“我的祖先被偷走了”：博物馆文物回归为何这么难？

2023.02.24
韩冰彬
难度：CSE9
课程导读

近日，德国将20件贝宁青铜器归还尼日利亚。长期以来，欧美博物馆一直拒绝返还文物，但随着参观者对馆藏来源的关注度越来越高，博物馆的立场似乎也发生着变化。2017年，法国总统马克龙承诺归还法国掠夺的非洲遗产。2021年，德国、荷兰和比利时政府宣布，将逐步确定哪些馆藏来自殖民时代的掠夺，并开始归还文物。在判断文物来源正当性的过程中，人们会面临怎样的问题？参观者在其中又扮演了什么角色？一起来听今天的讲解。

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本篇课程首发于2023年2月24日

英文原文

When a Visit to the Museum Becomes an Ethical Dilemma

By Charly Wilder

For museumgoers, the ethical dimensions of viewing plundered art have become impossible to ignore. Western museums are major tourist attractions, drawing travelers from around the world. But what responsibility do we bear as spectators for patronizing institutions that display what critics say are stolen works? Should we be asking how these museums got their treasures?

“There has been a great change of consciousness in the last years,” said Gilbert Lupfer of the German Lost Art Foundation. “More and more, visitors of museums have become interested in questions of provenance.” And most of them, he said, realize that works with a problematic provenance “can’t remain in the museum.”

European and American museums have long resisted calls for repatriation, arguing that objects from Africa, Asia and elsewhere were legally obtained, that they are safer where they are, and that passing time and turmoil have made it impossible to determine rightful owners. But in recent years, the scales have tipped.

As I wandered through the museum, I encountered, again and again, visitors who not only were aware of the contested provenance of some exhibits, but were connected to the countries from which works had been plundered.

“These are much more than just art pieces,” said Ayodeji Onime, a Nigerian visiting the Africa galleries, where the museum displays artifacts from the Kingdom of Benin. Knowing how they were taken “through bloodshed” makes the experience of viewing them painful, Mr. Onime said. These works “have a spiritual connotation,” he said. “It’s like a part of our ancestors have been snatched or stolen away.”

生词好句

1.ethical dilemma

道德困境
拓展:
dilemma
UK /daɪˈlemə/
US /dɪˈlemə/
n. 两难的境地（a difficult and unpleasant choice）
词义辨析：ethical vs. moral
ethical是公德，指一个群体的某种共识，在这个共识的基础上去判断对错，它更偏向于”规范”之意思；moral是私德，更接近于对道德概念本身的感知，与个体的”品德”有关。
work ethics 职业道德

2.museumgoer

英 [mjuːˈziːəmˈɡəʊə] 美 [mjuːˈziːəmˈɡoʊər]
n. 逛博物馆的人
拓展:
moviegoer n. 看电影的人
theatergoer n. 看剧的人
gallerygoer n. 看展的人
词义辨析：goer vs. viewer
goer不是一般的看，强调看的频次高（frequently），也就是指经常去看的人，甚至可以把”goer”理解成”爱好者”。

3.dimension

英 [ˌdaɪˈmenʃn] 美 [ˌdaɪˈmenʃn]
n. 方面（aspect）

4.plunder

英 [ˈplʌndə] 美 [ˈplʌndər]
v. （尤其指战争时期的）武力掠夺
拓展:
plundered art 掠夺而来的艺术品
同义表达：looted art
The twelve animal head sculptures were looted/plundered by the Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War.
圆明园十二生肖的兽首雕塑，就是在第二次鸦片战争的时候被英法联军掠夺走的。

5.impossible to ignore

无法无视

6.somebody bear responsibility for something

某人就某件事情承担责任

7.patronize

英 [ˈpætrənaɪz] 美 [ˈpeɪtrənaɪz]
v. 经常光顾
拓展:
patron
UK /ˈpeɪtrən/
US /ˈpeɪtrən/
n. 老主顾，常客

8.treasure

英 [ˈtreʒə] 美 [ˈtreʒər]
n. （本文）珍贵的收藏（a collection of precious things）；珍贵的东西，宝物（precious things）

9.consciousness

英 [ˈkɒnʃəsnəs] 美 [ˈkɑːnʃəsnəs]
n. 觉察，意识
拓展:
conscious adj. 有意识的
People have become conscious of the problem in the origin of museum collections.
人们开始意识到了博物馆藏品的来源问题。
consciously adv. 有意识地
I would consciously bypass that section every time.
我每次会有意识地避开那个区域。