Re: [News] Japan's New Export

"Peter Van Huffel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Fata Morgana" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:
>
> >
> > "Peter Van Huffel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> "Fata Morgana" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
> >> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > "S.t.A.n.L.e.E" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> >> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >> To call manga 'Japanese comics' is like calling a painting
> >> >> by Michelangelo a picture.  Both are true statements and both
> >> >> are utterly insufficient and degrading.
> >> >
> >> > Pshaw.  There's nothing insignificant or degrading about the word
> > 'comic.'
> >> >
> >> > Fata Morgana
> >>
> >> Please *read* the original statement, before replying in such a way.
> >> Nowhere has been said that "comic" is degrading or insignificant.
> >
> > I misread the word "insufficient", but the word "degrading" does indeed
> > appear in the statement.  Which is all beside the point - it's still
> > pretentious to think that Japanese comics are somehow ultimately so
> superior
> > to American ones that they need an entirely new word to describe them.
The
> > ONLY reason I use the word manga in place of 'Japanese comic' is that
it's
> > more terse.
>
> You obviously have a twisted logic, because you're reading things that
have
> not even been said. Noone said something about "superior", the statement
was
> about being "different"!

The statement was "degrading", now here is the dictionary.coms definition of
that word:

1. To reduce in grade, rank, or status; demote.
2. To lower in dignity; dishonor or disgrace: a scandal that degraded the
participants.
3. To lower in moral or intellectual character; debase.
4. To reduce in worth or value: degrade a currency.
5. To impair in physical structure or function.
6. Geology. To lower or wear by erosion or weathering.
7. To cause (an organic compound) to undergo degradation.

Now, in the original post, the sentence " both are utterly insufficient and
degrading"
was used. That is, to call "manga" for "japanese comics" is to degrade,
to reduce it in status, to lower it in dignity.
To me, that implies by definiton that the word and concept of
"manga" is more superior than "comic".
I do think that it is nice to have such a word as "manga", when talking
about "japanese comics", because it is shorter to say, but that is the
only reason. I am Norwegian, and we don't use the word "comics"
when we talk about American comics, still they are quite different
from most Norwegian and European "tegneserier" or "comics".
Or what about the distinct French/Belgian comics, what should
we call them, or the Spanish comics, an so forth...
Every culture has their unique way of doing things, Norwegian
cheese is different than say English cheese, that doesn't mean
that calling Norwegian cheese for "cheese" instead of "ost"
is degrading.

> Yes, let's continue in the same vein and make some other derivatives, most
of
> them I've already seen in the past and they make me cringe (trying not to
> shock people here, but it's to make my point clear):
>
> mosque = Arabic church
> cosmonaut = Russian astronaut
> ramen = Japanese noodles

All these are good examples, and yes, a "cosmonaut" IS a "Russian
astronaut",
"ramen" IS Japanes noodles, a "mosque" IS a "Arabic church (or place of
worship)"
And to take it further, "Allah" IS the same word as "God" and if more people
had translated that word, there would have been less wars I fathom.
All these are perfectley OK substitute words to use, and doesn't show
any form for disrepect.
I doubt many people use the word "cosmonaut" these days anyways,
"Russian astronaut" is just as common, at least in Norwegian.

> more accurate. It's also simply a matter of respect towards another
culture
> to use the original word.

If you think so, then all form for translations is a sign of disrespect.
Should we call Swiss cheese for "fromagè" ?
Again, it's practical to use already established frases to describe
these things, but to say that to not use these frases is degrading
is not correct.

- NightRaven