That's what I've found in the more serious Asian studies students, they consider themselves to be historians, linguists, poets to remove themselves from the anime otakus. I find myself doing much the same thing, "Oh, you like Asian studies?" "No, I study literature and philosophy." I can certainly understand your hostility and disdain. I find myself more regarding them with the crestfallen, "Oh no, not another one." I work with a bunch of teenaged anime otakus, and it can get obnoxious.
Part of the reason why I never really got the anime and manga craze is that since I grew up in Seoul, we had a lot of it widely available to us, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just another means of storytelling. I will admit, I love graphic novels but I've never really gotten into manga. I prefer ones with actual, philosophical, intelligent story.
Honestly, I think I would have preferred to be in your shoes as far as exposure to Asian history and languages goes. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and while there is a good deal of Asian culture here and available, very little of it delves into the ancient texts or philosophies. Most of it is very decontextualised, modern, and Americanised. So most kids who want to study Asian language or literature here have to move past a lot of the images and stereotypes built from such a mentality rather than starting from scratch. I was lucky that I received my primary education in Korea, so I wasn't exposed to it as much. I've been finding myself wanting to study Classical Chinese lately, especially since I've started taking up Chinese silk embroidery. I want to learn about the imagery and the story telling mechanism that go into all of it.
Hehehe. Thanks! I'm always happy to meet other open-minded and broadly cultured people. I try to be as open and cut-through-the-crap as much as I can because there's SO MUCH out there.
Ah, linguistics, there's a fun topic. Linguistic Semantics is, indeed, a bit mind-boggling. General Semantics, what I study, it's kind of the parent to Semiotics. It talks about the systems we use to create meaning and how language is a part of it. Very cool stuff.
Hmm... okay, languages: My first language was Korean, Japanese was my second (but I'm very rusty now because I've had little practise with it since we moved away from Japan, but I'm working on getting it back), English was my third, German my fourth (also rusty from lack of use), then French, then Italian. I can also read and write in Sanskrit and Latin (getting rusty here, too), and I'm currently learning Hindi with Mandarin, Swedish, and Arabic next on my list. My goal is to learn every language my brain can possibly hold before I die.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-03-22 08:36 pm (UTC)Part of the reason why I never really got the anime and manga craze is that since I grew up in Seoul, we had a lot of it widely available to us, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just another means of storytelling. I will admit, I love graphic novels but I've never really gotten into manga. I prefer ones with actual, philosophical, intelligent story.
Honestly, I think I would have preferred to be in your shoes as far as exposure to Asian history and languages goes. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and while there is a good deal of Asian culture here and available, very little of it delves into the ancient texts or philosophies. Most of it is very decontextualised, modern, and Americanised. So most kids who want to study Asian language or literature here have to move past a lot of the images and stereotypes built from such a mentality rather than starting from scratch. I was lucky that I received my primary education in Korea, so I wasn't exposed to it as much. I've been finding myself wanting to study Classical Chinese lately, especially since I've started taking up Chinese silk embroidery. I want to learn about the imagery and the story telling mechanism that go into all of it.
Hehehe. Thanks! I'm always happy to meet other open-minded and broadly cultured people. I try to be as open and cut-through-the-crap as much as I can because there's SO MUCH out there.
Ah, linguistics, there's a fun topic. Linguistic Semantics is, indeed, a bit mind-boggling. General Semantics, what I study, it's kind of the parent to Semiotics. It talks about the systems we use to create meaning and how language is a part of it. Very cool stuff.
Hmm... okay, languages: My first language was Korean, Japanese was my second (but I'm very rusty now because I've had little practise with it since we moved away from Japan, but I'm working on getting it back), English was my third, German my fourth (also rusty from lack of use), then French, then Italian. I can also read and write in Sanskrit and Latin (getting rusty here, too), and I'm currently learning Hindi with Mandarin, Swedish, and Arabic next on my list. My goal is to learn every language my brain can possibly hold before I die.