美国早期文化外交机制的构建:过程、动因及启示

反对“官方文化”(officialculture)的传统理想主义思想造成美国官方文化外交起步较晚;以反击德国法西斯对其后院拉美地区发动“文化攻势”为契机,美国政府逐步建构了官方或半官方机制、凸显其在对外文化活动中的主角地位;并藉冷战的现实需要,频繁变更文化外交机构。理想主义思想推动国会立法,以明确政府在文化外交活动中的适当角色以及保障相关项目的拨款。外交决策者现实利益的追逐和教育文化界理想愿望的祈求之间的较量使得机制建构过程复杂,但相对成熟。中国在完善现有的文化外交机制的过程中,可从美国早期经验中得到有益的启示。

The Construction of America's Cultural Diplomatic Mechanism during the Early Days: Proceedings,Motives, and Lessons

Before the 1930s, the almost non-existence of official cultural diplomacy in America was caused by its idealist traditional aversion to 'Official Culture'. In order to resist German fascists' 'cultural offensives' in Latin America and to stabilize the whole of the western hemisphere, US Government took advantage of that chance to give prominence to Federal Government's role in dealing with cultural diplomacy through means of setting up relevant cultural diplomacy mechanism and frequent reorganization of the institutions. The construction of mechanism had undergone a complex process because of the interactions between realism of the policy-makers and idealism of intellectuals and some lawmakers. It would be useful for China to learn lessons from American experience.