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Thu, 2010-06-10 10:14 — Traveler

I love me the particles

Yes, it's hard to learn proper use of those particles... but I'd have to ask, what's unusual about that? There's no shortage of books, blogs, newspaper columns, videos, and more trying to help English speakers/writers master proper use of prepositions or other grammatical bits. (Just look closely at the next, say, ten articles or comments you read on the web, and you'll see how well native English writers have "wrapped their heads" around their language. It ain't pretty!)

I still hold to my point that the particles – particularly the ones like o or wa that add something beyond the role of English prepositions – are great stuff for learners. Especially for comprehension! Even if it can be tough to choose between wa and ga when you're making the sentences, if you're the listener, you're letting the speaker handle that task. As the listener, you need only passively take the words in, and revel in the fact that the speaker just clearly labeled for you the sentence's subject or topic. And what's the object of the verb's action? Why, it's unquestionably the word that had o tacked on the end! There's little need to juggle the words in your head to pick out the who did what to whom, when particles neatly map it out.

Needless to say, comprehension gets tough when the sentences get long and convoluted; we'd likely agree completely on that. But even there, I can't see how it's anything but a help to have things like the direct object clearly marked for you!

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New words, and new uses of old words, appearing on this site:

Culturology

For lack of a better word, "culturology" is what I label a particular brand of fascination with, and practice of, "cross-cultural comparison". (Suggestions for a better name are welcome!)

Not cultural comparison as it can be in theory: an objective, even interesting, examination of different cultures. Rather, I use "culturology" to mean cultural comparison as it too often appears in practice: subjective and unscientific nonsense, with a good story taking precedence over facts.

Or, for a pithier definition: Culturology is the dogged effort to dig up and exhibit "cultural differences" whether they exist or not.

Culturologists

The uncritical practitioners of culturology, whether academics, writers, or just general fans of "cultural difference" tales not hampered by critical examination.

Japanology

This has a general meaning of "the study of things Japanese"; here I use it to mean culturology as applied to Japan. It's closely tied to Nihonjinron, with all negative connotations intact.

Japanologist

The uncritical believers – Japanese or otherwise – of elements of Japanology.

Japander

With a friendly nod to Japander.com, which has long applied the word to the commercial appearances of Hollywood stars in Japan, I use the verb in a way closer to the original "pander": to Japander is to tell the Japanologists the silliness they love to hear. "I think Japanese developed as the world's most complex language, thanks to Japan's unique four seasons" – that's Japandering.

Traveler's Law #1

"Any exposition pointing out 'cultural contrasts' must contain at least one bit of unsupported silliness."

Traveler's Law #2

"Any statement beginning with 'the Japanese' (or 'the French', 'Ghanaians', 'Asians', 'Westerners', whatever) is 99% certain to be a dumb statement."

words in quotes

Words like "Westerner" and "the East" may appear in quotes to emphasize their inherent silliness. A claim that "the Japanese" are baffled by some "Western mindset" regarding a "cultural difference" that doesn't even exist, is deserving of all those mocking quotes.

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