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Uncharted Territory

自分が読んで興味深く感じた英文記事を中心に取り上げる予定です

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Empty Space

 


先日ブログで記事にした本の丁寧な書評がありました。今回はempty spaceという語についての雑感です。本題に関係ありませんが上記の動画を見ると、シナイ半島が「サイナイ」と発音されていますね。

原発問題、民族紛争を小学生が解決!? 小4が「世界平和」を目指す驚きの授業
2014.3.31

「国防大臣による傀儡政権が暴走し、侵略しようとする傭兵部隊へミサイルを発射したところ狙いが外れて油田に命中、深刻な環境汚染を引き起こす」「少数民族が古からの民族の土地で独自の宗教国家設立の動き」「戦争で他国を征服して世界制覇を狙う独裁者に、閣僚によるクーデターが勃発」「ある海洋国が津波に襲われて産業の大半が崩壊。さらに海洋汚染、ハリケーン、原発での炉心溶融まで発生し、壊滅的打撃を受ける」「貧国の国防大臣が、首相の命令に逆らって軍事作戦を展開。隣国の油田地帯へ派兵し、これを占拠する」…といっても、これは現実のニュースではない。これらを引き起こしたのは、すべて小学4年生。アメリカ人教師ジョン・ハンター氏が、1978年に考案した「ワールド・ピース・ゲーム」という世界平和を目指すゲームを使った小学校の課外授業での出来事だ。


アメリカのAmazonでは下記にある「学習の7つの段階」を説明したPrologueまでを読むことができます。

ハンター氏はこのゲームで成功を収めるためには、正確な答えと正しい解決策である「知識」、試行錯誤を通じてしか得られない「創造性」、より深く幅広い理解である「英知」が必要と言う。そして「私は既知の当たり前の知識などより、時間をかけて形を成してくるような知識を重視する」と語っていて、掛け算や歴史の年号といったようなテストで正解するための知識を詰め込むのではなく、まだ見えていないもののために場所を空けておく(ハンター氏はこれを「エンプティ・スペース」と呼ぶ)べきだという。そこは可能性や潜在能力が生まれたり、新しいことを考えついたりする場所なのだという。子どもたちは数多くの問題に困惑し、失敗を重ねながらやがて理解して仲間と協力し、解決策をひらめき、その流れに乗って理解を実践に変えていく「学習の7つの段階」を経て、最終的に世界平和を獲得するという。そこでの数々の生徒のエピソードが本書『小学4年生の世界平和』(ジョン・ハンター:著、伊藤真:訳/KADOKAWA 角川書店)で紹介されているのだが、その大人顔負けの行動には驚くばかりだ。

このPrologueは The Power of an Empty Spaceというタイトルになっていて日本語版では「可能性の宝庫 – ぽっかり開いた「エンプティ・スペース」」となっています。アメリカでも標準テストを全国で導入して、学校や教師の成果にも活用するという流れになっているようですから、そのような流れへのアンチテーゼとして注目を集めているかもしれません。

訳書ではEmpty Spaceを「エンプティ・スペース」と訳されています。

(英辞郎)
empty space
空きスペース、(何もない)空間、隙間、空所
表現パターンempty [void] space

fill an empty space
空間[空きスペース]を埋める

fill the empty space in someone's heart
(人)の心に空いた穴を埋める

ただ、この先生は孫子の兵法書を授業でも用いているとあるように東洋思想に興味がある方のようです。「彼を知り己を知れば百戦して殆うからず」のようなものも孫子なのですね。

(Wikipedia)
知己知彼,百戰不殆。
If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous (literally, "a hundred") battles without jeopardy.

TEDの経歴で簡単に触れていますが、日本や中国、インドで学んだとあり、日本海沿岸のお寺にも行ったと本にありました。

During his university years, he traveled and studied comparative religions and philosophy throughout Japan, India and China. It was while in India, the cradle of Ghandian thought, Hunter, intrigued by the principles of non-violence, began to think of how his profession might contribute to peace in the world.

このempty spaceも東洋の師から学んだと本のPrologueにもあります。

When I became a teacher, I turned instinctively to the notion
of the empty space, but the lessons - I had learned first from my
mother, later from my teachers in the East - were not always so
easy to apply. Like any novice in the classroom, I found myself
reaching for the things I could count on. Rather than seeking to
create an empty space, I filled my students' days with as many
activities as time allowed, hoping for results that I could, to some
extent, control.

別にこの本は東洋思想の素晴らしさをくどくど語っている本ではなく、先生と子供達が試行錯誤するなかで学んできたものを伝えてくれている本ですが、仏教の「空」を意識してのものかもしれません。翻訳をせめるつもりは毛頭ありませんが、Empty spaceを「エンプティスペース」としてしまうとそのあたりの語感は落ちてしまいますね。

(Wikipedia)
仏教における空(くう、梵: śūnya、巴: suñña)とは、固定的実体もしくは「我」のないことや、実体性を欠いていることを意味する。空は時代や学派によっていくつかの概念にまとめられるが、その根本的な部分ではほぼ変わらず、いずれも「縁起を成立せしめるための基礎状態」を指している。
ただし、下述するように、この概念は初期仏教以来用いられてきたものではあるものの、とりわけ大乗仏教初期の『般若経』やナーガールジュナ(龍樹)の『中論』及びその後継である中観派によって、特に強調・称揚・発展されてきた概念であり、そこに端を発する中国仏教宗派の三論宗を「空宗」と別称する[1]ことからも分かるように、一般的にはその文脈との関連で用いられることが多い。
原語はサンスクリットの形容詞「シューニャ」、名詞形は「シューニャター」(Śūnyatā) でしばしば「空性」と漢訳される[2]。

(英語版Wikipedia)
Śūnyatā, (Sanskrit, also shunyata; Pali: suññatā), in Buddhism, translated into English as emptiness, voidness,[1] openness,[2] spaciousness, vacuity, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. In Theravada Buddhism, suññatā often refers to the not-self (Pāli: anatta, Sanskrit: anātman)[note 1] nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. Suññatā is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience.

脱線しますが、般若心経の色即是空、空即是色は英訳の方がずっと分かりやすいですね。

舎利子色不異空空不異色色即是空空即是色受想行識亦復如是

英訳1
O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form; that which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, formations, consciousness.

英訳2
Śāriputra, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form. Sensation, conception, synthesis, and discrimination are also such as this.

ハンターさんのことをまったく知らないままでの雑感になりますが、もしかしたら60年代、70年代のカウンターカルチャーの中で育った影響も無視できないのかもしれしれないとふと思いました。アップルのスティーブジョブズもインドに行っていて、自室で瞑想している写真があったりしますよね。

この本から東洋思想を読み取るべきだと言うのではありませんが、翻訳や外国語を通すとこういう語感は抜け落ちやすいものです。語学学習者としては、このような意味に現れない語感のようなものも大切にしていきたいですよね。

個人的には欧米の「禅」の取り上げ方には違和感を感じますが。。。(汗)

Mind is like empty space…
When the sun rises... empty space does NOT gain in brightness
When the sun sets... empty space does NOT darken
Light & dark are just phenomena within empty space that alternate with each other...

BUT the nature of the empty space itself remains unchanged.

Zen Master Huang Po

Presentation Zenのサイトでは生け花とempty spaceについて語っている記事がありました。こちらのempty spaceは「間」と絡めています。

September 14, 2009
10 design lessons from the art of Ikebana

The principle of Ma
A form of space seen in Japanese art forms, such as traditional Japanese gardens, and Ikebana, is Ma (間). Ma means empty, spatial void, and interval of space or time. Ma does not just mean the kind of empty space that is background; the emptiness is often arranged to be a focal point. Space is emptiness, yet it also has shapes. (後略)

*******

Lessons for your creative life
1. Empty space is as important as the positive elements. Learn to see space. Learn to create space.
2. Space allows other elements to “breath," to move, and connect — with each other and the viewer.
3. Empty space is a powerful amplifier, helping to create a whole that is more engaging than the sum of individual parts. (後略)

狭義の「語学学習」にはこのような要素が入り込む余裕はありませんが、英語教師でもないなら、いつまでも発音だ、文法だ、といった議論に終始するのではなく、広義の「語学学習」も大切にしたいですね。

そうそう、TOEICにはemptyが動詞としても使われていました。

Should we empty the recycling bin today?

動詞emptyはロングマンでは3000語レベルに入っていませんが(形容詞emptyは書き言葉、話し言葉とも2000語レベル)、オックスフォードは動詞emptyもOxford3000語に入れています。

(オックスフォード)
empty
[transitive] to remove everything that is in a container, etc.
empty something
He emptied the ashtrays, washed the glasses, and went to bed.
He emptied his glass and asked for a refill.

(中略)

empty something of something
The room had been emptied of all furniture.
(figurative)She emptied her mind of all thoughts of home.
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答えを用意しない教育

 

小学4年生の世界平和 (ノンフィクション単行本)小学4年生の世界平和 (ノンフィクション単行本)
(2014/03/26)
ジョン・ハンター

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今月はルワンダのことについて考えたりしていたので、興味本位で図書館から借りた本ですが、あまりにも面白くてオリジナルの洋書も買ってしまいました。選択と集中などが資格試験対策で言われたりしますが、こちらはあえて問題の複雑性をしょわせるところから始まります。



TEDのサイトですでに日本語に訳されています。教育や学習に興味がある方には日本語でよいので観ていただきたいと思います。

Big Thinkではエッセンスを語ってくれています。




自分が20代だったら、試験のような詰め込み教育が悪で、このような創造性を育むのが本来の教育だと短絡的に捉えてしまいますが、今ではどちらも同じくらい必要だと思っています。

いろいろ気づいた点もありますし、ちょくちょく紹介していきたと思いますが、こういう刺激的な試みもあるのだといち早く共有したくて記事にしてみました。
 

ディクテーションテスト簡単め

 
下記は映画『とらわれて夏』の一シーンです。Oxfordの3000語に含まれていないのはCanada, English, bud, besidesだけでした。ちょっと以下の部分を聞き取ってみてください。



冒頭)After your father left, I thought ………. I didn't think I would care about anyone else besides you.

40秒あたりの息子)………. see you again?

このシーンが聞き取れない場合、ナチュラルスピードに慣れていないことが主要因でしょう。ちなみにbudはbuddyの簡略形だそうです。

(オックスフォード)
bud
3 (informal)
= buddy
Listen, bud, enough of the wisecracks, OK?




予告編にあったpeach pieを一緒に作るシーンがデート映画向けという記事がありました。このブログには似合わないトピックですが、書き出しにピンと来たので。。。(苦笑)

'Labor Day' Movie's Sexy Pie-Making Scene Will Spice Up Date Night
by Jeanne Sager January 31 at 7:13 AM

Once upon a time, Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze told a love story with nothing more than their hands and a lump of clay. This weekend Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are about to attempt to do with peach pie for their new film, Labor Day, what the vase-making scene did for Ghost -- make it the go-to movie for romance seekers everywhere. No, there's no coincidence that Paramount is bringing this film to theaters two weeks before Valentine's Day.

They want to book up your date night. Now!

Because, after all, there is that pie. And oh what a pie it is.

Or what a pie-making it is, rather.

Peaches glistening with sugar. Winslet and Brolin's hands just barely brushing one another as they work their way through the moist fruit. Brolin gently guiding Winslet and Gattlin Griffith (the young actor who plays her son, henry) step by step through the process of crafting the perfect pastry.

The pie is the moment Adele falls in love with Frank Wheeler, despite everything he represents, and in many ways it is the essence of this movie: darkened crust on the outside with an ooey, gooey inside.

英文理解は同じ背景知識を共有していないとなかなかイメージできないものもあります。Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze told a love story with nothing more than their hands and a lump of clayという冒頭のつかみでピンとくるのは映画『ゴースト』を観たことのある30代以降でしょうか。タイタニックの船の舳先のディカプリオとケイトウィンスレットのポーズと同じくらい印象深いシーンですよね。



答えは以下ですが、本当に何てことのない単語ですよね。全体のトラクリはこの最後に載せています。

冒頭)After your father left, I thought I would be alone forever. I didn't think I would care about anyone else besides you.

40秒あたりの息子)Will I ever see you again?

ここでは「もう会えないの?」みたいに戸惑いを表していると思いますが、Will I …?やWill we …?は、TOEICでは自身の今後の予定を尋ねるときに登場していました。音に慣れていないと冒頭聞き逃しやすいので気をつけたいですね。

When will I find out if I got the assignment?

When will we begin marketing the new alarm system?

このシーンは言葉というのは一つの意味に決まらない場合もあることがわかる良い例でしょう。We've decided to go together.(一緒に行くことに決めたの)とお母さんが言ったのを聞いてWill I ever see you again?(もう会えないの)と聞き返しています。go togetherを「息子を残して二人で行く」と理解したのですね。お母さんがWe're all going.と「三人全員で行くのよ」と誤解を解こうとしています。

ついつい英語学習では「正しい文章を発すれば、相手に届く」と素朴に考えがちな気がするからです。確かに大事な出発点ですが、今回のように英語力がある人にでも違った意味に取られる可能性は常にあるわけです。TOEICのような実務で使う英語はこのようなことを出来る限り避けて、誤解のないコミュニケーションをすることが大事になるでしょう。(ただし、豊かにイメージを膨らませる必要のある広告などはこの限りではないです)

TOEICから学べることってまだまだあると思います。

(冒頭の動画のトランスクリプト)
After your father left, I thought I would be alone forever. I didn't think I would care about anyone else besides you.

I'm really happy for you.

We're thinking Canada might be a good place to start over.

Canada?

They speak English.

And you don't need passports to get across the border.

Thanks for your research, bud.

We've decided to go together.

Will I ever see you again?

What are you talking about?

Do you even care about what happens to me?

What?

You didn't think... We're all going.

Really?

I would never leave you.
 

first genocide of the 20th century

 
Al Jazeelaは月刊誌のアプリを提供してくれていて今月はルワンダ特集でした。そのWhat’s in a word?という記事の始まりが以下です。この記事はgenocideという言葉を巡って20世紀を回顧しています。

In August 2004, a German minister used a public platform in
a foreign land to "accept... [Germany's] historic and moral
responsibility" for the deaths of an estimated 65,000 men,
women and children massacred by machine guns or driven into
the wilderness to die. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's
minister of development, apologised for the killings which she
described as constituting genocide.


But Wieczorek-Zeul was not discussing the Holocaust. She was
talking about Germany's little known war against the ethnic Herero
of Namibia, which was a German colony when these atrocities
took place in 1904. While the history of the destruction of the
Herero is not well known outside of Africa it is regarded by some
academic specialists as the first genocide of the 20th century.

ドイツ閣僚の会見は以下のBBC動画の3分45秒あたりから見れます。



読んでいたAdichieのHalf of a Yellow Sunは1960年代のビアフラ危機ですが、Hereroが触れられていた部分がありました。

Half of a Yellow SunHalf of a Yellow Sun
(2007/09/04)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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'How can you ask what I mean? It's self-evident, starting with
Herero people.' Odenigbo was shifting on his seat, his voice
raised and Olanna wondered if he remembered how loud they
had been, how afterwards he had said, laughing, 'If we go on like
this at night, we'll probably wake Ugwu up, poor chap.'

'You've come again, Odenigbo,' Miss Adebayo said. 'You're
saying that if white people had not murdered the Herero, the
Jewish Holocaust would not have happened? I don't see a
connection at all!'

'Don't you see?' Odenigbo asked. 'They started their race studies with the Herero and concluded with the Jews. Of course
there's a connection!'

'Your argument doesn't hold water at all, you sophist,' Miss
Adebayo said, and dismissively downed what was in her glass.




恥ずかしながら全く知りませんでしたが(汗)、ウィキペディアには詳しく解説してくれています。

(ウィキペディア)
The Herero and Namaqua Genocide is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century.[1][2][3][4][5] It took place between 1904 and 1907 in German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia), during the Herero Wars.

On 12 January 1904, the Herero people, led by Samuel Maharero, rebelled against German colonial rule. In August, German general Lothar von Trotha defeated the Herero in the Battle of Waterberg and drove them into the desert of Omaheke, where most of them died of thirst. In October, the Nama people also rebelled against the Germans only to suffer a similar fate.

In total, from 24,000 up to 100,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama died.[6][7][8][9][10] The genocide was characterised by widespread death from starvation and thirst because the Herero who fled the violence were prevented from leaving the Namib Desert. Some sources also claim that the German colonial army systematically poisoned desert wells.[11][12]

In 1985, the United Nations' Whitaker Report classified the aftermath as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South-West Africa, and therefore one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. The German government recognised and apologised for the events in 2004, but has ruled out financial compensation for the victims' descendants.[13]

このウィキペディアの記事ではナチスとの連続性にも触れています。


 

MonkeyかGrantaか

 

Monkey Business International [US] No. 4 2014 (単号)Monkey Business International [US] No. 4 2014 (単号)
(2014/03/22)
不明

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IMG_0464.jpg

昨日ジュンク堂にいったら、Monkey Businessの柴田先生の直筆プロモーションがありました。ちょうど同じタイミングで、Japan Timesの書評でGrantaの日本特集が取り上げられていました。珍しく5つ星で大絶賛です。英語の先生で本物の英語を提唱するなら、どんどん面白い記事、雑誌を紹介してくれればいいのに説教垂れるだけの人が多いです。つい本当は本物に対して触れていないんじゃないのと疑ってしまいます。


GRANTA JAPAN with 早稲田文学 01GRANTA JAPAN with 早稲田文学 01
(2014/03/01)
村田沙耶香、岡田利規 他

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Grantaの特徴は日本語版と英語版が同時に発売されているところです。構成も全く同じなので、英語学習に役立てるとすればGrantaになるでしょうか。


‘Granta’ opens a window into Japanese literature

BY JAMES HADFIELD
SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES
APR 26, 2014

Granta 127: Japan, by Various.
GRANTA PUBLICATIONS, Fiction/ Nonfiction.
Rating: ★★★★★

With such a piddling amount of Japanese fiction finding its way into English translation each year, you learn to make the most of what you can get. So when this year’s Tokyo International Literary Festival marked the launch of not one, but two compendia of Japan-related writing, it felt like an embarrassment of riches. In addition to the latest issue of “Monkey Business,” the annual journal edited by veteran translators Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen, the festival welcomed the arrival of a Japan-themed issue of the British quarterly, “Granta,” released simultaneously in English and Japanese.

Edited by Yuka Igarashi, “Granta 127: Japan” boasts a fine pedigree: its contributors include recent Akutagawa Prize winner Hiroko Oyamada alongside various doyens of the contemporary Japanese literature scene, among them Hiromi Kawakami, Tomoyuki Hoshino and Toshiki Okada. And if those names don’t ring any bells (some are appearing in English translation for the first time), the international contingent — featuring David Mitchell, Ruth Ozeki, Adam Johnson, David Peace and more — probably will.


どれも短編なので、小説をふだん読まない英語学習者にもオススメできます。日本語で読んで面白かった短編だけ英語で読み直すというのも良いでしょう。Kindleなら英語版を1200円ちょっとで買えますので、思い切って英語版と日本語版の両方を揃えてしまいましょう。書評ではBut perhaps the most striking works of fiction come at the end of the book.と本谷さんと星野さんを最後に取り上げています。そのなかで星野智幸さんのピンクについて触れているのが以下です。

And in Hoshino’s “Pink,” the whole country seems to be going insane, as a prolonged heat wave drives people to engage in bizarre, cult-like behavior. Addressing environmental concerns, group consciousness and Japan’s remilitarization, it’s the most thematically dense piece here, culminating in an extraordinary passage that abruptly telescopes 19 years of anguish into a single paragraph.


ピンクを日英で抜粋したのが以下です。何気ない日本語を英語にするのには小説の方が向いているかもしれません。

「それで集団がトラウマになったのか」
「『自立』を謳ってた人たちが、あんなふうに雪崩を打つんだからね。でも今ならわかる。理性的に社会改革運動をしていたつもりだったけど、実際は自分の生き甲斐というか、価値というか、そういうのを感じたかっただけで、言ってみれば集団自分探しをしていただけで、見いだしたのは『自分』じゃなくて『自分たち』だったんだよね。だから、言ってることやしていることの内容なんて、いかようにも変えることができたんだ。自分たちの価値を感じられることのほうが大事なんだ」

'And so now crowds are a source of trauma for you.'

'That all these believers in self-reliance could suddenly turn into
a mob like that . . . but now I understand what it was all about. We
thought we were using reason to bring about a revolution in society,
but all we really wanted was to feel that our lives weren't useless, that
we had purpose, had value; we were each trying to find ourselves but
instead we ended up finding an "us". The content of the things we 
said or did didn't really matter. What was important was the feeling
of "us".'
 

ビヨンセと安倍首相が同じ扱い

 


毎年GWの恒例になった雑誌Timeの影響力のある100人。今年は日本人は安倍首相一人でした。ビヨンセと同じ写真1ページに推薦文という大きな扱いなのでご本人は満足されているのではないでしょうか。

この記事に興味を惹かれるのは誰が選ばれるのかと共に誰が推薦文・紹介文を書いているのかも同時に楽しめるからです。ビヨンセを紹介しいてるのはLean Inでさらに有名になったシェリルサンドバーグです。先日取り上げた作家AdichieのTEDトークを盛り込んだ曲について触れています。

Beyoncé
By Sheryl Sandberg
April 23, 2014
She's the boss

Beyoncé doesn’t just sit at the table. She builds a better one. Today she sits at the head of the boardroom table at Parkwood Entertainment.

In December, she took the world by surprise when she released a new album, complete with videos, and announced it on Facebook and Instagram. Beyoncé shattered music-industry rules — and sales records.

One song includes words by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “We say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much.’ ” Beyoncé has insisted that girls “run the world” and declared, “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss.” She raises her voice both on- and offstage to urge women to be independent and lead.

個人的にはサンドバーグもビヨンセも優等生的な感じがするので、それほどインスパイアはされないのですが。。。



ただ、彼女たちが提起している女性の自立という問題はホットなトピックのようで、最近以下のような本も出ています。Atlanticでも今月号で取り上げています。


The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should KnowThe Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know
(2014/04/15)
Katty Kay、Claire Shipman 他

商品詳細を見る


The Confidence Gap
Evidence shows that women are less self-assured than men—and that to succeed, confidence matters as much as competence. Here's why, and what to do about it.
Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
Illustrations by Edmon de Haro
APRIL 14, 2014



 

約束の舟

 
聖書の創世記つながりの話題ですが、映画『ノア 約束の舟』の公開は日本では6月のようです。

「ブラック・スワン」のダーレン・アロノフスキー監督が、ラッセル・クロウを主演に「ノアの方舟伝説」を壮大なスケールで描くスペクタクル歴史ドラマ。ある夜に見た夢で、世界が大洪水に飲まれ滅びるということを知ったノアは、強い使命感に突き動かされ、家族とともに巨大な箱舟を作り始めるが……。「ビューティフル・マインド」でもクロウと共演したジェニファー・コネリーがノアの妻役を務め、息子役にローガン・ラーマン、養女役にエマ・ワトソンがあたる。




ちょくちょく書いていることですが、この予告編の英語が聞き取れない方は、語彙力とか文法力ではないと思います。リスニングを含めた基本語の運用力を最大限に高めないといつまでたっても映画は無理ゲーの人でしょう。

Noah! What did He say?
He's going to destroy the world.

A great flood is coming.
We'll build a vessel to survive the storm.

What do you want?
Did you really think you could protect yourself from me in that?
It’s not protection from you.
You stand alone and defy me?
I'm not alone.

It begins.
Take the ark!

Is this the end of everything?
Beginning, the beginning of everything!



男目線になってしまいますが、お美しいジェニファーコネリーのインタビューです。



聖書の創世記が以下で、But with thee will I establish my covenant(わたしはあなたと契約を立てる)なんて部分は聖書だなと感じますね。聖書は映画のようにドラマチックではありませんが。。。

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
神は地を御覧になった。見よ、それは堕落し、すべて肉なる者はこの地で堕落の道を歩んでいた。

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
神はノアに言われた。「すべて肉なるものを終わらせる時がわたしの前に来ている。彼らのゆえに不法が地に満ちている。見よ、わたしは地もろとも彼らを滅ぼす。

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
あなたはゴフェルの木の箱舟を造りなさい。箱舟には小部屋を幾つも造り、内側にも外側にもタールを塗りなさい。

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
次のようにしてそれを造りなさい。箱舟の長さを三百アンマ、幅を五十アンマ、高さを三十アンマにし、

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
箱舟に明かり取りを造り、上から一アンマにして、それを仕上げなさい。箱舟の側面には戸口を造りなさい。また、一階と二階と三階を造りなさい。

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
見よ、わたしは地上に洪水をもたらし、命の霊をもつ、すべて肉なるものを天の下から滅ぼす。地上のすべてのものは息絶える。

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
わたしはあなたと契約を立てる。あなたは妻子や嫁たちと共に箱舟に入りなさい。

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
また、すべて命あるもの、すべて肉なるものから、二つずつ箱舟に連れて入り、あなたと共に生き延びるようにしなさい。それらは、雄と雌でなければならない。

聖書だ、教養だと大仰に語るよりも、ポップカルチャーに親しんでなじむのが結局、欧米文化になじむ近道になる場合もあるかもしれません。




改めて創世記を読んでみて、平和の使者である鳩のくだりがありました。

8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
ノアは鳩を彼のもとから放して、地の面から水がひいたかどうかを確かめようとした。

9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
しかし、鳩は止まる所が見つからなかったので、箱舟のノアのもとに帰って来た。水がまだ全地の面を覆っていたからである。ノアは手を差し伸べて鳩を捕らえ、箱舟の自分のもとに戻した。

10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
更に七日待って、彼は再び鳩を箱舟から放した。

11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
鳩は夕方になってノアのもとに帰って来た。見よ、鳩はくちばしにオリーブの葉をくわえていた。ノアは水が地上からひいたことを知った。


(ウィキペディアPeach symbolの項目)
The dove and olive branch[edit]
Christianity
The story of Noah in the Torah ends with a passage describing a dove bringing a freshly plucked olive leaf (Hebrew: עלה זית alay zayit),[Gen 8:11] a sign of life after the Flood and of God's bringing Noah, his family and the animals to land. Rabbinic literature interpreted the olive leaf as "the young shoots of the Land of Israel"[15] or the dove's preference for bitter food in God's service, rather than sweet food in the service of men.[16][17][18] Christians adopted Noah's dove and olive leaf as symbols of peace although Jews had never given them that meaning.


olive branchに関してはプログレッシブは比較的丁寧に説明してくれています。

(プログレッシブ)
olive branch
1 (平和の象徴としての)オリーブの枝. ▼ノア(Noah)の放ったハトが, 洪水の引いた印としてくちばしにくわえて箱舟に帰ってきたことから.
2 和解の印として差し出すもの
offer [hold out] the [an] olive branch
和解を申し出る.

ウィズダム英和は「オリーブの枝(平和の象徴) {聖書より}」というあっさりしたものだったのですが、ウィズダムは語法やコーパスによる例文が素晴らしいということがありますから、辞書それぞれで得意分野があるのでしょう。

ジーニアス英和には国連のロゴにまで触れていました。確かにオリーブの枝が書いてあります。以下は国連サイトでの説明です。

EMBLEM
Description:
The current United Nations emblem was approved on 7 December 1946. The design is "a map of the world representing an azimuthal equidistant projection centred on the North Pole, inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree, in gold on a field of smoke-blue with all water areas in white. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles".

Symbolism:
Olive branches symbolize peace. The world map depicts the area of concern to the United Nations in achieving its main purpose, peace and security.
 

What will your verse be?

 
iPadAir_Sumo.jpg

定期購読しているNew Yorkerの今週号の裏表紙が上記のiPad Airの広告でした。iPadの用途の多様性を示す一例として相撲部屋の使用例が挙げられています。キャプションは以下の通り。

In a training facility in Japan, an iPad allows sumo wrestlers to analyze their movements frame by frame. So they can refine their technique and find the perfect angle of attack.

相撲部屋がtraining facility in Japanとなっています。ついついtraining facilityを見るとフィットネスセンターみたいな運動施設をイメージしてしまいますが、相撲部屋みたいのにも使えるんですね。一応Wikipediaの説明も確認しておきます。

(相撲部屋の英語版Wikipedia)
In sumo wrestling, a heya (部屋?, lit. "room"; here as sumō-beya, usually translated into English as stable or training quarters[1]) is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. There are currently 43 heya (as of November 2013),[2] all but four of which belong to one of five ichimon (groupings of heya). They vary in size, with the largest heya having over thirty wrestlers and smallest just two. Most heya are based in and around the Ryōgoku district of Tokyo, sumo's traditional heartland, although the high price of land has led to some newer heya being built in other parts of Tokyo or its suburbs.

英語表現的な感想で言えば、an iPad allows sumo wrestlers to analyze their movements frame by frameのように動詞allowを使いこなせればネイティブっぽいですね。文章を多少変えましたが、allows you to do many useful thingsのような表現がTOEICにもありました。

This software allows you to do many useful things, such as create a web page, collaborate around a project.

この動詞allowに近い使われ方をするのが動詞enableでしょうか。

(ケンブリッジビジネス)
enable
› to make someone or something able to do something, or to make something possible:
enable sb/sth to do sth
This software will enable us to track orders more efficiently.
Recent technology has enabled the development of cheaper digital radios.

このような動詞を使えば一文で済ませられ、簡潔な英文が書けるようになりますので、意識して使えるようになりたいです。どうしてもIf we use this software, we can track orders more efficiently.と冗長に書きやすいんですよね。



相撲の広告は1月から始まっていた広告キャンペーンの一環のようです。ちょっと嫌みな始まりの記事ですが。。。

Apple’s Walt Whitman-Quoting iPad Air Commercial: A Little Corny?
Rob Walker
Tech Columnist
Jan 13, 2014

It’s been a while since Apple offered us a thrilling new product innovation — but at least the company has kept up a steady stream of glossy and attention-getting ads.

The latest debuted over the weekend, touting the iPad Air as a magical tool for creativity and progress. A minute-and-a-half montage offers a barrage of examples: explorers, photographers, musicians, children and sumo wrestlers do amazing things, thanks to this device. While all this flits by, we hear a monologue about poetry, quoting (a truncated version of) Walt Whitman’s “O Me! O Life!” promising us that “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” It ends with a question: “What will your verse be?”

上記の記事ではこのセリフの元になっている映画『いまを生きる』(Dead Poets Society)の動画も紹介してくれています。前のブログでも紹介したものですね。



“What will your verse be?”はAppleの日本のサイトでは「あなたの物語は何ですか?」となっていました。

この記事では、Appleの広告に込められたメッセージはiPadをウェブ検索や映画を見たりして受動的に使うのではなく、もっと主体的に創造的に使って欲しいというものだと語っています。

Then again, a slogan is exactly what it is here, and I certainly understand Apple’s larger goal. In real life, most people probably think of the iPad as something for reading, watching movies, playing games — consuming. Apple has always pushed the idea that its products don’t merely improve individual lives; they improve society, culture and the world. They are not for the passive masses, but for creative mavericks.

Certainly this spot fits that pattern. In fact it fits it so neatly that it feels, to me, pretty flat: safe, rote, expressing a sentiment that nobody could seriously disagree with. But maybe that’s what happens when the maverick idea goes mass.
 

Another Day In Paradise

 


以下のサビが有名な80年代後半の名曲。当時は社会問題への意識が高かったのでしょうか。

Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

Another Day In Paradiseという何気ない言葉の方がネイティブではない英語学習者には意味が取りにくいことがあります。下記のような意味で捉えているものがネットで散見されました。

今一度考えてみよう。
だって、今はパラダイスにいる君と僕だって、そうでない日があるかも。

以下のような受け取り方が自分にはしっくりきます。

天国にいる毎日
一年中過ごしやすい天候のせいか、カリフォルニアにはHow are you?と挨拶して、
(Just) Another day in paradise!
と答える人がいます。(他の州にもいると思いますが、、)
これは「いつもの天国の一日だよ!」っていう意味ですが、こんな超ポジティブなこと言われるとこっちまで楽しい気分になります。

「Another Day In Paradise」はフィル・コリンズの名曲にもあり、皆さんも一度はこの曲聞いた事があると思います。

この歌詞の中では皮肉っぽく使われてます。

(中略)

天国の中にいるような一日を過ごしていると考えている我々は、実は弱者を助けず、見て見ぬ振りをして過ごしているだけなんじゃないか?という批判の歌詞ですね。いろいろ考えさせられます。

歌詞を訳すとすれば、以下のファンサイトにあった訳が自然ではないでしょうか。



Top 16 - "Another Day in Paradise" by デヴィッド・アーチュレッタ

もう一度 考えてみてほしい 
きみとぼくは きょうも楽園ですごしている
もう一度 考えてみてほしい 
きみとぼくは きょうもまた楽園ですごすのだから

以下の英語のサイトにあるように、自分でもsarcasmやsatireとして捉えています。「これが僕たちの言う「幸せ」ってやつなのかい?」と皮肉を込めて問いかけている気がするのです。

5. Satire involves the use of irony and sarcasm to expose and reveal a societal ill or problem. Is the excerpt above an example of satire? Why or why not?

6. Read the lyrics to the song Another Day In Paradise and explain how Phil Collin’s incorporated sarcasm and satire into the song lyrics.

ちょっと興味深いと思ったのは、以下のような解釈をしている人もいたことです。こちらは教師の方のようで、皮肉ではなく読み取っています。

In my opinion, the meaning of the song “Another Day in Paradise” is quite clear. It sends out a message of how we should be thankful to live under a roof, with clothes, and food. The song implies to think twice before you waste anything, including food, money, clothes, etc. Our everyday lives is a paradise to the poverty-stricken society that burdens millions of people in America and all over the world

他に貧しい人たちがいるのだから、慎ましい生活だとしても家も食べるものにも困っていない我々は楽園にいるのだよという解釈です。まあ、こちらはとことん他者への苦しみへの理解がない解釈の仕方ですが。。。いろいろな人がいるのと同じくいろいろな先生がいるものですねえ。困った(汗)

とりあえず、ネイティブでも解釈が分かれることはあるのだなというエピソードでした。
 

Why English Matters

 
イギリスのカンニング騒動でどのようなプレスリリースを出しているか確認するためにETSのサイトを訪問してみました。残念ながらその件については見つけられなかったのですが、ビジネスでの英語の重要性を訴えて、TOEICをアピールするプロモーションサイトWhy English Mattersが開設されていたのを知りました。

TOEIC® Program Launches New 'Why English Matters' Website
Web-based documentary series spotlights the importance of English communication in international business


Princeton, NJ (April 9, 2014) —
The TOEIC Program recently launched Why English Matters, a new content-based website that seeks to build awareness and share information about the important role that English-language proficiency plays in the global economy.

Why English Matters features a new video documentary series that explores the role of English through interviews with human resource managers and decision makers from leading global organizations. The site also features related research and news articles about the impact of effective English communication skills for the international workforce.

"Since English is the official language of more than 70 countries, it is crucial for businesses that operate in a global economy to maintain a labor pool that is composed of competent English language communicators," said David Hunt, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of ETS's Global Division. "Through the Why English Matters site, we can provide these important stakeholders with the most relevant, up-to-date information and resources for developing and maintaining a capable English speaking workforce."

基本的なプレスリリースのパラグラフ構成、発表事項のまとめ、詳細の補足、担当者のコメントという流れをこのプレスリリースも従っています。「詳細の補足」で以下のように説明しているように、サイトでは動画とデータ、メディア記事の3つで構成されています。

Why English Matters features a new video documentary series that explores the role of English through interviews with human resource managers and decision makers from leading global organizations. The site also features related research and news articles about the impact of effective English communication skills for the international workforce.


例えばサイトで紹介されている記事には以下のようなものがありました。

Bridgestone Adopts English as Official Language in Global Push
By Anna Mukai October 17, 2013

紹介動画は以下です。英語学習者向けのサイトなので、トランスクリプトも見れるようになっています。



For business to be successful in today's global economy.
It takes more than having a superior product.

Or smart distribution.
It takes international communication, And one language unites companies around the
world: English.

More than ever, English skill is becoming as important as technical skill.
It has the power to take an employee from behind the scenes to the frontlines, enhance
collaboration among co-workers, even turn a local business into a global company.

In today's competitive landscape, English proficiency is a business imperative. Without
it, your company can't unleash the full potential of human capital limiting future
growth.

So how do you leverage the power of English within your company to help ensure
success?

Introducing a new documentary series, Why English Matters, presented by The TOEIC
Program. Each episode demonstrates how critical an English-proficient workforce is for
business and the advantages it provides to organizations and companies around the
world.

Why English Matters features in-depth interviews with executives, human resource
directors and employees from leading multinational companies. The series highlights
how English proficiency accelerates productivity, inspires innovation and helps you build
a strong, International workforce.

Watch Why English Matters and get the Information that matters to you and
the success of your company.

英語学習的にプロモーションやプレゼンでよくみかける動詞enhance, unleash, leverage, accelerateを確認しておきます。

Enhance
 collaboration among co-workers.

Without
it, your company can't unleash the full potential of human capital limiting future
growth.

So how do you leverage the power of English within your company to help ensure
success?

English proficiency accelerates productivity

どれも改善、向上、活用など前向きなことを伝えるために積極的に使われていると思います。

日本では英語教師がTOEICに関わることがほとんどですから、どうしても英語学習の側面からだけでTOEICが語られがちです。ビジネスの面からどうして英語が必要か、TOEICをどのように活用できるか、などを検討することも社会人の英語には重要なことだと思います。TOEIC業界にもそのような人々が関わってくれるようになって欲しいです。
 

Braintrustのすすめ

 

ピクサーの社長を務めているEd Catmullが先月Creativity, Inc.という本を出しましたが、Fast Companyとう雑誌のサイトで抜粋を読むことができます。ピクサーといえども失敗は不可欠なので、率直な意見を交わす場が必要だそうで、それがBraintrustという仕組みのようです。


Creativity, Inc.Creativity, Inc.
(2014/04/08)
President of Pixar and Disney Animation Ed Catmull

商品詳細を見る


(コリンズ)
brains trust
a group of knowledgeable people who discuss topics in public or on radio or television
Also called: brain trust (US) a group of experts who advise the government

(ケンブリッジ)
brains trust
UK old-fashioned ( US brain trust)
› a group of experts who give advice to a leader or organization, especially advice relating to planning:
A brains trust of scientists will staff the university's new biosciences institute.
He became part of the president's brain trust during his first presidential campaign.


INSIDE THE PIXAR BRAINTRUST
IN THIS EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM CREATIVITY, INC., ED CATMULL UNVEILS ONE OF HIS KEY MANAGEMENT TOOLS--THE PIXAR BRAINTRUST, WHICH HAS HELPED THE ANIMATION POWERHOUSE SCORE 14 BOX OFFICE HITS IN A ROW.
BY ED CATMULL

A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms. Our decision making is better when we draw on the collective knowledge and unvarnished opinions of the group. Candor is the key to collaborating effectively. Lack of candor leads to dysfunctional environments. So how can a manager ensure that his or her working group, department, or company embraces candor? By putting mechanisms in place that explicitly say it is valuable. One of Pixar's key mechanisms is the Braintrust, which we rely on to push us toward excellence and to root out mediocrity. It is our primary delivery system for straight talk. The Braintrust meets every few months or so to assess each movie we're making. Its premise is simple: Put smart, passionate people in a room together, charge them with identifying and solving problems, and encourage them to be candid. The Braintrust is not foolproof, but when we get it right, the results are phenomenal.

While I attend and participate in almost all Braintrust meetings, I see my primary role as making sure that the compact upon which the meetings are based is protected and upheld. This part of our job is never done because you can't totally eliminate the blocks to candor. The fear of saying something stupid and looking bad, of offending someone or being intimidated, of retaliating or being retaliated against--they all have a way of reasserting themselves. And when they do, you must address them squarely.


以下の部分でBraintrustというのはどういうものか説明してくれています。大きな特徴を2つあげています。無理して3つあげなくてもいいんですね(苦笑)

You may be thinking, How is the Braintrust different from any other feedback mechanism?

There are two key differences, as I see it. The first is that the Braintrust is made up of people with a deep understanding of storytelling, who usually have been through the process themselves. While the directors welcome critiques from many sources, they particularly prize feedback from fellow storytellers. The second difference is that the Braintrust has no authority. The director does not have to follow any of the specific suggestions. After a Braintrust meeting, it is up to him or her to figure out how to address the feedback. Giving the Braintrust no power to mandate solutions affects the dynamics of the group in ways I believe are essential.

While problems in a film are fairly easy to identify, the sources of those problems are often extraordinarily difficult to assess. A mystifying plot twist or a less-than-credible change of heart in our main character is often caused by subtle, underlying issues elsewhere in the story. Think of it as a patient complaining of knee pain that stems from his fallen arches. If you operated on the knee, it wouldn't just fail to alleviate the pain, it could easily compound it. To alleviate the pain, you have to identify and deal with the root of the problem. The Braintrust's notes, then, are intended to bring the true causes of problems to the surface--not to demand a specific remedy. We don't want the Braintrust to solve a director's problem because we believe that, in all likelihood, our solution won't be as good as the one the director and his or her creative team comes up with.

記事の後半は具体的なエピーソードを交えて、braintrustがどのように映画制作に関わっていたのか知る事ができます。

An important corollary to the assertion that the Braintrust must be candid is that filmmakers must be ready to hear the truth; candor is only valuable if the person on the receiving end is open to it and willing, if necessary, to let go of things that don't work. Jonas Rivera, the producer of Pete's film, tries to make that painful process easier by "headlining" the main points of a Braintrust session--distilling the many observations down to a digestible takeaway. Once this meeting wrapped up, this is what he did for Pete, ticking off the areas that seemed the most problematic, reminding him of the scenes that resonated most. "So what do we blow up?" Jonas asked. "And what do you love? Is what you loved about the film different now than it was when we started?"

この記事では他にもいろいろと学んだことを共有してくれています。変化は不可欠だから、受入れていくしかないというのはありふれたものかもしれませんが、彼のような人物が言えば説得力がありますね。ピクサーのようなスタジオでも変化を受入れていかなくてはいけないとは。。。

ED CATMULL ON WHY THINGS WILL ALWAYS GO WRONG—EVEN AT PIXAR
IN A WIDE-RANGING CONVERSATION WITH FAST COMPANY, CATMULL--THE PRESIDENT OF PIXAR, WHO HAS LED THE ANIMATION POWERHOUSE TO 14 NO. 1 HITS--SHARES HIS MANAGEMENT SECRETS.

Think about our industry, or the things that your readers are facing: The underlying technology continues to change, successful people are always getting older and aging out, and everyone is drawing new conclusions about what really works. There is no stable place. But there is this illusion that somehow you can get to a stable place, figure it all out. People have their fear: They want to be in a secure place; they want to know what to do; they want people to tell them what to do. And there isn't anything that can remove that underlying piece of human nature. It is when we try to avoid, stop, or control change that we get into trouble.

So it's better to try to recognize that life is change, to face toward the problems. Now, that's an old saying, right? Every time I say something like that I think, Oh, actually, I've heard that before. But it's true, and that's the way I look at it.
 

きっかけはルワンダだった

 
今年プリツカー賞を受賞したい坂茂さんは、1994年はルワンダ難民のシェルターを設計していたのですね。てっきり1995年の阪神淡路大震災がきっかけだと思っていました。



ジャパンタイムズ
I’d also like to ask about your disaster-relief work, which I believe began with the Rwanda refugee camps set up during and after the genocide there in the 1990s. You obviously have a very strong notion of an architect’s social responsibility.

That’s right. Architects tend to work with the privileged classes of society. Historically speaking, it is people with money or political power who hire architects to change that power into something visible, a symbol of their status.

I realized this when I started working as an architect, and it was actually very disappointing. But at the same time I also noticed how, when disasters happen, people lose their houses or they suffer through lack of shelter — and I realized that this was where we could help. I had seen photos of the Rwanda refugee camps and so I went to the UNHCR in Geneva to make suggestions about how they could be improved.

How did they respond?

At that time they were having problems with their tents in Rwanda. They had been using local wood and 4×6-meter tarpaulin sheets, but there was not enough wood, so people were cutting down trees and causing deforestation.

The UNHCR then switched to aluminum frames, but that was problematic too, because in Africa aluminum is a valuable commodity and so the refugees would sell the tubing and go back to cutting down trees. I was suggesting something completely new — that the frames could be made with paper tubes — and so the timing was good.

What was it like to go and actually build those in Rwanda?

It was an eye-opening experience. I went with the intention of providing the people with more comfortable shelters — but I realized that if you give them shelters that are too good, then they lose their motivation to ever go back to rebuild their own homes. You need to provide just the bare minimum.

Anyway, my task was to come up with a material that could be used instead of wood. The budget was just $50 for each shelter, and we achieved that.

 

Adichieとビヨンセ

 


60年代後半のビアフラの悲劇を取り上げた『半分のぼった太陽』という映画が夏に公開されるようです。80年代のバンドエイドがエチオピアの危機を前に結成されたように、この悲劇をきっかけに国境なき医師団が設立されたそうです。Americanahで知った作家ですが、今ちょうどこの本を読み始めたところです。


Half of a Yellow SunHalf of a Yellow Sun
(2007/01)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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ポップカルチャー的にはビヨンセが彼女のTEDトークを曲にしたことが話題になっているようです。

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie On The TEDx Talk Beyonce Sampled And Why We Should Forget Feminism's 'Baggage'

Posted: 03/06/2014 3:53 pm EST Updated: 03/19/2014 5:59 pm EDT


"Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes."

This line is most famous for being in the middle of Beyonce's "Flawless," but before we were associating those words with Queen Bey, they were spoken by Nigerian author and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie during an April 2013 TEDx talk.

The 36-year-old novelist was born and raised in Nigeria, where she lives with her husband, after spending many years in the United States completing an undergraduate and two Master's degrees. Ngozi is best known for her books -- Half of a Yellow Sun (which was adapted into a film that will be released this summer) and the critically praised Americanah, which was named one of the New York Times Book Review's best books of 2013.

And now of course, people have been praising Adichie for bringing feminist activism into mainstream pop culture. (She is also quite vocal on other social issues, including being an outspoken opponent of Nigeria's anti-gay legislation.)






記事では前向きに答えてくれていますが、動画インタビューでは乗り気ではなさそうです。


Friday, 11 April 2014
Chimamanda: Beyonce is helping feminist talk

Chimamanda: Beyonce is helping feminist talkChimamanda Ngozi Adichie thinks more women are talking about feminism because of Beyonce.Chimamanda: Beyonce is helping feminist talkChimamanda Ngozi Adichie thinks more women are talking about feminism because of Beyonce.The Nigerian novelist, whose TED talk about women being expected to aspire to marriage, was sampled on Beyonce's track 'Flawless', thinks the 'XO' hitmaker is inspiring.">nda Ngozi Adichie thinks more women are talking about feminism because of Beyonce.

The Nigerian novelist, whose TED talk about women being expected to aspire to marriage, was sampled on Beyonce's track 'Flawless', thinks the 'XO' hitmaker is inspiring.

She told The Times newspaper: ''Because of Beyonce many young women are talking about feminism and hopefully young men because she has such a following.''



 

Resolution 2150

 

永遠平和のために/啓蒙とは何か 他3編 (光文社古典新訳文庫)永遠平和のために/啓蒙とは何か 他3編 (光文社古典新訳文庫)
(2006/09/07)
カント

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先ほどの哲学の重要性に英語学習を結びつけようとすれば、英語の一次資料に当たって自分なりに考えてみることも重要なことでしょう。カントはどうしても説教臭く感じてしまいますが、中山元さんの訳で確認してみます。

啓蒙とは人間がみずから招いた未成年の状態から抜け出ることだ。未成年の状態とは、他人の指示を仰がなければ自分の理性を使うことができないということである。人間が未成年の状態にあるのは、理性がないからではなく、他人の指示を仰がないと、自分の理性を使う決意も勇気ももてないからなのだ。だから人間はみずからの責任において、未成年の状態にとどまっていることになる。こうして、啓蒙の標語とでもいうものがあるとすれば、それは「知る勇気をもて」だ。すなわち「自分の理性を使う勇気を持て!」ということだ。

英語訳
Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.





ルワンダの虐殺20周年を迎えて、genocideの撲滅を確認する安保理決議がなされたそうです。あまり報道されていないので、正直何を決議したのか分かりません(汗)国際社会に対して強制力のある決議というよりも、このような悲劇を繰り返さないための決意表明に近そうです。

Security Council president in 1994 apologizes for UN refusal to recognize Rwanda genocide
Article by: EDITH M. LEDERER , Associated Press Updated: April 16, 2014 - 7:15 PM

Rwandan genocide: Security Council told failure of political will led to ‘cascade of human tragedy’
16 April 2014 – The Security Council today marked the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide by calling on all countries to recommit to prevent and fight such serious crimes, as a senior United Nations official warned that many of today’s conflicts reveal that protection of populations from atrocities remains “lagging and elusive.”

Unanimously adopting a new resolution during a special meeting devoted to commemorating what UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson referred to as “one of the darkest chapters in human history,” the Council underscored the importance of taking into account the lessons learned from those tragic 100 days in 1994, when genocide was committed against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which Hutu and others who opposed the genocide were also killed.

“As we mark the passage of 20 years since the genocide, we also pay special tribute to the impressive work of the Rwandan people for their own recovery and reconciliation,” said Mr. Eliasson in opening remarks, emphasizing that in the years since the tragedy, “Rwanda has come a long way” and is one of the few countries that have established a national institution dedicated to the prevention of genocide.

一番のニュースは当時の安保理議長が当時の不作為を謝罪したことになるのでしょうか。

Also addressing the meeting was the former Permanent Representative of New Zealand, Colin Keating, who, in April 1994, held the presidency of the Security Council, “which refused to recognize that genocide was being perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda and failed in its responsibilities to reinforce the UN peacekeeping mission [there] in order to protect as many innocent civilians as possible.”

“My first responsibility today is to remember the victims, the almost 1 million who died, and the survivors…this briefing also provides a fitting opportunity, for me in my capacity as former President of the Council, to apologize for what we failed to do in 1994 and for that to be formally recorded in the official records of the Security Council,” he said.

Mr. Keating went on to describe the series of now well-known events of March and April 1994, during which the Council failed to recognize – or acknowledge – the signals that genocide could be sparked in Rwanda. “Even after the genocide had begun, events were being described for several weeks as simply a resurgence of the civil war. The wholesale slaughter of civilians was not being conveyed to the Council.”

安保理のサイトでは議事録が掲載されていて、決議の全文も合わせて確認できます。パワー国連大使のコメントも出席者の中に含まれています。

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
Security Council
7155th Meeting (AM)

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 2150 (2014), SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS FOR

RECOMMITMENT TO FIGHT AGAINST GENOCIDE

SAMANTHA POWER ( United States) said the Rwandan people's unbreakable spirit had allowed them to build a strong country after the genocide. The failure of the United States to act, she said, was then-United States President William Clinton's greatest regret. Now, all Governments must look inward to consider what more they could have done, consider lessons learned and to use instruments that did not exist two decades ago, including the role of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, the International Criminal Court and civil society efforts. The international community was committed to respond to prevent mass atrocities, she said, pointing to examples from Timor-Leste to Kenya of joint efforts with local partners to ease tensions and reduce violence. Referring to images of torture in Syria shown at a Security Council meeting yesterday, she wondered how, 20 years from now, the Council's inaction would be defended. In the collective effort to prevent mass atrocities, all tools must be used, including sanctions, truth commissions and courts to influence the decisions of perpetrators.

議事録の最後の方にThe full text of resolution 2150 (2014) reads as follows:とあり、決議の全文が書いてあります。ここでは当時の認識を改め、during the genocide, Hutu and others who opposed it were also killedとツチ族だけでなくフツ族などにも虐殺された人々がいることを明記しています。

“Recalling the conclusions of the final report (S/1994/1405) of the Commission of Experts, established pursuant to Security Council resolution 935 (1994), among which included that ‘there exists overwhelming evidence to prove that acts of genocide against the Tutsi group were perpetrated’, and noting that during the genocide, Hutu and others who opposed it were also killed

“Recalling that the Appeals Chamber of the ICTR issued, on 16 June 2006, a judicial notice (ICTR-98-44-AR73(C)) concluding that it was a ‘fact of common knowledge’ that ‘between 6 April and 17 July 1994, there was a genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsi ethnic group’, further recalling that more than a million people were killed during the genocide, including Hutu and others who opposed it, and noting with concern any form of denial of that genocide,



結論として、以下の5点を挙げています。上記動画で説明しているresponsibility to protectの重要性にまず触れていますね。

“1. Calls upon States to recommit to prevent and fight against genocide, and other serious crimes under international law, reaffirms paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (A/60/L.1) on the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and underscores the importance of taking into account lessons learned from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which Hutu and others who opposed the genocide were also killed,

“2. Condemns without reservation any denial of this genocide, and urges Member States to develop educational programmes that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the genocide in order to help prevent future genocides,

“3. Welcomes efforts by member states to investigate and prosecute those accused of this genocide, calls upon all States to cooperate with the ICTR, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and the Government of Rwanda in the arrest and prosecution of the remaining nine ICTR-indicted fugitives, and further calls upon States to investigate, arrest, prosecute or extradite, in accordance with applicable international obligations, all other fugitives accused of genocide residing on their territories, including those who are FDLR leaders,

“4. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure greater collaboration between existing early warning mechanisms for genocide prevention and other serious international crimes, in order to help to detect, assess and respond to sources of tension and points of risks or identify vulnerable populations,

“5. Calls upon States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to consider doing so as a matter of high priority and, where necessary, to enact national legislation in order to meet their obligations under that Convention.”

5番目にあたるConvention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocideの批准についてですが、日本国政府は憲法9条もあることからまだ締結していないそうです。。。。


 

40位に山中先生、47位に村上春樹

 


昨日のJapan Timesに哲学者のPeter Singerが哲学の重要性をアピールするエッセイを寄稿していました。スイスのGDIという研究所が発表した2013年のThought Leader100人のTOP5のうち3人、ハーバマスを入れれば4人が哲学者だったというのです。とはいっても、書き出しにあるように人文系を選考する人数は減っているそうですが。。。

COMMENTARY / GLOBAL-RELATED
Philosophers still vital to our high-tech world
BY PETER SINGER

Last year a report from Harvard University set off alarm bells because it showed that the proportion of bachelor degree graduates in the United States who had majored in the humanities fell from 14 percent to 7 percent.

Even elite universities like Harvard itself have experienced a similar decrease. Moreover, the decline seems to have become steeper in recent years. There is talk of a crisis in the humanities.

*******

GDI aims to identify “the thinkers and ideas that resonate with the global infosphere as a whole.” The infosphere from which the data are drawn may be global, but it is also English-language only, which may explain why no Chinese thinker is represented in the top 100.

There are three eligibility requirements: One has to be working primarily as a thinker; one must be known beyond one’s own discipline; and one must be influential. The ranking is an amalgam of many different measurements, including how widely the thinkers are watched and followed on YouTube and Twitter, and how prominently they feature in blogs and in the wikisphere.

The outcome indicates each thinker’s relevance across countries and subject areas, and the ranking selects those thinkers who are most talked about and who are triggering wider debate.

The rankings will no doubt vary from year to year. But we have to conclude that in 2013 a handful of philosophers were particularly influential in the world of ideas.


このランキングはあくまで2013年に影響力があったという意味ですが、

こちらがGDIのリンクです。日本人でどんな人がランキングされているのか調べたところ40位にiPS細胞の山中先生、47位に村上春樹の2人がランクインしていました。

専門家じゃない人が口を挟むのを嫌う傾向にありますが、深く考える必要がある問題には哲学のようなものが必要になるのでしょうか。加藤典洋さんがニューヨークタイムズに日本の核政策について寄稿していましたが、こういうのはまさに哲学的にしっかりと考えなければいけない問題ですね。

Ambiguities of Japan's Nuclear Policy
APRIL 13, 2014
Norihiro Kato

TOKYO — When Yasunari Kawabata became the first Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, he gave a speech called “Japan, the Beautiful, and Myself” that presented a benignly aesthetic portrait of the so-called Japanese spirit larded with references to classical poetry, the tea ceremony and ikebana. When Kenzaburo Oe received the prize in 1994, he titled his lecture, “Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself,” and offered a critical take on the country’s ambiguities, starting its being part of Asia and simultaneously aligned with the West.

I was reminded of the contrast between Japan the Beautiful and Japan the Ambiguous late last month when, during the third Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague, the Japanese government announced that it would hand over to the United States more than 700 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium and a vast supply of highly enriched uranium. It struck me then that the ambiguities of Japan’s policy on nuclear weapons might be coming up against the nationalist agenda of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also the author of “Towards a Beautiful Country: My Vision for Japan.”


 

Noticeのポイント

 
告知つながりで、六本木ヒルズの改修工事のお知らせを確認しておきます。内容に違いはありませんが、日本語と英語で多少書き方が違う点もおさえておきたいですが、以下の4点を確認しようと思います。

renovationの動詞コロケーション
接続副詞accordinglyの使われ方
noticeとmemoの違い
upgradeの使われ方

2014年3月25日(火)
改修工事にともなう一時休館のお知らせ
(日本語リンク)
Notice Regarding Temporary Closure during Renovation Work(英語リンク)

At the conclusion of the scheduled exhibitions in January 2015, the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo City View observation deck and Mori Arts Center Gallery, which opened in 2003 as the flagship attractions within the cultural heart of Tokyo, Roppongi Hills, will undergo renovation work to upgrade the facilities and related fixtures and refurbish the exhibition spaces.
文化都心、六本木ヒルズのシンボルとして2003年にオープンいたしました、森美術館、展望台・東京シティビューならびに森アーツセンターギャラリーは、施設および各種設備の修繕と展示空間の改修を目的として、2015年1月の各展覧会終了時より改修工事を行います。

Accordingly, these facilities will be temporarily closed as outlined below. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your understanding and patience in advance.
つきましては、下記の通り一時休館を予定しておりますので、皆様にはご不便ご迷惑をおかけいたしますが、何卒ご理解いただけますようよろしくお願い申し上げます。

We will be providing detailed information concerning the schedule of exhibitions and other activities following the completion of the renovation work at a later date. We expect to be reopening from April 25, 2015 (TBC).
改修工事の後、リニューアルオープンは2015年4月25日を予定しております。展覧会スケジュール、その他事業活動等につきましてはあらためてご案内いたしますので、ご期待くださいますよう重ねてお願い申し上げます。

March 25, 2014
Mori Art Museum
Tokyo City View
Mori Arts Center Gallery

2014年3月25日
森美術館
東京シティビュー
森アーツセンターギャラリー
 

renovationの動詞コロケーション
改装のお知らせは、TOEIC頻出ですね。will undergo renovation workで動詞undergoが使われていること、renovation workは「改修工事」になること、workというさりげない語も確認しておきたいです。

(オックスフォードコロケーション)
carry out The council is to carry out extensive renovations to the building.
| complete
| be in need of, need, require The old Victorian house is in need of renovation.
| be closed for The gallery is closed for renovation.
| undergo

また、これから改装する場合の告知には未来形が使われています。下記の公式問題集の例文にあるように改装中の場合には注意点を伝えることが多そうですね。

Clarkson Library will be closed for renovations from May 3 to July 15,

Due to the ongoing renovations in the lobby, please do not enter the building through the north entrance

森タワーのお知らせにはrefurbish the exhibition spaces(展示空間の改修)と同義語refurbishが使われています。TOEIC公式問題集ではremodelという語がrenovateと同じように登場していました。

接続副詞accordinglyの使われ方
Accordingly, these facilities will be temporarily closed as outlined below.
つきましては、下記の通り一時休館を予定しておりますので、

金のフレーズがここでも的を得た解説をしてくれています。今回の使われ方はオックスフォードの2番目の使われ方に当たります。Accordinglyはメールでも使い勝手がいい表現なので自分のモノにしたいですね。

accordinglyしたがって、 それに応じて
「原因→結果」の話の流れを作る接続語として、パート6でも頻出。

(オックスフォード)
accordingly
1 in a way that is appropriate to what has been done or said in a particular situation
We have to discover his plans and act accordingly.

2 (used especially at the beginning of a sentence) for that reason
synonym therefore
The cost of materials rose sharply last year. Accordingly, we were forced to increase our prices.


noticeとmemoの違い
次に確認するupgradeを調べる時に気づいたものです。下記のnoticeではwill undergo repairsという表現にも注目したいですが、ここではnoticeとmemoのフォーマットの違いを確認します。Noticeはタイトルだけですが、memoは誰から誰に宛てたものか明記してありますね。何気ない事ですが、意識しておきたいポイントです。

(notice)
Motorists' Alert: Mt. Pleasant Highway
Beginning Monday, April 12, and continuing for the next 15 months, the Mt. Pleasant Highway will undergo repairs. The 40-year-old road has been in great need of repair for many years.

(memo)
To: All Employees
From: Daniel Lopez
Date: March 22
Subject: System upgrade

We would like to notify all employees in our branch offices that during the first week of April, we will be upgrading our telephone equipment and service plan. A user manual will accompany each new desk unit. Branch managers have been asked to review the basic functions of the new equipment with everyone at their location.


upgradeの使われ方
森ビルのto upgrade the facilities and related fixtures(施設および各種設備の修繕)とか上記のmemoのupgrading our telephone equipmentのようにシステムや設備のupgradeはなじみのあるものです。グレードアップという和製英語よりも最近はアップグレードというそのままのカタカナの方が耳にする気がします。

ここでは使われていませんが、TOEICでは交通機関や輸送方法で上のクラスに変更する時にも使われます。

I’d be happy to upgrade your order to express shipping, at no extra charge.

日本語のアップグレードはIT関連に限定されていますが、英語の方はずっと範囲が広いのでしょう。人事でpromoteという意味もあるようです。

(ケンブリッジビジネス)
TRANSPORT
to get better travel arrangements than you originally paid for:
upgrade sth (from sth) to sth Our plane tickets were upgraded to business class.
We will upgrade your rental car from mid-size to full-size.

HR
to give a person a more important job or to state that their job is more important than it was before:
upgrade sb to sth Congratulations, I hear you've been upgraded to divisional manager.
 

早く文庫化を

 
ガルシアマルケスが亡くなったというニュースは各紙大きく取り上げています。不謹慎に聞こえるかもしれませんが、この悲しい知らせによって『百年の孤独』が文庫で出ればいいなと願っています。

昨日は創世記Genesisを取り上げましたが、『百年の孤独』を創世記と同じく人類が読むべきものと評した人もいたそうです。




HARI SREENIVASAN: You know, speaking of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” you were one of the first reviewers of the book.

And then you’re famously quoted as saying, “The first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race.”

That is high praise. Why?

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAM KENNEDY: Well, I kept reading the book, and I would say to myself, this is a classic work. This is a — and it kept going on.

And then I would say, by God, there’s an abundance of it. It just doesn’t end. And it’s a — it’s classic. It’s classic. And when I was finished with it, I was baffled as to how to review it, because it was so phenomenally impressive to me, that I — it — the story was so complex.


訃報記事などをまだ読んでいませんが、『百年の孤独』を読んだときの感激について語っているEsquireの記事には共感を覚えます。今までとは違ったように世界が見えるようになる、そんな体験は文学ならではでしょう。

GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ: WHAT I'VE LEARNED
The one man I wish I could have interviewed died yesterday. But his wisdom, collected here, will live on.
By Cal Fussman on April 18, 2014

I wish I could re-create the sensation that surged through me when I first opened One Hundred Years of Solitude at the age of 22. It was like looking at stars for the first time from an untouched spot in the middle of The Amazon or The Sahara. You realize in moments like those that the world offers a much deeper and more vivid experience than you could’ve possibly imagined. You’re in God’s mind.

I will never be able to know the combustion of that book and the age of 22 again. That pulsing of cosmic electricity and excitement only visits once. But I did figure out a way to do that What I’ve Learned. I journeyed through sites on the Internet to compile some wisdom originating in Gabo’s books and interviews.


What I’ve Learned, from Gabriel Garcia Marquezとして紹介されていたものをいくつか抜粋したものが以下です。

I don’t think you can write a book that’s worth anything without extraordinary discipline.

A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart.

All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.

******

Fame is very agreeable, but the bad thing is that it goes on 24 hours a day.

Fiction has helped my journalism because it has given it literary value. Journalism has helped my fiction because it has kept me in a close relationship with reality.

『百年の孤独』は日本語で読んだきりですが、ゴールデンウィークにでも積読になっている英語のPBでも読み直してみようと思います。
 

リアルTOEIC 交通情報の告知

 
TOEICは「社会生活を送る際の基本的な言語能力を測る」テストだと思うので、どうしても告知や規則などが含まれるでしょう。こういうのは日常生活では不自然なお堅い表現なので、仕事で英語を使うような人は、TOEICで使われる英語を理解するのは最低限必要でしょうが、趣味で英語を学びたくて、海外ドラマを楽しみたいような方にはTOEICはそれほど役に立たないでしょう。

ただ、日常会話か規則か、とかではなく、さまざまな面から言語も社会も成り立っているので、なるべく重層的に立体的に触れていく事がベストではないでしょうか。先日紹介した東京メトロの告知でいろいろ調べているときにニューヨーク警察の交通情報の告知文を見つけました。3月17日の聖パトリックの祝日のパレードに合わせて交通規制されるようです。



NY五番街のパレードはオックスフォードにも載っているほど有名なものなんですね。

(オックスフォード)
Fifth Avenue
a New York street famous for its expensive shops and department stores, especially between 47th Street and 59th Street. Also on Fifth Avenue are the Empire State Building, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. The avenue divides the East Side and West Side of Manhattan. On 17 March each year, the central line along it is painted green for the St Patrick’s Day parade.

以下がニューヨーク警察の告知文です。堅い表現ばかりですが、TOEICになじんでいる学習者にはおなじみのものばかりですね。ただ、alcoholのようなものはTOEICにはでませんが。。。

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 15, 2010
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT ADVISORY REGARDING ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announced the Police Department's plans for coverage of the St. Patrick's Day Parade which will take place on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11 a.m. The parade will begin at 44th Street and travel north up Fifth Avenue to 86th Street. Alcohol consumption during the parade is prohibited. Persons found with alcohol may be subject to summons and/or arrest. Police Officers will confiscate alcoholic beverages brought to the parade, as well as any of the following locations:

Port Authority Bus Terminal
Staten Island Ferry Terminals
Grand Central Station
Penn Station
Central Park
Any Public Street

The street closings and increased traffic resulting from the parade can cause traffic congestion. Attendees are advised to use public transportation and avoid the following areas from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.:

Street Closings

FORMATION AREA:
44th to 46th Streets from Vanderbilt Avenue to Avenue of the Americas
47th to 48th Streets from Park Avenue to Avenue of the Americas

ROUTE:
At 11 a.m., the parade will start NORTH on Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street.
The Central Park transverse roads will remain open to traffic. Pedestrian crossing along the parade route will be permitted on 49th Street to 55th Street, 57th Street and 58th Street, 59th Street east bound only and 60th Street west bound only.
###

Alcohol consumption(アルコールの消費)なんてあるように、この通知文はお堅い文章ですので、TOEICで登場する場合もリーディングセクションがほとんどです。TOEICではalcoholは登場しませんが、構文的にはTOEIC的なものばかりです。以下比較したものです。

Alcohol consumption during the parade is prohibited.
→(公式)Parking is prohibited in areas marked for emergency use

Persons found with alcohol may be subject to summons and/or arrest.
→(公式)drivers who park their vehicles in these zones are subject to substantial fines.

Attendees are advised to use public transportation and avoid the following areas from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
→(公式)Job seekers are advised to avoid discussing confidential business knowledge

Pedestrian crossing along the parade route will be permitted on 49th Street to 55th Street
→(公式)Pedestrians are crossing the street

こちらのpedestrianはパート1でよく登場する語ですね。もしこの文がPedestrian will be not permittedのようにあれば、prohibitedの意味になります。

こういう規則は日本語でも必要な時にしか読まないものですから、TOEICの文章がつまらないというのは的外れではなさそうです。ルーブル美術館の入館規則にも似たような表現が登場していましたが、入館規則を全部読み通すような人ってめったにいませんよね(苦笑)

Photography and filming is strictly prohibited in the temporary exhibition rooms.(企画展示室内では、写真撮影やビデオ撮影は禁じられています。)

A Prefectoral Order prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages throughout the Louvre property(パリ議会決定により、ルーヴル敷地内では、アルコール飲料の消費が禁じられています。)


Visitor Regulations(英語)
入館規則(日本語)

The Visitor Regulations authorize photography without the use of flash in the permanent collection exhibition rooms, under certain conditions:
"Artworks in the permanent collection exhibition rooms may be photographed or filmed for private use by the operator. The use of flash and other lighting equipment is prohibited. Photography and filming is strictly prohibited in the temporary exhibition rooms.
Filming and photography of installations and technical equipment is also strictly prohibited."

入館規則により、常設展示室内では、以下のような条件で、フラッシュを用いずに撮影することが認められています。
「常設展示室内では、私的な用途のための、作品の写真撮影またはビデオ撮影を行うことができます。
フラッシュあるいは他の照明機器の使用は禁じられています。
企画展示室内では、写真撮影やビデオ撮影は禁じられています。
また、施設や機器装置類の撮影も禁じられています。」

Exceptions may be made for educational or research purposes, upon written request to the museum communication department:
Musée du Louvre
Délégation à la communication
75058 Paris cedex 01
Most of the some 35,000 artworks on display in the museum can be found in the Atlas database.
N. B.: images may be reproduced for private use only.

教育活動あるいは研究目的での撮影の場合、下記住所へ書面での申請を行うことで、許可が得られることがあります。
ルーヴル美術館広報課
75058 Paris cedex 01
なお、当美術館の約35,000点の展示作品のほとんどは作品図録に収載されています。
ご注意:画像の利用は、私的な用途に限ってのみ認められています。

A Prefectoral Order prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages throughout the Louvre property, particularly in the Carrousel Garden and the Cour Napoléon, from May 1 to October 31, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. This prohibition is based on Order no. 2009-00917.
パリ議会決定により、5月1日から10月31日までの期間、16時から7時まで、ルーヴル敷地内、特にカルーゼル庭園、ナポレオン広場では、アルコール飲料の消費が禁じられています。この禁止は決定第2009-00917に基づいています。


退屈で誰も読まない文章だからって、こういう通知や規則は無視していいことにはなりませんね。社会生活では順守が求められ、最近はコンプライアンスなんてカタカナが定着しているほどですから。。。ちょっと大げさですがTOEICで出題される通知や規則を理解できないことは、コンプライアンスできない人間=社会生活が送れないとみなすことができるかもしれません。大学生がTOEICの世界になじむ事は、それほど悪いことではないのではないでしょうか。
 

Let there be night

 


MSNBCのMorning Joeという番組をポッドキャストで見ていますが、TIMEの編集長Nancy Gibbsが最新号の特集について語ってくれています。安倍首相が表紙なのはアジア版だけで、アメリカ版は闇についての宗教的考察です。アメリカ人の興味がどこにあるのか窺い知れます。7分30秒あたりで少しだけ、安倍首相にインタビューした経緯を話しています。編集長自身が来日して会談したようですね。

Barbara Brown Taylor Faces the Darkness
Elizabeth Dias / Clarkesville @elizabethjdias April 17, 2014
Darkness is often treated as evil, a vast unknown and the Ultimate spiritual enemy. But as one of America's leading theologians believes, it may save us all

自分はいつもiPadのアプリでTimeを読んでいますので、今日の午後に更新されてから安倍首相の記事と合わせてこの特集を読もうと思います。

改めて説明するまでもないですが、この記事のタイトルで使われているLet there be nightは旧約聖書の創世記Let there be light(光あれ)からです。Let there be lightがあるからこそ、darknessよりも語感が似ているnightという語を使ってLet there be nightとしたのでしょうね。正誤という視点ではなく、音の響きからも英語表現を感じ取れるようになりたいものです。

ロングマンの説明でMany people know the first words of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.とあるように最初の書き出しはとても有名ですね(英語と日本語はKing James Versionと新共同訳からです)。

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
初めに、神は天地を創造された。

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
地は混沌であって、闇が深淵の面にあり、神の霊が水の面を動いていた。

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
神は言われた。「光あれ。」こうして、光があった。

辞書の説明でも、固有名詞、文化事項も丁寧にカバーして欲しいです。「創世記=聖書の冒頭の章」のように済ますのではなく、以下のロングマンやCultural Literacyのような説明の方がありがたいですよね。

(ロングマン)
Genesis
the first book of the Old Testament of the Bible, which describes the history of the Earth and its people. It includes the creation of heaven and the Earth, the story of Adam and Eve, and the story of the Flood. Many people know the first words of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

(Cultural Literacy)
Genesis definition
The first book of the Old Testament; its first words are “In the beginning” ( genesis is a Greek word for “beginning”). It covers the time from the beginning of the world through the days of the patriarchs, including the stories of the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, God's covenant with Abraham, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers.

改めて創世記の内容を見ると、通読したことがないのに(汗)すでに知っているエピソードばかりなのに気づきます。天地創造のすぐ後にアダムとイブの誕生とエデンの園からの追放があったのですね(滝汗)

(Wikipedia)
内容は大きく分けると「天地創造と原初の人類」、「イスラエルの太祖たち」、「ヨセフ物語」の三つに分けることができる。
1. 天地創造と原初の人類
天地創造 1章
アダムとイヴ、失楽園 2章-3章
カインとアベル 4章
ノアの方舟 5章-11章
バベルの塔 11章

2. 太祖たちの物語
アブラハムの生涯 12章-25章
ソドムとゴモラの滅亡 18章-19章
イサクをささげようとするアブラハム 22章
イサクの生涯 26章-27章
イスラエルと呼ばれたヤコブの生涯 27章-36章

3. ヨセフの物語
夢見るヨセフ 37章-38章
エジプトでのヨセフ 38章-41章
ヨセフと兄弟たち 42章-45章
その後のヨセフ 46章-50章

下記の聖書の朗読はDramatized Audioとあるように、セリフや効果音など工夫をこらしているものです。こちらの朗読と比べると親しみやすくなっています。自分メモ的に創世記の1章から3章までの天地創造から失楽園までを抜き出しました。



1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
初めに、神は天地を創造された。

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
地は混沌であって、闇が深淵の面にあり、神の霊が水の面を動いていた。

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
神は言われた。「光あれ。」こうして、光があった。

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
神は光を見て、良しとされた。神は光と闇を分け、

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
光を昼と呼び、闇を夜と呼ばれた。夕べがあり、朝があった。第一の日である。

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
神は言われた。「水の中に大空あれ。水と水を分けよ。」

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
神は大空を造り、大空の下と大空の上に水を分けさせられた。そのようになった。

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
神は大空を天と呼ばれた。夕べがあり、朝があった。第二の日である。

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
神は言われた。「天の下の水は一つ所に集まれ。乾いた所が現れよ。」そのようになった。

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
神は乾いた所を地と呼び、水の集まった所を海と呼ばれた。神はこれを見て、良しとされた。

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
神は言われた。「地は草を芽生えさせよ。種を持つ草と、それぞれの種を持つ実をつける果樹を、地に芽生えさせよ。」そのようになった。

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
地は草を芽生えさせ、それぞれの種を持つ草と、それぞれの種を持つ実をつける木を芽生えさせた。神はこれを見て、良しとされた。

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
夕べがあり、朝があった。第三の日である。

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
神は言われた。「天の大空に光る物があって、昼と夜を分け、季節のしるし、日や年のしるしとなれ。

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
天の大空に光る物があって、地を照らせ。」そのようになった。

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
神は二つの大きな光る物と星を造り、大きな方に昼を治めさせ、小さな方に夜を治めさせられた。

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,神はそれらを天の大空に置いて、地を照らさせ、

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
昼と夜を治めさせ、光と闇を分けさせられた。神はこれを見て、良しとされた。

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
夕べがあり、朝があった。第四の日である。

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
神は言われた。「生き物が水の中に群がれ。鳥は地の上、天の大空の面を飛べ。」

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
神は水に群がるもの、すなわち大きな怪物、うごめく生き物をそれぞれに、また、翼ある鳥をそれぞれに創造された。神はこれを見て、良しとされた。

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
神はそれらのものを祝福して言われた。「産めよ、増えよ、海の水に満ちよ。鳥は地の上に増えよ。」

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
夕べがあり、朝があった。第五の日である。

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
神は言われた。「地は、それぞれの生き物を産み出せ。家畜、這うもの、地の獣をそれぞれに産み出せ。」そのようになった。

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
神はそれぞれの地の獣、それぞれの家畜、それぞれの土を這うものを造られた。神はこれを見て、良しとされた。

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
神は言われた。「我々にかたどり、我々に似せて、人を造ろう。そして海の魚、空の鳥、家畜、地の獣、地を這うものすべてを支配させよう。」

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
神は御自分にかたどって人を創造された。神にかたどって創造された。男と女に創造された。

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
神は彼らを祝福して言われた。「産めよ、増えよ、地に満ちて地を従わせよ。海の魚、空の鳥、地の上を這う生き物をすべて支配せよ。」

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
神は言われた。「見よ、全地に生える、種を持つ草と種を持つ実をつける木を、すべてあなたたちに与えよう。それがあなたたちの食べ物となる。

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
地の獣、空の鳥、地を這うものなど、すべて命あるものにはあらゆる青草を食べさせよう。」そのようになった。

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
神はお造りになったすべてのものを御覧になった。見よ、それは極めて良かった。夕べがあり、朝があった。第六の日である。


(2章)
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
天地万物は完成された。

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
第七の日に、神は御自分の仕事を完成され、第七の日に、神は御自分の仕事を離れ、安息なさった。

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
この日に神はすべての創造の仕事を離れ、安息なさったので、第七の日を神は祝福し、聖別された。

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
これが天地創造の由来である。主なる神が地と天を造られたとき、

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
地上にはまだ野の木も、野の草も生えていなかった。主なる神が地上に雨をお送りにならなかったからである。また土を耕す人もいなかった。

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
しかし、水が地下から湧き出て、土の面をすべて潤した。

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
主なる神は、土(アダマ)の塵で人(アダム)を形づくり、その鼻に命の息を吹き入れられた。人はこうして生きる者となった。

8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
主なる神は、東の方のエデンに園を設け、自ら形づくった人をそこに置かれた。

9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
主なる神は、見るからに好ましく、食べるに良いものをもたらすあらゆる木を地に生えいでさせ、また園の中央には、命の木と善悪の知識の木を生えいでさせられた。

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
エデンから一つの川が流れ出ていた。園を潤し、そこで分かれて、四つの川となっていた。

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
第一の川の名はピションで、金を産出するハビラ地方全域を巡っていた。

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
その金は良質であり、そこではまた、琥珀の類やラピス・ラズリも産出した。

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
第二の川の名はギホンで、クシュ地方全域を巡っていた。

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
第三の川の名はチグリスで、アシュルの東の方を流れており、第四の川はユーフラテスであった。

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
主なる神は人を連れて来て、エデンの園に住まわせ、人がそこを耕し、守るようにされた。

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
主なる神は人に命じて言われた。「園のすべての木から取って食べなさい。

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
ただし、善悪の知識の木からは、決して食べてはならない。食べると必ず死んでしまう。」

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
主なる神は言われた。「人が独りでいるのは良くない。彼に合う助ける者を造ろう。」

19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
主なる神は、野のあらゆる獣、空のあらゆる鳥を土で形づくり、人のところへ持って来て、人がそれぞれをどう呼ぶか見ておられた。人が呼ぶと、それはすべて、生き物の名となった。

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
人はあらゆる家畜、空の鳥、野のあらゆる獣に名を付けたが、自分に合う助ける者は見つけることができなかった。

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
主なる神はそこで、人を深い眠りに落とされた。人が眠り込むと、あばら骨の一部を抜き取り、その跡を肉でふさがれた。

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
そして、人から抜き取ったあばら骨で女を造り上げられた。主なる神が彼女を人のところへ連れて来られると、

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
人は言った。「ついに、これこそ/わたしの骨の骨/わたしの肉の肉。これをこそ、女(イシャー)と呼ぼう/まさに、男(イシュ)から取られたものだから。」

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one fleshこういうわけで、男は父母を離れて女と結ばれ、二人は一体となる。

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
人と妻は二人とも裸であったが、恥ずかしがりはしなかった。


(3章)
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
主なる神が造られた野の生き物のうちで、最も賢いのは蛇であった。蛇は女に言った。「園のどの木からも食べてはいけない、などと神は言われたのか。」

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
女は蛇に答えた。「わたしたちは園の木の果実を食べてもよいのです。

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
でも、園の中央に生えている木の果実だけは、食べてはいけない、触れてもいけない、死んではいけないから、と神様はおっしゃいました。」

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
蛇は女に言った。「決して死ぬことはない。

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
それを食べると、目が開け、神のように善悪を知るものとなることを神はご存じなのだ。」

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
女が見ると、その木はいかにもおいしそうで、目を引き付け、賢くなるように唆していた。女は実を取って食べ、一緒にいた男にも渡したので、彼も食べた。

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
二人の目は開け、自分たちが裸であることを知り、二人はいちじくの葉をつづり合わせ、腰を覆うものとした。

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
その日、風の吹くころ、主なる神が園の中を歩く音が聞こえてきた。アダムと女が、主なる神の顔を避けて、園の木の間に隠れると、

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
主なる神はアダムを呼ばれた。「どこにいるのか。」

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
彼は答えた。「あなたの足音が園の中に聞こえたので、恐ろしくなり、隠れております。わたしは裸ですから。」

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
神は言われた。「お前が裸であることを誰が告げたのか。取って食べるなと命じた木から食べたのか。」

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
アダムは答えた。「あなたがわたしと共にいるようにしてくださった女が、木から取って与えたので、食べました。」

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
主なる神は女に向かって言われた。「何ということをしたのか。」女は答えた。「蛇がだましたので、食べてしまいました。」

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
主なる神は、蛇に向かって言われた。「このようなことをしたお前は/あらゆる家畜、あらゆる野の獣の中で/呪われるものとなった。お前は、生涯這いまわり、塵を食らう。

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
お前と女、お前の子孫と女の子孫の間に/わたしは敵意を置く。彼はお前の頭を砕き/お前は彼のかかとを砕く。」

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
神は女に向かって言われた。「お前のはらみの苦しみを大きなものにする。お前は、苦しんで子を産む。お前は男を求め/彼はお前を支配する。」

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
神はアダムに向かって言われた。「お前は女の声に従い/取って食べるなと命じた木から食べた。お前のゆえに、土は呪われるものとなった。お前は、生涯食べ物を得ようと苦しむ。

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
お前に対して/土は茨とあざみを生えいでさせる/野の草を食べようとするお前に。

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
お前は顔に汗を流してパンを得る/土に返るときまで。お前がそこから取られた土に。塵にすぎないお前は塵に返る。」

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
アダムは女をエバ(命)と名付けた。彼女がすべて命あるものの母となったからである。

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
主なる神は、アダムと女に皮の衣を作って着せられた。

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
主なる神は言われた。「人は我々の一人のように、善悪を知る者となった。今は、手を伸ばして命の木からも取って食べ、永遠に生きる者となるおそれがある。」

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
主なる神は、彼をエデンの園から追い出し、彼に、自分がそこから取られた土を耕させることにされた。

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
こうしてアダムを追放し、命の木に至る道を守るために、エデンの園の東にケルビムと、きらめく剣の炎を置かれた。
 

リアルTOEIC If You See Something, Say Something

 


明日来日するオバマ大統領に合わせて東京メトロの警備も強化するというポスターが貼られていました。

アメリカ合衆国オバマ大統領来日に伴う警備強化のお知らせとお願い
Notice regarding increased security measures and request for cooperation in association with U.S. President Obama’s visit to Japan.

下のような文を見るだけでも、TOEIC的な表現が使われているのが分かります。このようなお知らせのようなトピックがTOEICの守備範囲の一つなんでしょう。社会生活においては正確に相手に通知することはとても重要なことですので、TOEICを通してこのような表現を学ぶのはとてもいいことだと思います。

何かお気づきの点がありましたら、最寄りの駅係員、巡回中の警察官及び警備員にお知らせください。
Should you notice anything, please inform the station staff nearby or a police officer or security guard on patrol.

一部の駅構内の コインロッカー 及び ゴミ箱 の使用中止
Trash bins and coin-operated lockers cannot be used in some stations

警 備 強 化 期 間 中 、お 客 様 に は ご 不 便 を お か け い た し ま す が 、ご 理 解 、ご 協 力 を お 願 い い た し ま す 。
We apologize for any inconvenience these measures may cause you, and thank you for your cooperation and understanding.



危険物dangerous itemsというのは、英語的にはunattended packagesとかunattended itemsとかの表現の方が見かける気もします。unattended itemはまさに動画で登場しているような持ち主が誰だか分からない不審なものを指すのでしょう。

(英辞郎)
Bags left unattended will be opened and examined.
持ち主のいない荷物は中身を調べさせていただきます。

Unattended items will be removed by security personnel.
《掲》置きっ放しにされた物品は警備員によって取り除かれます。◆空港


いろいろ紹介した動画は、テロに気をつけるためのキャンペーンだそうです。キャンペーンなだけあって、とてもキャッチーなスローガンになっています。不審なモノを見たときに報告するのも動詞reportでいいんですね。

If You See Something, Say Something
In 2008, the campaign was recognized by the American Public Transportation Association for excellence in marketing and communications. It was created and developed by Korey Kay & Partners, the MTA's advertising agency.

The vigilance of all New Yorkers has kept MTA buses, subways, and railroads safe. The MTA thanks our passengers and reminds them to:

Be alert to unattended packages.
Be wary of suspicious behavior.
Take notice of people in bulky or inappropriate clothing.
Report exposed wiring or other irregularities.
Report anyone tampering with surveillance cameras or entering unauthorized areas.
Learn the basics of safe train evacuation

And remember, if you see something, say something. Alert a police officer, MTA employee or call 888-NYC-SAFE (888-692-7233).



このキャンペーンで多文化アメリカだと感じたのは、人種や宗教的なステレオタイプを助長しないように気を使っているところです。Homeland SecurityのサイトにはFactors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situationsとあります。

Homeland Security Begins with Hometown Security
If you see something suspicious taking place then report that behavior or activity to local law enforcement or in the case of emergency call 9-1-1. Factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situations (e.g., an unattended backpack in a public place or someone trying to break into a restricted area) rather than beliefs, thoughts, ideas, expressions, associations, or speech unrelated to terrorism or other criminal activity. Only reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with federal partners

どうしてもイスラム的な身なりの人=テロリストというステレオタイプが広がりやすいですから、気を使わざるをえないのでしょう。
 

理想論を押し付けない

 




資格サプリのTOEIC版をざっくりですが、無料登録で試してみました。よくTOEICを研究されていて質の高い問題と解説が展開されていると思います。順番にレッスンを受けないと次に進めないというのはTOEICのフォーマットに合わない感じもしますが、問題と解説なども取り組みやすく、解説も大変分かりやすかったです。まあ、動画は予備校的な語り口をすっかり忘れているアラフォーにはちょっと一方的に感じてしまう授業ですが、大学生でTOEICに取り組もうとしている人にはピッタリではないでしょうか。

個人的に動画の授業で一番感心したのは「理想論を押し付けない」で、できるところからはじめるよう、学習者の目線に立って解説してくれているところです。これは、英語好きの教師にはなかなかできないことです。どうしても「試験対策ではなく本物の英語を!」と理想論を押し付けがちなんですよね。でも、メインのターゲットがスコア300-400の人たちには正直ハードルが高過ぎる場合もあるんじゃないかと思うんです。社会人も1−2時間の勉強時間を捻出するのも大変な人が多いでしょうから、そんな人たちに英語好き教師の自分の趣味を押し付けられたらたまらないと感じる人も少なからずいるでしょう。

これからTOEICの経験値も上がっていき、問題や解説の質もますます上がっていくでしょうから、資格アプリの今後はとても楽しみと言えそうです。

ここからはTOEICマニア的なちょっと辛口な意見です。TOEICの準備をしてから数年でここまでの質の問題を作れたことは大変感心しますが、TOEIC的な世界観からは違和感を感じる問題を一つだけ見つけました。ざっと見ただけで一つだけなので、むしろその質の高さを褒めるべきですが。。。

ネタバレ恐縮ですが、パート2で「コピーをどこで取る」「コンビニで」のようなやり取りがありました。convenience storeはオックスフォードやロングマンにも載っていますし、形容詞convenientは韓国のETS単語集にも載っている語です。

(ETS TOEIC VOCA)
convenient 形容詞
Sharma invites you to visit any of their convenient store locations for all your athletic clothing needs.
スポーツウェアをお求めになる際は、ぜひお近くにあるSharmaのお店にお立ち寄りください。

この例文は便利な場所にある店ということでコンビニとは無関係です(苦笑)

(オックスフォード)
convenience store
a store that sells food, newspapers, etc., and often stays open 24 hours a day

(ケンブリッジ)
convenience store
mainly US
› a shop that sells food, drinks, etc. and is usually open until late

TOEIC的世界観になじんだ方は、すぐにconvenience store?convenience storeでコピーするシチュエーションってTOEICに出るっけ?と違和感をすぐに感じるでしょう。

この応答は日本人か、日本での生活の長い外国人が作ったのでしょうね。ウィキペディアやサイトでも指摘していることですが、コンビニでコピー機もあるのはそれほど世界的な現象ではないと思うんですよね。

(Wikipedia)コンビニのJapanの項目
Many items available in larger supermarkets can be found in Japanese convenience stores, though the selection is usually smaller. As well, the following additional services are also commonly available:
Courier and postal service.
Photocopying and fax service.
Automated teller machines.
Payment service for utilities and other bills and taxes.
Ticket service for concerts, theme parks, airlines etc.
Pre-paid cards for cellular phones.[citation needed]


ネットにあった説明
Background: Konbini Culture in Japan
To better appreciate the humor behind the song, it should be noted that chain convenience stores are an integral part of everyday life across Japan. In contrast to convenience stores in the US, most Japanese Konbinis tend to serve as a local hub providing a broad range of services, from courier/postal service and photocopying to buying airline/concert tickets and paying utilities & taxes.

TOEIC的な世界観というとなんか資格試験に特化した視野の狭い感じがしてしまいますが、そうではなく、ETSはある国にはよく見られて、他の国にはあまりない状況を積極的に取り上げないようにして、世界中の受験者が公平に受けられるように配慮しています。(そうはいっても、米国的なライフスタイルに慣れていればいるほどシチュエーションは浮かびやすい点はあると思います)

コンビニでコピーは結構、地域限定のスペシフィックな現象とみなされているので、TOEICでは取り上げないのではないかなと勝手に推測します。

まあ、重箱の隅かもしれませんが、やはり英語という外国語を学ぶということは、日本固有のものは意識できることでもあるので、こういう点を踏まえることも重要ではないかと思います。「異文化理解」とか言えば済む問題ではなく、無意識な部分で知らず知らずに無理解を引き起こしてしまうから「異文化理解」は怖いんですよね。

さて、とりあえずTOEICで登場していたstoreをざっと確認します。

department store
appliance store
clothing store
discount store
electronics store
grocery store
jewelry store

それほどマニアックな店は登場していませんし、ダントツで登場したのはdepartment storeです。こういうところからも、固有の知識がないと解けないようなシチュエーションを意識的に避けているというETSの試験作成の態度を感じ取れるんじゃないかと思います。

理想論を押し付けないというタイトルにも関わらず、資格サプリの人にはTOEICの問題作成の理想論を押し付けてしまいました(反省)でも、短期間でここまでのクオリティを出せるのですから、もっともっとTOEICを研究して質を高めていって欲しいですね。とても期待できるものではないかと思います。
 

パワーさんの影響力の大きさ

 


日曜日に放映される政治番組This Weekにサマンサ・パワーさんが登場していました。ルワンダについて書かれたものをいくつか読んできましたが、彼女の影響力の大きさを至る所に感じ取ることができます。ルワンダの件に興味がある方はアトランティックの下記の記事は必読と言えるかもしれません。

SEPTEMBER 2001
Bystanders to Genocide
The author's exclusive interviews with scores of the participants in the decision-making, together with her analysis of newly declassified documents, yield a chilling narrative of self-serving caution and flaccid will—and countless missed opportunities to mitigate a colossal crime
SAMANTHA POWER
SEP 1 2001, 12:00 PM ET


"acts of genocide" や"genocide"などと、genocideの言葉の定義を巡って争ったことは、ルワンダの対応の失敗例を端的に示すものとして今では有名なものとなってしまいました。4分40秒あたりにパワーさんの紹介した国務省のスポークスマンのやり取りがあります。



Christine Shelly, a State Department spokesperson, had long been charged with publicly articulating the U.S. position on whether events in Rwanda counted as genocide. For two months she had avoided the term, and as her June 10 exchange with the Reuters correspondent Alan Elsner reveals, her semantic dance continued.
Elsner: How would you describe the events taking place in Rwanda?

Shelly: Based on the evidence we have seen from observations on the ground, we have every reason to believe that acts of genocide have occurred in Rwanda.

Elsner: What's the difference between "acts of genocide" and "genocide"?

Shelly: Well, I think the—as you know, there's a legal definition of this ... clearly not all of the killings that have taken place in Rwanda are killings to which you might apply that label ... But as to the distinctions between the words, we're trying to call what we have seen so far as best as we can; and based, again, on the evidence, we have every reason to believe that acts of genocide have occurred.

Elsner: How many acts of genocide does it take to make genocide?

Shelly: Alan, that's just not a question that I'm in a position to answer.

記事ではその前に紹介されていますが、"acts of genocide" や"genocide"と苦しい言い逃れをしようとしたのは"genocide"を認めると1948 Genocide Conventionにより行動に出なくてはいけなくなるからでした。当時はソマリア出兵の失敗から米国は慎重になっていたようです。

Even after the reality of genocide in Rwanda had become irrefutable, when bodies were shown choking the Kagera River on the nightly news, the brute fact of the slaughter failed to influence U.S. policy except in a negative way. American officials, for a variety of reasons, shunned the use of what became known as "the g-word." They felt that using it would have obliged the United States to act, under the terms of the 1948 Genocide Convention. They also believed, understandably, that it would harm U.S. credibility to name the crime and then do nothing to stop it. A discussion paper on Rwanda, prepared by an official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and dated May 1, testifies to the nature of official thinking. Regarding issues that might be brought up at the next interagency working group, it stated,

Genocide Investigation: Language that calls for an international investigation of human rights abuses and possible violations of the genocide convention. Be Careful. Legal at State was worried about this yesterday—Genocide finding could commit [the U.S. government] to actually "do something." [Emphasis added.]

動画でもあったようにこのような議論は現在中央アフリカ共和国を巡ってなされていますが、シリアの時でも同じようにされていました。このブログでちょうどこの国務省スポークスマンのやり取りを紹介しているワシントンポストのOpEdを紹介していました。

本領発揮
Posted at 2013.04.28


しっかりブログで記録しておくと、便利ですね。すっかり忘れていました(汗)
 

paradox of tolerance

 
先々週のEconomistはルワンダだけでなく、様々な国の事例から内戦後、虐殺後どのように社会をまとめていくのかと考察しています。

Post-conflict societies
To hell and back
How nations torn apart by atrocity or civil war can stitch themselves together again
Apr 5th 2014 | KIGALI | From the print edition

国を立ち直らせるには民主主義を機能させることが重要だとしながらparadox of toleranceの議論を持ち出し、不寛容を認めない態度の必要性も一方で認めています。

Most nations that heal well are functioning democracies. Day-to-day negotiations in a legislature chip away at the zero-sum mentality of the battlefield. Northern Ireland’s hard men now sit together at the cabinet table, seemingly with relative ease.

But enforcing new norms to replace those that drove the conflict can require measures that in other circumstances would be illiberal. Until recently, Germany banned reprints of Hitler’s manifesto, “Mein Kampf”. (Internet downloads and its copyright ending changed officials’ minds.) Philosophers talk of the “paradox of tolerance”: that upholding tolerant values may require intolerance of bigots. John Rawls, a liberal American philosopher, argued that keeping an endangered group safe may justify a measure of intolerance.

Rwanda has far overstepped this mark. It is an autocracy, though one run by often reasonable Tutsis with an understandable fear of the génocidaires regaining power. At the last presidential election Paul Kagame, who led the rebel forces that defeated the Interahamwe 20 years ago, received 93% of the vote. He has turned out to be an impressive technocrat—but one who brands his opponents, including some former allies, enemies of the state. South Africa has accused him of sending assassins to kill dissidents living in exile in Johannesburg. Independent parties and media are cowed by the security forces.

ただ、ルワンダの場合は行き過ぎていると見ているようですね。この当たりはTimeと同じような立場かもしれません。paradox of toleranceはウィキペディアにも載っています。いくら寛容といっても、寛容を認めないような不寛容な立場を認めることはないという主張のようです。

(ウィキペディア)
The tolerance paradox arises from a problem that a tolerant person might be antagonistic toward intolerance, hence intolerant of it. The tolerant individual would then be by definition intolerant of intolerance.

こちらのブログに上記の立場を肯定するカールポパーの言葉として以下が引用されていました。孫引きになります。

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even though those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.

In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols.

We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade as criminal.

Wikipediaには、このような状況をパロディにしたものとして以下の番組が紹介されていました。



白黒はっきりつけられる問題ではないので、このあたりのバランスをどこに置くのかは難しそうですね。
 

リアルTOEIC Memorandum

 
Memorandumは社内・組織内の文書なので、部外者はなかなか目にする機会がないので、英語で業務をしない方にはなじみがないかもしれません。無理矢理TOEICに絡めてしまっている感じもしますが、米国国防省のMemorandumをご紹介します。内容に立ち入る前にどういうフォーマットで書かれているか確認いただければと思います。

米国国防省のMemorandum

TOEICに関心のある方向けの内容はここまでとなります。

ルワンダについておさらいするのに簡潔にまとまったブログ記事がCFRにありました。上記のメモはそこで紹介されていたものです。日付が1994年4月11日とありますので、米国はすでに虐殺の状況、被害が拡大する可能性を掴んでいたということになります。

Lessons of the Rwandan Genocide
by Stewart M. Patrick 
April 7, 2014

Lesson 1: Early warning is not the problem. Early action is.

Lesson 2: Debates over terminology only distract.

Lesson 3: Mass atrocities do not require advanced killing technology.

このブログ記事で紹介されていたのは以下のサマンサパワーさんの記事です。クリントン大統領は雑誌New Yorkerの熱心な読者でその記事を通して虐殺を知ったとあります。

SEPTEMBER 2001
Bystanders to Genocide
The author's exclusive interviews with scores of the participants in the decision-making, together with her analysis of newly declassified documents, yield a chilling narrative of self-serving caution and flaccid will—and countless missed opportunities to mitigate a colossal crime
SAMANTHA POWERSEP 1 2001, 12:00 PM E

A few years later, in a series in The New Yorker, Philip Gourevitch recounted in horrific detail the story of the genocide and the world's failure to stop it. President Bill Clinton, a famously avid reader, expressed shock. He sent copies of Gourevitch's articles to his second-term national-security adviser, Sandy Berger. The articles bore confused, angry, searching queries in the margins. "Is what he's saying true?" Clinton wrote with a thick black felt-tip pen beside heavily underlined paragraphs. "How did this happen?" he asked, adding, "I want to get to the bottom of this." The President's urgency and outrage were oddly timed. As the terror in Rwanda had unfolded, Clinton had shown virtually no interest in stopping the genocide, and his Administration had stood by as the death toll rose into the hundreds of thousands.

20周年ということで、サマンサパワーさんが触れているPhilip Gourevitchの記事をNew YorkerはFrom now until July 4th, we’ve unlocked these articles on the genocide so that everyone can read them.と一般公開してくれています。

LETTER FROM RWANDA
AFTER THE GENOCIDE
When a people murders up to a million fellow-countrymen, what does it mean to survive?
BY PHILIP GOUREVITCH
DECEMBER 18, 1995

欲しい情報は過去のものでもすぐに手に入るというのは、インターネットの恩恵ですね。
 

過ちは繰り返しません

 
広島平和記念講演の慰霊碑には「安らかに眠って下さい 過ちは繰返しませぬから」とあるようですが、ルワンダのような虐殺でよく使われている英語表現がNever Againでした。

(ウィキペディア)
Memorial Cenotaph
Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The monument is aligned to frame the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.[3][13]

The cenotaph carries the epitaph "安らかに眠って下さい 過ちは繰返しませぬから", which means "please rest in peace, for [we/they] shall not repeat the error." In Japanese, the sentence's subject is omitted, thus it could be interpreted as either "[we] shall not repeat the error" or as "[they] shall not repeat the error". This was intended to memorialize the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue, taking advantage of the fact that polite Japanese speech typically demands lexical ambiguity in the first place.[14] The epitaph was written by Tadayoshi Saika, Professor of English Literature at Hiroshima University.[15] He also provided the English translation, "Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil." On November 3, 1983, an explanation plaque in English was added in order to convey Professor Saika's intent that "we" refers to "all humanity", not specifically the Japanese or Americans, and that the "error" is the "evil of war":

The inscription on the front panel offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima — enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace.

Never Againは、例えばオバマ大統領が2009年にホロコースト博物館でスピーチをしたときに使われています。あのような悲劇は繰り返してはならないといった意味をNever Againと端的に表現しているのですね。

Their legacy is our inheritance. And the question is, how do we honor and preserve it? How do we ensure that "never again" isn't an empty slogan, or merely an aspiration, but also a call to action?

I believe we start by doing what we are doing today -- by bearing witness, by fighting the silence that is evil's greatest co-conspirator.

How do we ensure that "never again" isn't an empty sloganとオバマ大統領が語っているように、"never again"と誓ったにも関わらず、同じような状況が繰り返されているといった文脈で使われることが多いようです。promised up and down for fifty years never again とあるので、ここでは第二次世界大戦のホロコーストが意識されているのでしょう。

(New Yorker)
And when I went, I was chiefly preoccupied with questions about us—about America, the West, the so-called international community that had promised up and down for fifty years never again to tolerate genocide, but had abandoned Rwanda the moment the genocide began. I wondered what Rwanda’s story told us about our notions of a universal common humanity.


(WSJ)
The time to act is not after the killing stops. The international community makes foreign-policy statements based on values, but political self-interest always rules the day when it comes to action. I've seen too much to believe it when leaders swear "never again." Putting an end to genocide is not an academic exercise. Evil can only be resisted by the resolute will to stand against it the moment genocide threatens to be unleashed, even if there is a political price to pay.

ですからCFRの記事ではBeyond 'Never Again'とスローガンで終らせないための取り組みを紹介しています。

Atrocity Prevention Since the Rwandan Genocide
Authors: Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action, and Anna Feuer, Research Associate, Center for Preventive Action
April 7, 2014

Beyond 'Never Again'
To some, these advances will not amount to much, and the earnest pledges of "Never Again" will sound just as hollow today as they were in the aftermath of Rwanda. Besides devaluing the progress that has been made, such condemnation also discounts the severity of the challenges that almost always have to be overcome for preventive action to be timely and effective. On any given day, policymakers are grappling with many pressing tasks relating to a crisis unfolding somewhere in the world. Focusing on a problem that hasn't surfaced yet and may never happen is clearly very difficult. Even when the warning signs are incontrovertible, mobilizing national and international actors to respond requires immense effort and willpower to overcome the many political, financial, and operational obstacles that typically get in the way. What can be done? Some broad strategies are desirable:

もちろん、これはこのような文脈でNever Againが使われるときの意味合いであって文脈が変わればインプリケーションも変わります。Never say never againという007の映画はボンドを二度とやらないという意味だそうです。。。



 

甘い言葉

 


批判的に捉える人は“Remember, Unite, Renew”と語る国連事務総長や上記のスピルバーグの言葉をsugar-coatedだと感じるかもしれません。先ほどのサマンサパワーさんのインタビューで現在の中央アフリカ共和国の状況を以下のように語っていました。

Well, it is a devastating situation and nobody should sugarcoat it in any way.
(壊滅的な状況で、取り繕うのはどんなかたちであれやめるべきです)

(オックスフォード)
sugar-coat
sugar-coat something
to do something that makes an unpleasant situation seem less unpleasant
There's no way of sugar-coating it—the report predicts a grim future for the industry.

(マクミラン)
sugar-coated
trying to make something seem less unpleasant than it is
He painted a sugar-coated picture of military service.

以下のルワンダのドキュメンタリーではdraw feel-good stories out of an impossibly ugly moment in historyなんて表現もありました。

at first seems as if it is merely going to be another effort to draw feel-good stories out of an impossibly ugly moment in history. But it ultimately proves itself much smarter than that, exploring whether forgiveness that is mandated by the government can be genuine.
(最初は、歴史上あり得ないほどひどい状況から心温まる話を引き出そうとする新たな試みに過ぎないと思えたのですが、このドキュメンタリーは結果的にはるかにうまく作成されていました。政府が進める和解が真っ当なものかどうか探求しているのです。)

feel goodは国際援助の場面では単なる自己満足のような意味合いを持つようです。例えば以下のような表現がありました。

When I arrived in Kurdistan in 2009, there was a strong UN presence, and many multinational NGOs. Today, there is a minor UN presence and NGOs are fighting like dogs over scraps of meat to even get in the running for one of the few-and-far-between grants that make the international community feel good, but actually deliver marginal benefit to the people affected.
(2009年にクルディスタンに着いた時は、国連は存在感を示し、多国籍のNGOもたくさんいました。今では、国連の存在は縮小し、NGOは肉の端切れめがけて争う犬のようになっています。国際社会の気分を良くするだけのわずかな援助を得るためで、そんなのは実際には被害者の役にはほとんど立ちません)

Melvernさんはイギリスをはじめとする国連安保理の行動を以下のように批判しています。ここにある"token force(わずかばかりの部隊)"や"appease public opinion(世論をなだめる)"などもfeel-goodなものと言えそうです。

This might be a suitable time to find out why the UK government was so determined in the security council that Dallaire's UN peacekeepers be withdrawn from Rwanda, leaving behind a "token force" in order to "appease public opinion" – not to protect civilians but to try to negotiate a ceasefire in the civil war.
(今回はまさに適切な時期だったかもしれない。英国政府が安保理で断固として、ダレールの国連平和維持軍をルワンダから撤退させ、「わずかばりな部隊」を残して余論をなだめようとしたのかその理由を探る必要があるのだ。部隊は市民を守るのではなく、内戦で停戦を交渉するためだけのものでしかなかった)

先日ご紹介したインドネシアの状況でも50年近く経っても傷はいえていません。和解を進める必要性はわかりませんが、まだまだ時間がかかるのかもしれません。



Reconciliation Held Together With Bleeding Stitches
‘Coexist,’ About Rwanda 20 Years Later, on PBS
By NEIL GENZLINGER APRIL 9, 2014

As Rwanda and the world note the 20th anniversary of the genocide in that country, much of the focus has been on reconciliations between the Hutu killers who slaughtered Tutsis and the victims’ family members and friends. “Coexist,” a documentary by Adam Mazo, at first seems as if it is merely going to be another effort to draw feel-good stories out of an impossibly ugly moment in history. But it ultimately proves itself much smarter than that, exploring whether forgiveness that is mandated by the government can be genuine.
 

(続)20周年に何を見出すか

 


「政治家は功績を誇示するのが常とすれば研究者は問題点を指摘するのが仕事と言えるでしょうか。」と書きましたが、研究者が政治家になった場合はどうなるでしょうか。サマンサパワーさんがルワンダについて聞かれています。自ら批判したことを生かして中央アフリカ共和国の状況に対処できるのか?NPRの記者はthe old Samantha Powerとthe new Samantha Powerという形で聞いています。

GREENE: You know, a decade or so ago you were very famous for criticizing the Clinton administration's response in Rwanda and pushing much harder for the world and the United States to respond faster in humanitarian crises. How does that Samantha Power from before feel working inside the government now? I mean are the realities like you're talking about, you know, things so spread thin, questions about funding - are those new realities that you sort of have to accept or is the old Samantha Power there and kind of just having to restrain herself?

逃げ場もない追求型のインタビューをするよりも、こういった聞き方の方がいいかもしれませんね。サマンサパワーも誠実に答えています。喫緊の課題は中央アフリカ共和国だけでなく、様々な国で問題が起きていることのようですね。our challenge is not an absence of will, it is that the number of emergencies right now on the continentと答えています。

African Responses Night And Day From Rwanda, U.N. Envoy Says
by NPR STAFF
April 11, 2014 4:38 AM ET

On whether the response is too late
It is a devastating situation and nobody should sugarcoat it in any way. But everything we do is itself an act of prevention. The more security we have, the more people who will be safe. But I want to be clear; our challenge is not an absence of will, it is that the number of emergencies right now on the continent — including the Central African Republic, including Darfur, including South Sudan, which has deteriorated, and of course including Mali — it's placing a lot of demand on African countries.

**********

On comparing the old Samantha Power to the new Samantha Power
The old Samantha Power is the new Samantha Power; they get to talk to each other every day. ... I feel privileged. I mean, look, if I were outside government now I'd be writing editorials, seeking meetings with the U.N. ambassador [and] seeking meetings with the secretary of state. Instead I get to work with the secretary of state every day who's as committed to I am of dealing with the problem. I get to talk to the president about it, who has dedicated $100 million to get African forces in there in as timely a fashion as possible in tough budget times. So I'm in a much better position now to affect both the pace and the scope of our response, and we've come a long way. But ... neither the new Samantha Power nor the old Samantha Power can be satisfied when you still have Muslim and Christian civilians who are living in great fear.


中央アフリカ共和国については国連が先週東京で記者会見を開いていたようですね。




国連WFP、UNHCR 、UNICEFが中央アフリカ共和国について東京で会見、支援呼びかける
国連WFP2014年4月10日 16時30分


Central African Republic: are we ignoring Rwanda all over again?
They said it would never happen again but 20 years on the world is doing little to prevent a similar tragedy, says Daily Maverick
Simon Allison for Daily Maverick, part of the Guardian Africa network
theguardian.com, Thursday 3 April 2014 12.07 BST
 

(続)20周年に何を見出すか

 
政治家は功績を誇示するのが常とすれば研究者は問題点を指摘するのが仕事と言えるでしょうか。以前も紹介したLinda Melvernさんは国際社会はルワンダから何も学んでいないと辛口です。上記はルワンダで事件前に国連に危機的状況を訴えていたロメオダレール上院議員が中央アフリカ共和国への支援を訴えている動画です。

Twenty years after the genocide, we have learnt nothing from Rwanda
The situation in the Central African Republic is dangerously similar to that of Rwanda in 1994. This time, the west must heed the warnings
Linda Melvern
The Guardian, Friday 4 April 2014 20.00 BST

When Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, the former UN force commander in Rwanda and now a Canadian senator, calls once again for urgent action to protect civilians at risk in an impoverished African country, one would expect the whole world to listen, particularly on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. You just could not divorce, he said, what is happening in the Central African Republic with what happened in Rwanda in 1994. "We've actually established a damn pecking order and the sub-Saharan black African – yes we're interested but it just doesn't count enough to spill our blood, to get embroiled in something complex that will need longer-term stability and influence," says Dallaire.

The similarities do seem impossible to ignore.

Melvernさんの非難は国際社会に向けられ、当時の状況を検証しようともしないし、不作為を反省もしていないと手厳しく批判しています。

The 20th commemoration of the genocide sees fine words spoken by all and it seems timely to reflect on why Rwanda was so quickly abandoned to its fate in 1994. There has never been a satisfactory explanation for the indifference over Rwanda. Western governments – the US, UK, Belgium, France – continue to withhold a wealth of information about events. Neither the US nor the UK, two permanent members of the UN security council, has ever answered accusations of a failure to abide by obligations under the 1948 genocide convention, nor revealed the information on which their decisions were based. The failure to critically examine the role of ministers and officials has further encouraged the sort of secretive and unaccountable decision-making that will no doubt shroud the decision-makers today and those who sit and read the cables.

With no official inquiry by either the US or the UK, blame for inaction over the genocide has simply slipped away from the officials and politicians responsible. This might be a suitable time to find out why the UK government was so determined in the security council that Dallaire's UN peacekeepers be withdrawn from Rwanda, leaving behind a "token force" in order to "appease public opinion" – not to protect civilians but to try to negotiate a ceasefire in the civil war.



Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in RwandaShake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
(2004/12/21)
Romeo Dallaire

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図書館にあったので当時の司令官ロメオダレールさんのShake Hands with the Devilを読み始めました。帰国後はPTSDに苦しんだそうですが、どうやら彼だけでなく当時参加したカナダ兵士も同じ苦しみを味わっているそうです。

Rwanda genocide: Canadian soldiers struggle with psychological legacy
20 years after massacre, Canadians who tried to protect Rwandans struggle with horrific memories
By Sylvia Thomson, CBC News

It's been 20 years since the Rwandan genocide, but for the Canadian soldiers who were there as part of a doomed UN peacekeeping mission, the sights, sounds and smells have not faded from memory.
“There was an overpowering stench of death,” said Major Brent Beardsley, who served alongside General Romeo Dallaire (both are now retired).

 

(続)20周年に何を見出すか

 
今週のTIMEは強権的で体制批判を許さないカガメ政権を批判するものでした。こういう視点からカガメ大統領のスピーチや寄稿記事を考えてみると、他国からの批判を牽制するものと読み取ることも可能かもしれません。下記リンクは定期購読者向けなのでさわりしか見れません。


The Other Threat to Rwanda
Dele Olojede April 10, 2014
Two decades after the genocide, the country's leaders must learn to embrace political dissent



この点については少し古いですが下記のような記事があります。隣国コンゴへの支援が問題視されていることはTony Blairも指摘していました。

DISPATCH
Our Man in Kigali
For years, Rwanda's budding dictator, Paul Kagame, has gotten away with murder, while winning praise (and billions of dollars) from the West. But is the blind support for this strongman finally drying up?
BY ANJAN SUNDARAM AUGUST 3, 2012



 

20周年に何を見出すか

 




先週末がRwanda大虐殺の20周年だったようですが、休日出勤のためメディアを読む機会がありませんでした(汗)一週間遅れとなりましたが、メディアをざっと見渡しての感想を記事にします。

政治家の場合には20周年を迎えて「虐殺の犠牲者を悼み、驚異的な復興を遂げた現在を讃える」ことを基調にするのが普通でしょうか。記念式典に参加していた潘基文国連事務総長やトニーブレア元英国首相はまさにそのようなトーンです。



20 years after the genocide, Rwanda is a beacon of hope
It is clear that foreign aid has contributed to recovery, but Rwandans themselves have shaped the policy to heal a nation
Tony Blair
The Guardian, Sunday 6 April 2014 16.18 BST

It means that hard choices still need to be made. The country has ambitious economic targets – Rwanda aims to become a middle-income nation by 2020 – while political and social transformation continues. Last year, media and access to information laws were passed, while the genocide ideology law was loosened. A law criminalising gay people was rejected. And in 2017, the presidential elections will take place.

Rwandans are increasingly united. There is a strong patriotism and belief in the government – almost nine in 10 say they "trust in the leadership of their country". They can never forget their tragic past but do not want to be defined by it. The older generation already know all too well the cost of failure, but a majority of the population, born post-genocide, has inherited the possibility of a different future.

We should remember the lives that were lost. We should recognise that this government undertook, and continues to undertake, a historic exercise in nation-building, and seek to understand the choices the country has made. And we should stand with them as they write the next chapter in their history.

そういう中で、ルワンダのカガメ首相のWSJへの寄稿は少し異質でした。VOAのニュースでもルワンダのカガメ首相がフランスの関与を名指しで批判していることを取り上げていますが、ここでもIn 1994, more than a million people died over 100 days as the Rwandan state, backed militarily and politically by France, told some Rwandans that it was their duty to murder other Rwandans.とフランスの関与を名指しで指摘しています。また、そもそもツチ族とフツ族の違いを考えだしたのは植民地として支配していたベルギーとカトリック教会なのだと、そもそもの原因に植民地主義を持ち出しているのです。

Reflecting on Rwanda's Past—While Looking Ahead
We put aside false divisions between Tutsi and Hutu and held ourselves accountable.
By PAUL KAGAME
Updated April 7, 2014 10:03 a.m. ET

All genocides begin with an ideology—a system of ideas that says: This group of people here, they are less than human and they deserve to be exterminated.

The most devastating legacy of European control of Rwanda was the transformation of social distinctions into "races." We were classified and dissected, and whatever differences existed were magnified according to a framework invented elsewhere. Rwanda's 2,000 years of history were reduced to a series of caricatures based on Bible passages and on myths told to credulous explorers.

Atavistic hostility between something called "Tutsi" and something called "Hutu" was deemed inherent to our nature. The purpose was neither scientific nor benign, but ideological: to justify colonial claims to rule over and "civilize" supposedly lesser peoples.

With the full participation of Belgian officials and Catholic institutions, ethnicity was made the only basis of political organization, as if there were no other way to govern and develop society.

The result was a country perpetually on the verge of genocide. Decade by decade, the number of victims grew. In 1994, more than a million people died over 100 days as the Rwandan state, backed militarily and politically by France, told some Rwandans that it was their duty to murder other Rwandans. Les faits sont têtus—facts are stubborn, and no country is powerful enough, even when it thinks it is, to change the facts.

Africans are no longer resigned to being hostage to the world's low expectations. We listen to and respect the views of others. But ultimately, we must be responsible for ourselves.

まあ、この後は再建に踏み出していることを報告し、「普通のトーン」に戻るのですが、国家元首が名指しで他国を批判しているのはあまり見られるものではないので驚きました。

国連は特設サイトを作っていて、ルワンダの歴史を概観できます。そこでは1932年位にベルギーがフツ族とツチ族などを区別し始めたことや、1963年にツチ族の虐殺が起きていることなど、カガメ大統領の主張はもっともなところをついていることが分かります。

ルワンダのタイムライン

January 1, 1932
Belgium introduces identity cards distinguishing Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa
Prior to the colonial era, Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa lived in relative harmony. The Tutsi (14% of the population) were the cattle herders, soldiers and administrators, the Hutu (85%) were the farmers, and the marginalised Twa (1%) were hunter-gatherers or potters. Individuals could and did move between the categories of Tutsi and Hutu as their fortunes rose and fell, and intermarriage was not uncommon. It was not until Belgian colonization and the introduction of identity cards distinguishing between the three groups that the tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis became focused on race.

*******

December 1, 1963
Massacres of Tutsis
In late 1963, some 20,000 Tutsis in Rwanda were killed in response to a military attack by exiled Tutsis from Burundi. Again more refugees left the country. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s half of the Tutsi population was living outside Rwanda.

植民地支配というのは遠い過去のものと思いがちな自分は、幸いにもそのようなことを経験せずにすんだ国民だから過去のことと思っているだけなのかもしれない。その辺りの感性はにぶっているかもしれないと反省しました。
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Yuta

Author:Yuta
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