和解叙事：美国内战后的《一个国家的诞生》

中文摘要

我们研究了“败局命定”叙事——一种对美国内战的修正主义且带有种族主义的重新讲述——的传播如何改变了对国家重新统一和针对非裔美国人种族歧视的观点与行为。通过考察《一个国家的诞生》的放映情况——这是一部在1915年后极大推广了“败局命定”的卖座电影——我们发现该电影使公共话语转向更具爱国色彩且较少分裂性的语言，增加了入伍人数，并促进了昔日敌人之间的文化趋同。我们记录了该叙事的种族主义内容如何通过一种“共同敌人”式论点与和解联系起来。

Abstract

We study how the spread of the Lost Cause narrative—a revisionist and racist retelling of the US Civil War—shifted opinions and behaviors toward national reunification and racial discrimination against African Americans. Looking at screenings of The Birth of a Nation, a blockbuster movie that greatly popularized the Lost Cause after 1915, we find that the film shifted the public discourse toward a more patriotic and less divisive language, increased military enlistment, and fostered cultural convergence between former enemies. We document how the racist content of the narrative connects to reconciliation through a “common-enemy” type of argument. (JEL J15, L82, N31, N32, N41, Z13)