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
was that in his view until about 1880,

他的观点是 1880年前
until the Republic became rooted,

共和国扎下根基前
that you had in provincial France and particularly in rural France

法国的地方特别是法国乡村