)繁殖，增生

参考例句：

• We must not proliferate nuclear arms.我们决不能扩散核武器。
• Rabbits proliferate when they have plenty of food.兔子有充足的食物就会繁衍得很快。

7 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

8 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

13 corrupting   

（使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• It would be corrupting discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏风纪。
• It would be corrupting military discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏军纪。

14 acronyms   

n.首字母缩略词( acronym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Scratch the subject of defence and acronyms, abbreviations, and buzzwords fly out. 话题触及国防，缩合字，缩写字和行话就满天飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some acronyms as scientific terminology are used as a lexical item. 一些科学术语缩写用作词汇项目。 来自互联网

15 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。