Comments | minako134: translation of a statement about the nature of art meant to cheer on victims of the Tohoku quake

minako134

translation of a statement about the nature of art meant to cheer on victims of the Tohoku quake

Mar 13, 2011 12:49

This will probably be edited as I get more help translating some of the stuff I couldn't figure out well.

There have been quite a lot of art submitted at Pixiv with things like "Hang in there, Japan!!" included in them. Some of them are great to see, but others, it feels like it's bordering on being out-right insensitive. I realized I wasn't the ( Read more... )

hetalia, japanese, fanart, fandom, translation, pixiv, rl, japan

Comments 57

r_amythest March 13 2011, 22:40:36 UTC

Personally I think there's something about Snobbity Goals of Art and a certain disconnect with Appropriate Sensibilities but I don't think that really applies at this level. Part of your fandom is nuts, Ayame.

By the way, could you space out that translation a little maybe? I had to keep my cursor hovering beside it in order to read it without my eyes jumping lines.

minako134 March 14 2011, 01:55:51 UTC

how does i html..............

Ahm... anonymous March 13 2011, 23:06:49 UTC

Okay, maybe it's not in my best interests to come out and say this, but ( ... )

Re: Ahm... anonymous March 13 2011, 23:52:59 UTC

I'm sorry, I take it back.
I take it back.

I totally just saw a picture of chibi!Japan being crushed by an 'earthquake' while another goes 'NOOOO NIHON NOOOOO'.

THAT was not okay.
Not by a fucking longshot.

Re: Ahm... kecen March 13 2011, 23:54:35 UTC

What the hell D:

Re: Ahm... tsubasafeathers March 14 2011, 05:37:13 UTC

ya ...some people really do not know what it means to be insensitive which is why its not okay most of the time

Thread 22

lost_hitsu March 13 2011, 23:34:57 UTC

First of all, thank you very much for the translation and for the extremely tactful post ( ... )

aguzsuicaedere March 14 2011, 00:43:34 UTC

Thanks for your translation.
Well, I can't say I wasn't afraid that something like this might happen when I saw all the new submissions.
Is very hard to deal with a disaster when you have the live victims still feeling the pain of the lost. Even if one's intention are the best, things may look bad and insensitive. (that's why they have the 6 months policy in the kink-meme if I recall correctly)

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ambientlight March 14 2011, 16:09:10 UTC

experience has largely taught me (and most likely others, I assume), that saying "I'm here for you, whatever you need" is one of the best things you can say.

I think it might be a cultural thing? I don't want to make assumptions about where you're from, but put it this way: some people don't feel comfortable with expressions of sympathy, even from well-meaning friends. (I'm certainly one of them.) And without making too much of a generalization, I think national cultures can vary in their reactions to sympathy, too. I'm thinking about the 7/7 London bombings, for instance; I feel like the general mood was one of "The show must go on", the whole "stiff upper lip" thing, to the extent that many even felt insulted/patronised by outpourings of sympathy from outsiders.

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ambientlight March 15 2011, 01:55:57 UTC

Ah, sorry if I came across as condescending or anything. ^^; Just wanted to suggest why the Japanese fandom might have reacted as they did, and that it's not necessarily a negation of 'what you've learned' - it's just that people's experiences differ, and what we learn in one context might not translate to another one.

(As for offering a listening ear, yes, that makes sense. Although there are also people who deal better by not talking about things, or have issues with relying on others... but I guess we're quite rare. >_>;;)