2015年经济学人 俄罗斯的政界往事 涅姆佐夫桥

Russia's politics of memory

NemtsovBridge

A fight over the site of a politician's killing¹ is a proxy² for a broader battle

Remembered with love

MEMORY has long been the subject of fierce and often deadly ideological³ battles inRussia. Those who control the past also control the present.

Following the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a liberal opposition⁴ leader, on a bridge by the Kremlin, a fight for his memory, and for the Russian flag, is taking place.

In Soviet⁵ times, purged⁶ Communist Party members were excised⁷ from photographs as though they never existed.

Now it seems the Kremlin is trying similarly to airbrush Mr Nemtsov.

First Kremlin spin-doctors tried to divert attention from Mr Nemtsov's murder to the “sudden” disappearance⁸ of Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

Ten days later, Mr Putin re-emerged triumphantly⁹ and celebrated¹⁰ the anniversary of Russia's annexation¹¹ of Crimeaat the spot where Mr Nemtsov died.

A frenzied¹² crowd yelled “Ross-i-ya”, as if that could quash memories of Mr Nemtsov and his opposition to war inUkraine.

In the middle of the night on March 27th, a month after Mr Nemtsov's murder, the authorities cleared the bridge of flowers and photographs.

Thanks to Mr Nemtsov's friends and followers¹³, the memorial was restored. People across the country ordered flowers online, and supporters took them to the bridge.

Mr Nemtsov's photographs under Russian tricolours have been remounted on the balustrade.

Volunteers guard the memorial day and night in snow and rain, sustained with tea and food by ordinary folk.

They will not go away; they are being true to Mr Nemtsov's spirit.

He managed to stay in politics despite state propaganda labelling him a “foreign agent” and “fifth column”.

But fighting Mr Nemtsov after his death may prove even harder than it was during his life.

Groomed¹⁴ to beRussia's liberal president by Boris Yeltsin, the charismatic, honest Mr Nemtsov could turn into a symbol ofRussia's unfulfilled promise.

The display ofRussia's national flag next to his name should be particularly troubling for the Kremlin.

The bridge has already been dubbedNemtsovBridge. It could now become a focal point of liberal opposition to a brutal¹⁵ regime, a role that after 1991 was played by the White House, then the seat of the Russian parliament.

The Kremlin will try to clear the bridge of traces of Mr Nemtsov's murder. But the harder it tries, the more resonant¹⁶ the spot will become.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

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

6 purged   

清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响

参考例句：

• He purged his enemies from the Party. 他把他的敌人从党内清洗出去。
• The iron in the chemical compound must be purged. 化学混合物中的铁必须清除。

7 excised   

v.切除，删去( excise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Certain passages were excised from the book. 书中某些段落已删去。
• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。 来自辞典例句

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

12 frenzied   

a.激怒的；疯狂的

参考例句：

• Will this push him too far and lead to a frenzied attack? 这会不会逼他太甚，导致他进行疯狂的进攻？
• Two teenagers carried out a frenzied attack on a local shopkeeper. 两名十几岁的少年对当地的一个店主进行了疯狂的袭击。

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

16 resonant   

adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的

参考例句：

• She has a resonant voice.她的嗓子真亮。
• He responded with a resonant laugh.他报以洪亮的笑声。