2015考研英语阅读日本史选择性记忆_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读日本史选择性记忆

　　When the fighting is finished, history is written, inevitably by those in power, observes MrDower. The standard American view of the struggle against Japan is that it was just andmoral. But this grants little space for the ghastly side of victory, which included the airbornedestruction of 66 cities and the incineration of more than half a million civilians. China andKorea s political elites have found it endlessly useful to bang the nationalist drum to unitepotentially fractious populations against their old enemy. Japanese conservatives havemade it easy for them, whitewashing the past and attempting to pass off Imperial Japan srampage across Asia as a holy war against Western colonialism.

　　道尔做出了这样的评论：当战争结束后，历史将不可避免地由当权者写下。美国人普遍认为对日战争是公正的、合乎道德的。但这份胜利仍然有着极为惨烈的一面其中日本66座城市遭到空袭破坏，50多万平民灰飞烟灭。中国和韩国的政治精英发现，想要把内心愤怒的民族联合起来对抗其共同的宿敌，敲响民族主义这面大鼓最为有效。日本的保守派粉饰历史，试图将日本帝国在全亚洲的暴行伪装成对西方殖民主义的圣战这给中韩两国的政治精英提供了有利机会。

　　Selective memory is often a harmful feature of children s education. Japanese high-schooltextbooks devote impressively little space to the war, reflecting official attempts todownplay the dark aspects of Japan s modern history, writes Mr Dower. For its part,China s government relies on its struggle against Japanese aggression for its historicallegitimacy, so memories of wartime atrocities are kept fresh in schools. This helps to explainthe strikingly different public reactions to the current island disputes. While the Chineseangrily take to the streets, the Japanese stay at home and watch it on TV.