諾貝爾獎能說明法國並未衰落嗎

PARIS — When France won its second Nobel Prize in less than a week on Monday, this time for economics, Prime Minister Manuel Valls quickly took to Twitter, insisting with no shortage of pride that the accomplishment was a loud rebuke for those who say that France is a nation in Decline.

巴黎——本週二，法國在不到一週的時間裏獲得了本年度的第二個諾貝爾獎，這次是經濟學獎。法國總理曼紐爾·瓦爾斯(Manuel Valls)很快登上Twitter，非常自豪地聲稱，對於那些說法國正在衰落的人，這是一次響亮的回擊。

“After Patrick Modiano, another Frenchman in the firmament: Congratulations to Jean Tirole!” Mr. Valls wrote. “What a way to thumb one’s nose at French bashing! #ProudofFrance.”

“繼帕特里克·莫迪亞諾(Patrick Modiano)之後，又一個法國人登上巔峯：恭喜讓·梯若爾(Jean Tirole)！”瓦爾斯寫道。“這是對法國衰落論的冷眼蔑視！#ProudofFrance。”

Some in the country were already giddy after Mr. Modiano, a beloved author, whose concise and moody novels are often set in France during the Nazi occupation, won the Nobel Prize for literature last week. The award helped to raise the global stature of Mr. Modiano, whose three books published in the United States — two novels and a children’s book — before the Nobel had collectively sold fewer than 8,000 copies.

莫迪亞諾上週獲得諾貝爾文學獎，已經讓一些法國人沾沾自喜。莫迪亞諾是一名受人愛戴的作家，其小說文字簡練、情緒多變，往往以納粹佔領時期的法國爲故事背景。該獎項有助於提高莫迪亞諾的全球地位；在獲獎之前，他在美國出版了三本書——兩本小說和一本兒童讀物——總共銷量不足8000本。

Joining in the chorus, Le Monde suggested in an editorial that at a time of rampant French-bashing, Mr. Modiano’s achievement was something of a vindication for a country where Nobel Prizes in literature flow more liberally than oil. Mr. Modiano was the 15th French writer, including Sartre and Camus, to win the award.

法國的《世界報》(Le Monde)也秉持這一觀點。它在一篇社論中指出，在法國衰落論甚囂塵上之時，莫迪亞諾的獲獎是對一個國家的認可。在這個國家，諾貝爾文學獎涌現得比石油還多。莫迪亞諾是贏得該獎項的第15名法國作家，加入了薩特和加繆的行列。

Yet this being France, a country where dissatisfaction can be worn like an accessory, some intellectuals, economists and critics greeted the awards with little more than a shrug at a time when the economy has been faltering, Paris has lost influence to Berlin and Brussels, the far-right National Front has been surging, and François Hollande has become one of the most unpopular French presidents in recent history. Others sniffed haughtily that while France was great at culture, it remained economically and politically prostrate.

然而這是法國，不滿情緒就像穿戴配飾一樣平常。經濟步履蹣跚，巴黎失去了對柏林和布魯塞爾的影響力，極右翼政黨國民陣線(National Front)的勢力急劇擴張，總統弗朗索瓦·奧朗德(FrançoisHollande)淪爲法國近代史上最不受歡迎的總統之一。在這樣的光景下，一些知識分子、經濟學家和評論人士對諾貝爾獎的反應無非就是聳了聳肩。其他一些人則傲慢地表示不屑，雖然法國在文化上很偉大，但在經濟和政治領域，它依舊不怎麼樣。

Even Mr. Modiano may have unintentionally captured the national mood when, informed of his prize by his editor, he said he found it “strange” and wanted to know why the Nobel committee had selected him.

就連莫迪亞諾本人也在無意中捕捉到了這種國民情緒。當他的編輯告知他獲獎一事時，他說自己覺得“奇怪”，很好奇爲什麼諾貝爾委員會選中了他。

Alain Finkielkraut, a professor of philosophy at the elite École Polytechnique, who recently published a book criticizing what he characterized as France’s descent into conformity and multiculturalism, said that rather than showing that France was on the ascent, the fetishizing of the Nobel Prizes by the French political elite revealed the country’s desperation.

阿蘭·芬基爾克羅(Alain Finkielkraut)是一名哲學教授，在菁英彙集的巴黎綜合理工學院(École Polytechnique)擔任教職。在最近出版的一本書中，他稱法國陷入了同質化和多元文化，並對此加以批評。芬基爾克羅說，法國政治上層對諾貝爾獎的盲目迷戀，顯示的不是法國正欣欣向榮，而是它身陷絕望。

“I find the idea that the Nobels are being used as a riposte to French-bashing idiotic,” he said. “Our education system is totally broken, and the Nobel Prize doesn’t change anything. I have a lot of affection for Mr. Modiano, but I think Philip Roth deserved it much more. To talk that all in France is going well and that the pessimism is gone is absurd. France is doing extremely badly. There is an economic crisis. There is a crisis of integration. I am not going to be consoled by these medals made of chocolate.”

“我覺得，用諾貝爾獎來還擊法國衰落論的做法很愚蠢，”他說。“我們的教育體系完全失靈，諾貝爾獎不會改變任何東西。我很喜歡莫迪亞諾，但我認爲菲利普·羅斯(Philip Roth)遠遠更該獲獎。說法國一切運行良好、悲觀已經消失，這種說法很荒謬。法國目前的狀況極爲糟糕。有經濟危機，也有融合危機。這些巧克力獎牌不會令我感到安慰。”

Robert Frank, a history professor emeritus at the University of Paris 1 — Sorbonne, and the author of “The Fear of Decline, France From 1914 to 2014,” echoed that the self-aggrandizement that had greeted the prizes among the French establishment reflected a country lacking in self-confidence. In earlier centuries, he noted, the prize had been greeted as something obvious.

羅伯特·弗蘭克(Robert Frank)是巴黎第一大學(University of Paris 1 — Sorbonne)的歷史學榮休教授，著有《對衰落的恐懼，從1914年到2014年的法國》(The Fear of Decline, France From 1914 to 2014)一書。他也認爲，法國掌權者對獎項的歡迎姿態，反映了這個國家缺乏自信。他指出，早前幾個世紀，人們把法國獲獎視爲理所當然的事情。

When French writers or intellectuals won Nobels in the mid-20th century, “there was no jolt at that time, because France still saw itself as important, so there wasn’t much to add to that,” he said. “Today, it may help some people to show that France still counts in certain places in the world. This doesn’t fix the crisis of unemployment, however, that is sapping this society.”

在20世紀中期，當法國作家或知識分子榮獲諾貝爾獎時，“不會帶來震撼，因爲法國人仍然認爲自己是個大國，錦上添花作用不大，”他說。“而今天，它可以幫一些人展示：在世界上的某些地方，法國還是很重要的。這不能解決失業的危機，然而，那纔是會侵蝕這個社會的東西。”

In academic economic circles, Mr. Tirole’s winning the 2014 Nobel in economic science for his work on the best way to regulate large, powerful firms, was greeted as a fitting tribute to a man whose work had exerted profound influence. It added to an already prominent year for French economists, as seen from Thomas Piketty’s book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” which became an immediate best-seller when translated into English six months ago.

梯若爾因其在“對實力雄厚的大型企業進行監管的最佳方式”上所做的研究，榮獲了2014年諾貝爾經濟學。學術經濟圈認爲他的成果產生了深遠影響，這個獎項實歸名至。法國經濟學家今年已經風頭很勁：托馬·皮克提(Thomas Piketty)的作品《二十一世紀資本論》(Capital in the Twenty-First Century)六個月前翻譯成了英文後，立即成爲了暢銷書。

Mr. Tirole’s work gained particular attention after the 2008 financial crisis, which revealed problems in the regulation of financial firms in the United States and Europe.

2008年發生金融危機之後，梯若爾的研究吸引了特別多的關注，因爲它揭示了美國和歐洲在監管金融機構的方式中存在的問題。

But some noted the paradox of the award going to an economist from a nation where the economy was less than shimmering, and where many businesses and critics bemoan a culture of excessive red tape.

但有人指出，這個獎項有其矛盾之處：它被頒給了來自法國的經濟學家，而那裏的經濟狀況相當糟糕，許多企業和批評人士都抱怨該國文化充滿了官僚作風。

Others like Sean Safford, an associate professor of economic sociology at Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, the elite institute for political studies known as Sciences Po, said Mr. Tirole, a professor of economics at the University of Toulouse in France, was notable for coming at a time of economic malaise and brain drain, when so many of the country’s brightest are emigrating elsewhere in Europe or to the United States. “The average French person, who is struggling to pay the bills, is not going to rejoice,” he said.

著名政治研究機構巴黎政治學院（Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris，也稱Sciences Po）的經濟社會學副教授肖恩·薩福德(Sean Safford)等人表示，值得注意的是，圖盧茲大學(University of Toulouse)的經濟學教授梯若爾出現在經濟困難和人才外流的時代，法國最優秀的人才中有許多正在移居歐洲其他地方或者美國。他說，“正在爲支付賬單發愁的普通法國人不會爲此感到高興。”

At a time when France is trying to overhaul its social model amid withering resistance to change, others said the award had laid bare the country’s abiding stratification between a small, hyper-educated elite and the rest of the country.

此時此刻，法國正試圖在抵制變革的強大力量下全面調整社會模式。有人說，諾貝爾獎暴露了法國受教育程度極高的精英小羣體和其他人羣之間長期存在的隔閡。

Peter Gumbel, a British journalist living in France who most recently wrote a book on French elitism, said that while the prize would provide some sense of national validation, the two men did not reflect the country as a whole.

在法國生活的英國記者彼得·岡貝爾(Peter Gumbel)最近寫了一本關於法國精英主義的書。他說，雖然諾貝爾獎能在某種程度上讓人覺得國家得到了認可，但兩個人並不能反映國家全貌。

“Undoubtedly the French ecosystem produces incredibly smart people at the very top end, who are capable of winning prizes, and who fall into a grand tradition, and that is what the French school system is geared to produce,” he said.

“毫無疑問，法國的生態系統在社會頂層造就了一羣極度聰明的人。這些人擁有獲獎的能力，遵循大傳統，而這就是法國的學校系統應該生產出來的東西，”他說。

As for the prizes countering French-bashing, he added, “The French are the biggest bashers of France themselves.”

在提到這些獎項能否反擊法國衰落論時，他還說，“法國人自己纔是最唱衰法國的人。”