The latest installment of my weekly column came out this morning. It has the sub-heading "It’s perplexing that Koreans use language and symbols they don’t really understand," a line taken from the last paragraph, and something I've thought, like, a million times in my four years here. That covers bars named after Rommel, internet cafes named after the space shuttle Challenger, Gibberlish, girls who try to back it up but lack the back for backing, calling children "sexy," celebrating a Christmas divorced from any meaningful context, and a bunch of other examples.
As with my last piece, I'll have to add here that the premise of the column is to give an overview of opinion expressed on my blog . . . but not my own. It's intended to be a survey of foreigner opinion, but as I said last week there's an inherent bias in doing that by looking simply at my blog. While it does have a relatively large readership---suck it Phil Griffith---there's little crossover between commentors here and, say, on Korea Beat, Marmot's Hole, or Roboseyo.
I admit I have no idea who reads the Joongang Ilbo, in paper form I mean. I flip through all the dailies online, but I haven't read an actual English-language newspaper in Korea since 2006. The readership will largely be Korean, then---especially since these papers exist to help Koreans practice their English---and I would prefer the opportunity to express more of my opinion, rather than excerpting commentors who, to be frank, don't spend hours a week preparing their words for public consumption. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for having a civil, thoughtful band of commentors, who certainly put those on other sites to shame, but I think if we're trying to introduce the Korean audience to what happens in the English K-blogosphere, it might be more useful to profile the citizens rather than the tourists.
Well, maybe it will encourage more people to visit the site and do some further reading. My stats didn't increase any last week, but I got a couple of nice emails from people who liked the piece, so there you go.
8 comments:
There are a thousand steps to start a successful journey- you're already well on your way~:-D
Just set up a sock puppet. Then you can express your own opinion all you like.
From your article:
Regardless, I ask, how appropriate is it to have a “good” Nazi as the face and namesake of your business?Brian, Rommel was not a Nazi.
That is something problematic from you and the writer (who referred to him as an S.S. officer): you are reacting to what you perceive to be the symbolism even when it's not appropriate.
But I fear this is beating a dead horse; we've already discussed most of this in the previous post and this post now is about your article being in the Joongang Daily.
I would like to say two things. First, it's commendable writing that you objectively include those who disagree with you (e.g., me and Sonagi).
Secondly, I will say that the quality of this work could have been enhanced if you had done one thing: contact the owner of Rommel and Challenger and ask them why they chose those names.
I'm halfway across the Pacific and AT&T doesn't make it easy to call strangers back in Korea and ask them what's up, but you could actually stroll by one of those establishments and have a little interview with the proprietor.
It's one thing to speculate at length about some other person's words or deeds if you have no way to confirm or refute your speculations; it's different if you keep speculating when you have the chance to verify directly.
lol I could just imagine the reaction if Brian were to go up to the owners of those establishments and ask them why they did it...if he could even track them down...and then if they would agree to speak to a foreigner about it.
Kushibo, I'm not sure if you have been threatened and almost deported in Korea by Koreans because of your "investigative" journalism and putting it in print but Brian has. If I were him I would be more than hesitant chasing down these guys for their input on what would probably be a touchy subject.
Also, isnt this article, by request of the Joongang Daily, supposed to be like a summary of discussions going on in the blog world and not a new investigative report?
fattycat wrote:
lol I could just imagine the reaction if Brian were to go up to the owners of those establishments and ask them why they did it...if he could even track them down...and then if they would agree to speak to a foreigner about it.Sure, because people in Korea never strike up a conversation with the proprietor of an establishment, about their business or anything.
Um, I don't see why this is so far-fetched to you. I talk with the owners or managers of places I frequent all the time, even places where it's my first time there.
All he does is go in, buy a drink, hang out for a bit and then ask, "Hey, that's an interesting name for this place. How'd you happen to come up with that?" and see what they answer.
Maybe there's more potential if right then and there you told them they should change the name of the establishment, but if you're just going to ask questions as a customer and you do it politely and non-judgmentally (after all, you're trying to find out the reason (right?), so there's no need to judge yet).
If it turns out the owner's a total Nazi lover and he thinks that Rommel is some sort of great Nazi figure, it might be wise not to tell him right then and there that he's an asshole. If that's his reason.
Kushibo, I'm not sure if you have been threatened and almost deported in Korea by Koreans because of your "investigative" journalism and putting it in print Why, yes, I have. Several times.
But that doesn't stop me. I angered a couple people at Gerry Bevers school (referenced in the above link, by the way) when I actually contacted them to gather information about his firing, so that if it really had happened the way he said, I could protest in a more appropriate way. Oh, did the person on the phone who denied all that get really, really irate. I'm glad I'd called a desk phone that probably didn't have caller ID.
but Brian has.Refresh my memory of the details with a link, please.
If I were him I would be more than hesitant chasing down these guys for their input on what would probably be a touchy subject.Fine if that's how you think, but in that case wouldn't it be just as bad or worse to instead just write about it in a national newspaper without getting their side of the story?
Also, isnt this article, by request of the Joongang Daily, supposed to be like a summary of discussions going on in the blog world and not a new investigative report?I guess so, but these are subjects Brian himself chose to write about and the fact remains that nobody in the blogosphere has bothered to get the Rommel or Challenger owners' side of the story (as far as I know).
kushibo, here's what fattycat was refering to:
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2008/07/update-to-my-run-in-with-netizens.htmlYou're right that it'd be good to talk to the owners about what they were trying to do. I'm not going to get into a discussion here about how appropriate Rommel or the Challenger may or may not be. Suffice it to say I don't think they're the best names, and I've said as much. Am I the thought police? No. Do I want people to use their heads a little? Yes.
What I wonder is, Brian, are you concirned that these guys are going to misread what you have written about their establishments in mainstream media as a threat or insult and perhaps come after you? Forget mad cow protesters! Pseudo Nazi bar and Spaceship owners unite!
Nathan says:
"Just set up a sock puppet. Then you can express your own opinion all you like."
Just make sure your sock puppet is never caught saying "Jesus tapdancing christ!" or "In conclusion, Korea is a land of contrasts. Thank you for reading my essay."
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