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Society for Linguistic Anthropology Anthropology News • February 2007 SECTION NEWS the “bleeding edge” of enforcement. This seems often than those of other globalized, industri- I received the final product, I was quite surprised a curious way to approach the problem of mini- alized societies? I have tried to use the term to see on the back lyric sheet that the first two mizing the chance of abuse, regardless of wheth- “internationalizing” here to stress the ongoing verses had been reversed in “El Dorado”; this er it is the result of intention or ignorance. process, which is a Japanese reaction to its own puzzled me as I felt the verses had a cumulative Many of their findings should be disturbing to experience of global change. story to tell and this momentum had been lost anyone, not just those identifying as queer. In one Linguists, ethnomusicologists and anthropolo- in the English version. case of total erasure, the text makes no mention at gists frequently discuss the use of English in When I contacted the band to ask why, I was all of sexual orientation as it pertains to matters of Japanese popular culture. Most argue against told that the producers decided to change the enforcement. Cases of partial erasure, where par- the common knee-jerk reaction that this kind order of the two verses to allow the song to start ticular aspects of sexual orientation are simply not of expression merely illustrates the poor English on a strong note. In other words, sound stan- included in the text, are more common. linguistic capabilities of Japanese copywriters dards over-ruled English meaning, which con- Perhaps more disturbing are the cases of and songwriters. They promote the idea of an vinced me that use of English was more about “selective editing,” where the LGBTQ connec- emerging and fluid hybrid language, perfectly image and sound than meaning. It didn’t matter tion was simply edited out. Many textbooks comprehensible to in-group interlocutors, and that the two versions’ verses didn’t match; what exploited stereotypes and managed to vilify interpreted within a shared symbolic framework. mattered was that it sounded “good”—that is, LGBTQ persons, either literally or figurative- Of all the foreign languages, English is most good to Japanese ears. ly. Little mention is made of victimization frequently used in Japanese popular music, due of LGBTQ individuals, with texts placing this to its affinity with the genre’s place of origin. In Please send your comments, contributions, news under “hate crimes.” Not surprising is a near the first two decades after the post-World War II and announcements to SLA contributing editors Jim total absence of cases that frame gay or lesbian American occupation, foreign music constituted Stanlaw ([email protected]) and Mark Peterson identities as legitimate. That there are virtually the largest volume of sales in the Japanese record ([email protected]). no examples of valuing LGBTQ identities seems industry. And English has been called the most perversely consistent with the overall findings. authentic expression for rock music in Japan. Remember: these are introductory texts. Whether a love song or message song, seri- Society for Medical The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports ous or playful, foreign terms add value to the that in 2005, racial bias motivated 54.7 percent Japanese musical end product. For example, Anthropology of the total reported hate crimes. It is difficult to singer/songwriter and new music icon Yuming suggest that future members of the law enforce- (Matsutôya Yumi), often likes to add a little fra- KATHLEEN RAGSDALE AND JANELLE S TAYLOR, ment system should have no familiarity with grance of Western culture to give her songs some CONTRIBUTING EDITORS LGBTQ issues, when 14.2 percent of the total “elegance.” But another way to interpret the use crimes committed in 2005 were motivated by of English in Japanese music is by focusing more a sexual-orientation bias. Keeping quiet then, is explicitly on the sound of the lyrics rather than Anthropological Research on National understandably popular, even among peers. their purported meaning. Does the English used and Global Tobacco Use merely provide an acoustic gloss? Join us. SOLGA wants you! Visit www.solga.org— The pop music industry in Japan is precisely By Mimi Nichter and Mark Nichter (U Arizona) news, mentors, listserv and more. Please send com- that—an industry—and, cultural and semiotic Tobacco use kills more people worldwide than ments, suggestions and ideas for columns or just nuances aside, English at times is used not so malaria, maternal and major childhood condi- say “hi” to David Houston at [email protected]. much for its sophistication but for its sales poten- tions, and tuberculosis combined. By 2020, to- tial. And English is not limited to one genre of bacco use will contribute to 8.4 million deaths Japanese music. Loan words were used extensive- annually, making it the leading cause of pre- Society for Linguistic ly in early post-war hits, but the most common ventable morbidity and mortality in the world. way that English was sung in Japan from the Developing regions will be particularly impact- Anthropology 1950s to the mid 70s was through the retention ed: in Asia alone, deaths due to tobacco use are of original lyrics in translated cover songs. projected to rise above 4 million, nearly twice JAMES STANLAW AND MARK PETERSON, In the 1980s we saw a full integration of that of developed regions. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS English into original Japanese composition, Faculty and students at the University of coinciding with the strong yen and an unprec- Arizona (UA) Department of Anthropology have This month we have a submission from Carolyn edented increase in Japanese citizens traveling pioneered the use of ethnographic methods in S Stevens, senior lecturer in Japanese studies at the overseas. Foreign languages had always been tobacco research in the areas of dependency and University of Melbourne (where she teaches classes considered exotic and powerful, but it was not addiction among adolescents and young adults; on Japanese popular culture and society, as well as until the 1980s that overseas travel was within advertising and marketing; health disparities; language classes). She gives us a fascinating and rare reach of ordinary middle-class Japanese, and polydrug use; gender and tobacco; the political behind-the-scenes, fi rst-hand look at the creative English, as the lingua franca of the overseas tour- economy of the tobacco industry; and the eco- process of how English becomes integrated into ist, entered the Japanese mainstream lifestyle. logical impact of tobacco production. Japanese song. Those wishing to pursue this topic In July 1994 I was commissioned to translate UA tobacco researchers are also actively further should see her forthcoming book Japanese two songs—“The Adventure Begins” and “El engaged in national and international public Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power (2007). Dorado”—into English by the Alfee, a well- health policy debates and recommendations. She may be reached at [email protected]. known pop group. From my previous work In 1994, Mark Nichter served as a member of with them I knew what the composer’s expecta- the Institute of Medicine task force to exam- Translations: “Internationalizing” tions were: the lyrics had to reflect the original ine tobacco use among US youth. This group Language and Music in Japan meaning, they had to “fit the music,” and, most produced the highly influential Congressional importantly, had to be realistically “singable” report, Growing Up Tobacco Free: Preventing By Carolyn Stevens (U Melbourne) for a Japanese vocalist (thus, avoiding certain Nicotine Addiction in Children and Youth. In Japanese popular music is striking in that its sounds such as l, r, or th during slow sections 2000, Mimi Nichter presented a commissioned language of expression is far from limited to where the singer’s limited linguistic ability was paper to the World Health Organization (WHO) its native discourse. What meanings do these most vulnerable). at their inaugural event for the Framework “othered” expressions hold? Why does Japa- We worked for three days on both the English Convention for Tobacco Control, which was nese popular music use foreign languages more and Japanese versions. Two months later, when the first global WHO treaty. Using Asia as a 54.
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