VOA标准英语2009年-Poland's Communist Nostalgia at Odds w

Poles can now be fined or even imprisoned¹ if they are caught with a red star, a hammer and sickle² or even a Che Guevara t-shirt.

Hilary Heuler | Warsaw 15 December 2009

 

People wave Red flags in front of Vladimir Lenin's monument in Kiev, Ukraine, during a rally to celebrate its reconstruction³ (Nov 2009 file photo)

"The young people are rebellious⁴ a bit. They think about their future and their freedom, and they want to show that they are free."

Poland has recently passed a law banning symbols of communism.  It is one of the most extreme bans in Europe, and it is a law that does not sit well with the younger generation of Poles.

Evocative symbols of Europe's troubled past, such as the swastika, have long been illegal in a number of countries across the continent.  But now, Poland has gone one step further.  Poland has revised its criminal code to include a ban on symbols of communism.  And, Poles can now be fined or even imprisoned if they are caught with a red star, a hammer and sickle or even a Che Guevara t-shirt.

To some, it is a natural reaction for a country that suffered so much from communism under the Soviet⁵ Union.  But these days, many younger Poles are more likely to see communism as a source of satirical fun and creativity.

On one of Warsaw's popular party streets, young people crowd into a bar where everything - from the derelict retro furniture to propaganda posters - is designed to remind you of the 1970s. The bar is called Pewex, the name of a chain of hard-currency stores from the communist era where Poles could buy Western products - if they had the dollars.

The owner, 30-year-old Roman Gruchalski, explains that the bar plays on his own nostalgia⁶ for the past. His is the last generation to really remember communism and not all of the memories are bad.  He says, for children in that era, Pewex stores were like unattainable dreams and it was fun to collect Western things like empty beer cans and matchboxes.  And, he says, he just likes the style of design.

Sociologist⁷ Justyna Kopczynska from Warsaw University explains that young people in Poland realize that the communist government was repressive.  However, she says the way they are reviving it now is more about freedom and personal style.

"The young people are rebellious a bit.  They think about their future and their freedom, and they want to show that they are free," said Kopczynska.  "So wearing a t-shirt with Che Guevara doesn't mean that I am communist, but it means that I am trendy. The generation gap in our country is so huge that it's hard to make a compromise."

The ban was proposed by President Kaczynski's far-right Law and Justice party.  However, the governing Civic⁸ Platform party supports it, as well. Politicians from both sides have said that, because more people died under communism than under fascism, the law is justified⁹.

Twenty-four-year-old Lukasz Pawlowski says he agrees with the ban, if only because it protects the feelings of older Poles.

"I can understand that people who actually lived at that time, in the communist era, who were hurt by this system - it might upset them to see young people who might have basically no knowledge about this system and didn't live in that, wearing the symbols they don't understand. Wearing them probably just for fun," he said.

The ban includes a number of exemptions¹⁰ for artists, educators and collectors of communist relics¹¹.  And, so far no one has published an official list of exactly which symbols are outlawed¹². Critics have complained that the law is too hazy¹³ to actually be applied¹⁴.

One woman speculates that this is why there has been little public outrage¹⁵, even among the younger generation.

She says that the ban may be absurd, but Polish people got used to many absurd laws during communist times.  She says the Polish attitude is that there may be a law, but there is always a loophole.  She says, no matter what the government does, we will survive.

 

1 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

2 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

3 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

4 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

7 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

8 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

9 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

10 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

11 relics   

[pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸

参考例句：

• The area is a treasure house of archaeological relics. 这个地区是古文物遗迹的宝库。
• Xi'an is an ancient city full of treasures and saintly relics. 西安是一个有很多宝藏和神圣的遗物的古老城市。

12 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

13 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

15 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。