QUESTION FROM A MULTILINGUAL PROFESSIONAL: WHAT SHOULD REALLY BE CONSIDERED OF A FOREIGN PEOPLE?

Anyone who has ever been abroad must be familiar with at least one or two minor cultural elements that they are just not used to in their own country – but it really isn’t just limited to things like food and landmarks and, shall we say, unique expressions or antics (or customs, depending on how you want to look at it). In a nutshell, not just things which it is generally accepted that tourists would normally expect to savour in some way. I say this because a basic sense of cultural awareness is important when translating, and there can be no bigger reason why travelling abroad is so recommended for those in my profession; depending on where you visit, the locals will share a different language as well as a different culture, and of course their culture will be reflected in their language – think of it as habits (which they are not necessarily conscious of) manifested in the communication by which they express themselves.

It is sad that xenophobia has been proven to be capable of encouraging not only presumptuous rejection / lack of appreciation for “them” (in the sense of the “us and them” division concept), but also unwarranted suspicion and even violence. Consider what is meant by this point when it comes to the subject of translation: people can usually tell if something written in their mother tongue was written by someone whose own mother tongue is something else, even if the material itself is in fact very intelligible, unambiguous and well-written. But what I am really trying to say here is that unity and diplomacy are to be accepted as topics relevant to “getting translation right” – and there is such a thing as being too attached to one’s own kind, if it means that you are only too detached from those of other backgrounds and traditions – people whose fundamental priorities in life may differ from your own considerably even if your own fundamental priorities in life are no less respectable than theirs – even if it wouldn’t be fair to say that that alone qualifies someone as racist. Whatever you have to say about your attitudes regarding “them” (whoever they may be in your case), such a mindset can’t really be good for anything positive – but it is liable to tacitly promote cynicism and devalue the concept of basic human kindness! Is it really fair to foreigners to maintain a fear that they could / would undermine the status of your own culture while in reality you would be surprised to see any of your views in such a matter vindicated? Certainly not.

Now, I am British, and, aside from various aspects of popular British culture the aspects of which foreigners might enjoy at least once as part of an “interesting” (for want of a better word) stay abroad, I am aware that foreigners say we’re polite and reserved. And I’d say I agree with that – not that I am for one second arguing that there are no rude or gregarious British people, of course. But consider this: when a foreigner says the British are polite and reserved, do they only mean that they are notably “polite and reserved” compared to the standards and values of people of other countries (such as the Americans, or at any rate commonly known American stereotypes – with apologies to Americans reading this) or “polite and reserved” due in no small part to the more significant public events in Britain’s history as a country and the widespread cultural priorities of its people as a whole, not just those of British individuals within the scope of their own life? Going out of your way to compare someone to others for the sake of formulating an “informed” opinion of them, has no place in true appreciation of who they really are – think of it as a psychological trap to avoid; and in the worst case scenarios it suggests that you are conceited.

Now, I’m not the kind of person who easily takes offence at people having a silly laugh at stereotypes of my country’s people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXOJ9HkE9FE , even if they are not entirely inaccurate (but this could change if they are blatantly negative, such as football hooligans, while there’s supposed to be piss-take humour in it; and I have to admit that even I would eventually get annoyed with it if it were done too overtly and / or frequently in a brief timeframe). We must accept that there is such a thing as choosing to be offended. But, for the sake of a clear example at the opposite end of the spectrum: it is said that the Chinese quickly get hostile toward people speaking English in a fake Chinese accent because they find the Chinese accent amusing, or doing the slant eyes thing – I can be inclined that way, to be honest. But to me, calling someone “racist” in response to such behaviour is an overreaction: being amused by someone’s accent is no reason to believe that you don’t or won’t appreciate the merits that their country’s people have accomplished (however much they may differ from yours) and that you would be more likely than not to respond to juxtapositions of them with unfounded contempt. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being Chinese any more than there’s anything inherently wrong with being British or any other nationality.

But, whether we like it or not, that’s the way Chinese people are; I can only conclude that they tend to be notably more serious and stoic than non-Chinese people in at least some respects directly as a result of their cultural heritage. Like I said, this is the point where you have to get out of the habit of comparing real people in real life with what are no more than loose and offhand representations of people with specific traits and / or values, which may be innocent in intent but they are also crude; like, in a way, any individual poorly conceived fictional character (which you may have developed some kind of personal attachment to). What else could cultural sensitivity (as a branch of the topic of respect in general) mean? To be fair, I can sympathise with the Chinese in that they have every reason to label themselves a proud people: they call themselves “nationalists” while having grim memories of the Tiananmen Square protests incident – that’s just one example. And while many of them have low salaries China is a world technological leader; they are definitely resourceful. Here’s another: for all their bizarre game shows and TV adverts, the Japanese are particularly strict about cleanliness and etiquette when they are not boasting their latest technical products, and if you have ever mixed with anyone Japanese in Japan you have no legitimate excuse for not knowing something like that. Personally, I put it down to the samurai tradition and budo.

If nothing else, this is all a reminder that being a professional translator has taught me not to take my own knowledge and understanding of things for granted. I say this because, ultimately, people, knowing that the world does not revolve around them, are naturally inclined to seek to fight for things that they can afford to take for granted – things they wouldn’t care about seeing go to waste – whether or not anyone might support them in this regard; but this is a mentality whose grip must be weakened for those who would strive to be at the top.