04 February 2018
ANTHROPOLOGY 281/1005--Week Three Assignment--CHARLIE CHAN, BEATNIKS & SAMOANS
ANTH 281-1005
Dr. J Ferguson
University of Nevada, Reno
Spring 2018
Politeness--Involvement/Restraint
University of Nevada, Reno
Spring 2018
Politeness--Involvement/Restraint
Heard all too often today is the expression “Thank you so much”, and in many cases the fine line of ambiguity between polite and sarcastic (restrained) is often blurred. Suffice it to say that the expression may not have originated in the English language at all and can be attributed cross-culturally to Sidney Toler’s role as “Charlie Chan” in his many portrayals as the Chinese detective in the late 30’s and early 40’s
Three Different Contextual Representations of the Same Thing:
Although the following doesn’t necessarily represent a plea, apology or excuse, it is nonetheless and example of a bona-fide contextual interpretation of a given expression:
Whether it was Kerouac, Kaufman, Ginsburg or Caen who came up with the phrase, “The Beat Generation” (and its derivative “beatnik”) meant many things to different people. To Post-Korean War veterans, the term meant “beaten”, weary, over-it-all. The jazz musicians of the 50’s era indirectly considered it a reference to their particular unique style of music. Still others considered it an envied lifestyle, replete with its own brand of dress, poetry, culture and language.
Samoan vs. American Greetings Comparisons:
It is clear there is a more formal hierarchy of greetings in Samoan culture as exemplified by the lack of consideration for children in the community. What wasn’t made clear in the Duranti article was another of his works, “Linguistic Anthropology, A Reader” (Blackwell Publishing, 2009). Here, Duranti editorializes the Benjamin Bailey article on “interethnic” communication in a Culver City Korean store. The encounters were between the Korean store owner, other Koreans and African-Americans and referred to the above involvement-restraint politeness service encounters between them. In the Samoan observations, the encounters were not cross-cultural and therefore lacked a genuine base of comparison except within the circle of the community.