I gave the case of Alsatians who spoke German

我举了一个例子阿尔萨斯人说德语
who, many of whom considered themselves French

但他们中很多人认为自己是法国人
after Alsace and much of Lorraine were

在阿尔萨斯和洛林的大部分地区
annexed to Germany in 1871.

在1871年被割让给法国之后
Now, there was a book published in--a long time ago,

很久以前曾有一本书
by a friend of mine who unfortunately recently died,

由我的一个朋友所作不幸刚过世不久
sort of an homme de lettres, a wonderful writer called Eugen Weber,

他是一个伟大的作家名叫尤真?韦伯
that put forward a view

他提出了一个观点
that some people find convincing and which I don't find convincing at all.

有些人认为很有说服力我并不苟同
But it became sort of the canon

但某种程度上这已经变成一个准则
or the accepted, assumed truth about

或者一个被广为接受的真理
national identity and France--

一个关于法国国民身份认同感的真理