Africa Rising’? ‘Africa Reeling’ May Be More Fitting Now
For decades Africa was eager for a new narrative, and in recent years it got a snappy one.
The Economist published a cover story titled “Africa Rising.” A Texas business school professor published a book called “Africa Rising.” And in 2011, The Wall Street Journal ran a series of articles about economic growth on the continent, and guess what that series was called?
“Africa Rising.”
數十年來非洲一直渴盼得到對於它的新描述，而近年，它得到了這麼個朝氣蓬勃的描述。
經濟學人雜誌刊登了一篇封面故事，題為「非洲崛起」。美國德州一位商學院教授寫了本書，名叫「非洲崛起」。2011年，華爾街日報刊出一系列有關非洲大陸經濟成長的文章，猜猜題目是什麼？「非洲崛起」。
The rise seemed obvious: You could simply stroll around Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, or many other African capitals, and behold new shopping malls, new hotels, new solar-powered streetlights, sometimes even new Domino’s pizzerias, all buoyed by what appeared to be high economic growth rates sweeping the continent.
For so long Africa had been associated with despair and doom, and now the quality of life for many Africans was improving. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were getting clean water for the first time. In Kenya, enrollment in public universities more than doubled from 2007 to 2012. In many countries, life expectancy was increasing, infant mortality decreasing.
這崛起似乎顯而易見：只消在肯亞首都奈洛比或非洲許多其他國家的首都閒逛即可，看看新的購物中心、嶄新的飯店、新設的太陽能路燈、有時甚至會看到新開的達美樂披薩店，這些全都拜整個非洲大陸經濟成長快速所賜。
長久以來非洲一直與絕望和厄運畫上等號，如今許多非洲人的生活品質正在提升。數十萬盧安達人首次能取得乾淨的用水。在肯亞，公立大學註冊率從2007到2012年增加了一倍以上。在許多國家，平均餘命增加，嬰兒死亡率下降。
But in recent months, as turmoil has spread across the continent, and the red-hot economic growth has cooled, this optimistic narrative has taken a hit. Some analysts are now questioning how profound the growth actually was.
“Nothing has changed on the governance front, nothing has changed structurally,” said Grieve Chelwa, a Zambian economist who is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard.
“Africa rising was really good for some crackpot dictators,” he added. “But in some ways, it was a myth.”
不過最近數月，隨著混亂情勢蔓延到整片大陸，以及火熱的經濟成長降了溫，這樂觀的描述受到打擊。一些分析家現在質疑非洲的成長究竟有多深入。
契爾瓦是尚比亞的經濟學家，也是哈佛大學博士後研究員，他說：「在政府治理方面一成不變，在結構上也一成不變。」
他說：「非洲崛起對某些性情古怪的獨裁者來說真的很好，但從某些方面來說卻是個迷思。」
No place exposes the cracks in the “Africa rising” narrative better than Ethiopia, which had been one of the fastest risers.
Ethiopia is now in flames. Hundreds have been killed during protests that have convulsed the country.
It seems the continent as a whole is heading into a tough period. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, faces its gravest economic crisis in years because of low oil prices. At the same time, it is trying to fight off Boko Haram, one of the most bloodthirsty insurgent groups on the planet.
沒有什麼地方比衣索比亞更能暴露「非洲崛起」說的弱點。它是非洲崛起最快的國家之一。
衣索比亞現在情勢失控，數百人在使國家癱瘓的抗議潮中被殺害。
看來非洲大陸整體而言正步入艱困時期。非洲人口最多的奈及利亞因為油價低，面臨近年最大的經濟危機，同時奈及利亞也力圖擊敗「博科聖地」，這是地球上最嗜殺的游擊組織之一。
South Africa, the continent’s most developed nation, has been wracked by waves of unrest. Troops with assault rifles stomp around college campuses, trying to quell student protests. The country’s currency, the rand, hovers near a record low.
South Sudan, which topped The Economist’s list in 2013 of the world’s fastest-growing economies, is now a killing field, the site of one of Africa’s worst civil wars.
非洲最發達的國家南非則遭幾波騷動破壞，配備攻擊步槍的部隊踐踏校園，試圖壓制學生抗議。南非幣蘭德的幣值則在歷史低點附近盤桓。
南蘇丹曾是經濟學人2013年「世界成長最快經濟體」排行榜的榜首，現在卻成了殺戮戰場，上演著非洲最慘烈的內戰之一。
說文解字看新聞
文／Jeffrey Gettleman、譯／李京倫
本文標題中的rising和reeling押頭韻（alliteration），前者是向上提升，後者是遭重擊後，步伐跌跌撞撞，狼狽困惑。過去三個月義大利中部四度遭逢強震，人心惶惶，BBC（英國廣播公司）的標題便是：Italy reels after fourth quake in months.
主題是非洲大陸，帶有步伐意象的動詞值得留意。Stroll是漫步，可當名詞用。英國小說家E. M.佛斯特在《此情可問天》（Howards End）中寫道：Then they took a friendly stroll in the garden.
Stomp是跺腳，部隊持攻擊步槍stomp around校園可解為「鐵蹄蹂躪」。Stomping ground指常去的場所，為美語用法，英語用stamping ground。例：It was my old stamping ground.
Convulse原指痙攣或全身劇烈晃動，不聽使喚：convulsed with/by laughter （笑得前俯後仰）。
新聞英文用來描述「造成大麻煩或嚴重傷害」：Ethnic killings that have convulsed the region in recent weeks.浪漫主義詩人雪萊悼念濟慈英年早逝的的長詩〈阿多霓〉（Adonais）：fear and grief convulse us and consume us day by day.憂能傷身，讓人神銷骨朽。
