名家通识讲座《美国历史十五讲》叙事指瑕

The Narrative Flaws in Fifteen Lectures about American History

史学叙事的第一要义是真实──文字表述必须与历史事件相符合,教材与工具书尤其应该如此。北京大学出版社"名家通识讲座"书系中的《美国历史十五讲》,既是高品位的学科普及读物,又可作为大学本科生的通识课教材,采用和解读史料时有不当,以讹传讹,难免误人子弟。至于《辞海》和《简明不列颠百科全书》(中文版)、《不列颠百科全书》(国际中文版)等核心工具书,更没有理由出现史学常识性的叙事瑕疵。如此令人震惊的文本硬伤,已经不再是简单的修辞问题。

The first meaning of historical narration is truth, which means no difference between literal expression and historical events. This is also the requirement of our textbooks and reference books. Fifteen Lectures about American History, published by Peking University Press, is not only a popular reading but also a college general course, so it is cautious to adopt and interpret historical materials and any mistake would cause serious problem. There is no reason to appear commonsense narrative flaws in the core tool books, such as Cihai, Concise Encyclopedia Britannica（ Chinese version） and Encyclopedia Britannica（ international version of Chinese）.The obvious mistakes in the text are so shocking that they are no longer simple rhetorical issues.