经济学人198:法国政治小说 纯属巧合?

 　　French political fiction

　　法国政治小说

　　What if it were true?

　　如有雷同，纯属巧合？

　　When truth really is stranger than fiction

　　事实远比小说离奇

　　ONE pleasure of the French summer is the publication of political fiction in media usually busy with the soap opera of real political life. During the holidays, reporters let their imaginations run wild. Improbable alliances, liaisons¹ and betrayals are invented. Le Figaro, a conservative newspaper, ran a 17-part fictional² series in August entitled “Hollande departs”.L'Opinion, another daily, ran a 14-part series originally called “The kidnapping of Arnaud Montebourg”.

　　法国夏日的乐趣之一---媒体相传的政治小说通常都是取自于真正政治闹剧或政界风云。在假日里，记者们让自己自由驰骋在想象的大草原上。他们构造出不可能的联盟、伙伴和对手。保守派报刊费加罗报在8月连载了一部17期的系列小说《奥德朗的离开》。另一份观点日报则连载了一部14期的原创小说《阿诺德·蒙特博的绑架》。

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　　Other countries turn out political drama, from America's “House of Cards” to Denmark's “Borgen”. But the French seem keen on fiction based on real characters. In recent years directors have made films about serving, or recently active, politicians, including “La conquete”, a fictional portrayal³ of the rise to power of Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president. “Quai d'Orsay” was an entertaining glimpse into theatrics at the foreign office under a fictitious⁴ Dominique de Villepin, a former foreign minister.

　　从美国的《纸牌屋》到丹麦的《博根》，其他国家也有政治题材的电视剧。但是似乎只有法国尤其喜欢基于真实人物的作品。近些年导演们只做了一些关于服役、近期政治动作或政客的电影，包括《征服》。这部电影虚构的描述了前总统尼古拉斯·萨尔科齐的崛起。《奥尔赛码头》则是对虚构的前外交部长多米尼克·德维尔潘手下的外交部做了一个有趣的窥探。

　　Television does it too. A French series, “L'Ecole du Pouvoir”, followed five characters who met at the elite⁵ Ecole Nationale d'Administration in the late 1970s, ahead of the election of a Socialist⁶ president, Fran?ois Mitterrand, in 1981. One seemed rather like Fran?ois Hollande, the incumbent⁷; another resembled Ségolène Royal, his classmate, former partner and defeated 2007 presidential candidate.

　　电视媒体也很热衷政治剧。一部名为《学院权利》的电视剧讲述了19世纪70年代末在精英学校国家行政学院相遇的5名主角的故事。剧中背景为1981年，正值社会主义总统弗朗索瓦·密特朗当选前。其中一名主角就像现总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德，另一个就像他的同学塞格琳·罗雅尔。罗亚尔也是奥朗德的前女友，但她在2007年总统候选人选举中落选。

　　French publishers also like the stuff, although more often as apocalyptic⁸ futurism. Recent titles include “La nuit de la faillite”, a racy thriller⁹ by Gaspard Koenig, a former speechwriter for Christine Lagarde when she was finance minister, in which he imagines a New York trader provoking a default on French sovereign debt. Nicolas Baverez, a lawyer and writer, recently published “Lettres béninoises”, a novel set in a dystopian 2040 France.

　　法国出版商也很喜欢这种题材，尽管这类作品经常被当做世界末日的预警。最近一些作品名，例如加斯帕德·科尼戈的生动惊悚片《夜间破产》。他是克里斯蒂娜·拉加德就任财政部长期间的前演讲稿攥稿人。在影片中他想象纽约以拖欠国债来挑衅法国。律师兼作家尼古拉斯·巴维莱兹最近出版了一部小说《贝宁的文学》，其背景设定在2040反乌托邦的法国。

　　Why the passion for political fiction? The truth in French politics is often as strange as, or stranger than, such musings. A summer 2013 series in Le Figaro imagined Mr Valls as prime minister; in 2014 it happened. And in “The kidnapping of Arnaud Montebourg”, also penned by Mr Koenig, a group of libertarians snatch the former minister to stop him damaging France. The series was still running when Mr Montebourg was evicted¹⁰ from the government for criticising its economic policy

　　为何媒体如此热衷于政治小说呢？事实上，法国政治经常与这种小说思路一样奇特，有时甚至更甚。2013年夏天《奥朗德的离开》中虚构瓦尔斯担任总理，结果2014年这变为现实。在科尼戈所著的《阿诺德·蒙特博的绑架》中，一群自由主义者抓了前任部长以阻止他继续破坏法国。这部剧集在蒙特伯格因批评政府的经济政策而被逐出政府时仍在播映。

1 liaisons   

n.联络( liaison的名词复数 )；联络人；（尤指一方或双方已婚的）私通；组织单位间的交流与合作

参考例句：

• She embarked on a series of sexual liaisons with society figures. 她开始接二连三地与社会名流有染。 来自辞典例句
• One of Wentworth's favorite movies is Dangerous Liaisons. went最喜欢的电影之一是《危险关系》。 来自互联网

2 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

4 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

7 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

8 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

9 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

10 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。