Lost In Translation

I Am A Japanese Writer

I came across some contemporary book recommendations from Junot Diaz (author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Drown) somewhere on the net and I was intrigued by his selection of Dany Laferriere's I Am A Japanese Writer (2001). It is an inventive book and it may be something like a Richard Brautigan novel (who is referenced in one section called "Richard Brautigan's Cowboy Boots") due to the fact that the novel is essentially a loosely collected series of vignettes. The main theme seems to be identity, which might be of no surprise coming from a black Haitian born, writer who lives in Montreal and writes in French who has a fascination for Japanese literature. However, he seems to have pegged the Japanese obsession/preoccupation with identity and Japnese-ness and how they are seen in the world. He gives many of his characters Japanese author's names like: Murakami, Tanizaki, and Murasaki. One of the elements of the novel involves a group of mostly Japanese female expats living in Montreal that he crosses paths with as well as two Japanese consulate member's (Mr. Murakami and Mr. Tanizaki) interest in his forthcoming novel titled: I Am A Japanese Writer. Throughout the story the protagonist is reading Basho. There are several literary references and nods to a host of other writers and cultural figures: Tolstoy, Proust, Ryu Murakami,Mishima, Kawabata, Yoko Ono, Joan Baez, Bjork, Borges, etc. I found it to be a somewhat slight (181 pages with lots of blank space), entertaining diversion.

Grill Burger Club Sasa

I've been meaning to stop by Grill Burger Club Sasa in Daikanyama (they opened a new branch in Nakameguro as well) for some time. You can see the shop from the Toyoko train platform. You can choose from three sizes of burgers, I got a regular(100 g) size cheeseburger that came with a drink, fries, and a pickle. They get extra points for grilled onions and squeeze bottles of ketchup and mustard. Overall, pretty satisfying, however the bun almost disintegrated before I finished-albeit a common occurrence.

Cultural Conundrums: Please Treat Me Nice

Kate Elwood always seems to come up with an interesting cultural concept to discuss in her column for the Daily Yomiuri. This week she looks at the concept of yoroshiku onegaishimasu-a very useful expression:

The yoroshiku onegai shimasu expression is quickly mastered by learners of Japanese because it works so well in a wide range of situations, most frequently as something to say to open a conversation, discussion or speech, or to wrap things up and move on. Students of Japanese may find the literal meaning a bit strange, but few fail to be heartily grateful for this magic bullet that allows them to utter the mot juste on such a variety of different occasions.

The phrase is so vital that it can come to characterize an entire communicative event. Nigel Stott, an English education researcher, quotes an assistant language teacher (ALT) who wrote of "yoroshikuing," transforming the phrase into a dynamic gerund. "Please be nice to me" might sound lame and even needy in English but if it does the trick in Japanese and is easy to execute, no learner is likely to find anything problematic about it, and they quickly become merry yoroshiku-ers.

But for Japanese speakers, it's not so easy to come to terms with life without the word and its beseeching appurtenances. Many a Japanese person who speaks English quite well has asked me how to say yoroshiku onegai shimasu in English.

People with advanced English skills must have realized long before that no similarly multifunctional equivalent exists in English, yet wistfully they cannot quite abandon the hunt. They maintain the hope to uncover the hidden formula which will make awkward junctures in English communication manageable in the same way. Non-Japanese who have lived in this country for a long time often likewise report a yearning for yoroshiku when speaking their native language.

Recently I was rereading an article by the applied linguists Leslie Beebe, Tomoko Takahashi, and Robin Uliss-Weltz, and I was struck by a phrase they used in connection with their own investigation into cross-cultural refusals, calling them a "sticking point." I had just that morning listened to one of my students give a presentation which began with an inept translation of yoroshiku onegai shimasu, perhaps one of the greatest sticking points for Japanese communicating in English.

Foreign-language textbooks obviously teach a variety of phrases that correspond to the kinds of things one might say in places in which yoroshiku onegai shimasu would be used, such as "Nice to meet you," "It is/was a pleasure to see you," and "I look forward to working/continuing to work with you." In opening speeches, it is possible to say something like "I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today." Yet again and again students blithely ignore what they've learned and fall back on strange-sounding translations of yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

The problem is that the appropriate phrases in the target language can feel like poor stand-ins for the "real" thing. There is a sense that they simply don't fulfill deeper communicative objectives. While Japanese learners of foreign languages must resign themselves to making do with other less satisfying not-quite-counterparts to the Japanese expression, applied linguists have attempted to figure out what it is that yoroshiku onegai shimasu really does.

Sociolinguist Makiko Takekuro speaks of the "deletion-impossible and irreplaceable nature" of yoroshiku onegai shimasu. To support her assertion, Takekuro tried to replace naturally occurring instances of the phrase with other words in Japanese, noting that other ways of conveying the content nevertheless fail to accomplish yoroshiku onegai shimasu's essential function of demonstrating engagement in meaningful social interaction.

The politeness theory formulated by linguists Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson posited the notion that the avoidance of imposition is one facet of politeness. This is accomplished in a number of ways, but one clear way this is achieved is through sidestepping direct requests in favor of wordings like "I wonder if you might be willing to...," "Is it possible to perhaps..." and so on. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu, a supreme example of deferent imposition, flies in the face of this way of looking at politeness, as many researchers on Japan politeness have pointed out, most notably Yoshiko Matsumoto.

So how does making a direct request end up being polite? Applied linguist Jun Ohashi posits the notion of "debt-credit equilibrium" as a central aspect of Japanese politeness. According to Ohashi, by making the yoroshiku invocation, a speaker makes plain that he or she is indebted to the other person, which is polite in a society that values reciprocity especially in terms of obligation, and it is expected that the debt will later be repaid.

In essence, a display of neediness, culturally impermissible in most English-language discourse situations, is at the heart of the expression. Ohashi further suggests that it is this profound orientation toward debt and the striving for its balance that leads to the frequent employment of the expression by both speakers in a conversation, even when one interlocutor is clearly the beneficiary. By also saying yoroshiku onegai shimasu, the benefactor graciously conceals his or her credit or disencumbers the recipient of their debt.

 

Contagion

I am a big fan of Steven Soderbergh and was looking forward to seeing Contagion (2011). It did not disappoint. It may not be a ground breaking film or one of Soderbergh's finest, but it is a thrilling, realistic portrait of an epidemic with multiple locations and a great ensemble cast with the likes of: Lawrence Fishbure, Jude Law, Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston, Kate Winslet, Gweneth Paltrow, Marie Cotillard, among others. I like the narrative set up that starts at Day 2 only to return to Day 1 at the end of the film-explaining how the epidemic started. As usual there is great editing, cinematography and effective soundtrack from Soderbergh regular Cliff Martinez.  Had I seen it last year, I think it would have made my list of top films of the year. Next up Haywire.

The Feast Of The Goat

Feast Of The Goat (2002) is the second Mario Vargas Llosa novel I've read, and as much as I liked The Bad Girl, this novel surpassed it in my estimation. It is a meticulously researched historical novel about the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic told from three points of view. The first perspective in the novel is from Urania Cabral, daughter of one of the major players in the Trujillo regime who fell from favor shortly before his assassination. She has an insider's view and an outsider's perspective since she was able to escape to America to study and has become something of an amateur historian on the Trujillo regime. There is more to her story, but discussing it would give away one of the major plot points of the novel,however she largely tells her story in the third person, but sometimes she switches to the second person to tell about her particular trauma. The second perspective is from Trujillo himself during his last days leading up to the assassination. The third perspective is from the assassination conspirators. Through these three perspectives, Llosa is able to bring to life a slice of history from a tormented period of Dominican history. He is particularly adept in chronicling the excesses of the man and his family from petty politics, avarice, exploitation, torture, and murder. Sadly he was backed by the U.S. government during most of his tenure as a strong anti-communist state in the increasing leftist Latin America/Caribbean region. However, Llosa suggests in the book that during the Kennedy administration his human rights abuses were beginning to catch up with him and the U.S. It is alternately accessible and complex at the same time in the way that Llosa structures the story and going back and forth in time in the different narrative sections. It reminds me that Junot Diaz also wrote about the Trujillo regime in his opus, The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao. However, I must say that I am looking forward to reading more Llosa novels in the future.

Yoyogi Village

Yoyogi Village is a couple minuts from Yoyogi station and is an interesting little eco-freindly shopping complex.

Condoms & Cabbages Revisited

Cabbages & Condoms is an old standby in Bangkok with it's lush garden sequestered away from the mayhem of the city. It is an organization that seems to have grown by leaps and bounds in the number of restaurants and charity/aid projects over the country as well.

Seems like there are always nice little flourishes like this elegantly carved pineapple eagle in my Mai Tai on the menu in Bangkok.

There were several condom-themed pieces of art throughout-like this condom santa left over from the holiday season.

Bangkok Canadian Embassy BBQ

While in Bangkok last week we were invited to a BBQ at the Bangkok Embassy by a friend. The theme was the "Calgary Stampeed" (think cowboy) complete with a country and western Thai band.