Débat à trois voix. Sur la question « What should be done with…

Modèle.

Voix A (maintien) : A monument is itself a historical document: it records what a given generation chose to honour. Removing it removes the evidence of that choice along with the figure. The 1834 fire that destroyed the old Palace of Westminster is remembered partly because what replaced it was deliberately built to look older than it was. Buildings and statues carry the intentions of those who put them up, and those intentions are worth studying rather than erasing.

Voix B (musée) : A museum does not destroy an object; it changes what the object is asked to do. On a public square, a statue is an honour; in a display case, it is a source. Bristol's statue of Edward Colston, pulled down in June 2020, was later exhibited lying on its side, with the graffiti left visible. That solution keeps the evidence and ends the honour.

Voix C (recontextualisation) : The choice between keeping and removing assumes that a monument speaks by itself. It does not: it speaks through its plaque, its position and its lighting. Adding a second, accurate plaque is cheaper than either alternative, and it leaves the decision visible to every passer-by. The risk, admittedly, is that a plaque nobody reads changes nothing at all.

Grille de correction (4 points).

• Trois positions distinctes, chacune défendue par un argument propre et non par la critique des deux autres (1 pt).
• Fait : chaque voix cite un élément daté ou nommé (1 pt).
• Langue : modaux du débat (should, would), connecteurs, absence de calques (1 pt).
• Éthique du débat : aucune attaque personnelle, aucune caricature des autres positions ; au moins une voix reconnaît sa propre limite (1 pt).