Today I want to introduce a fundamental aspect of Chinese culture. In Chinese culture, family is very important. Not only is this seen in the home, but it rolls over into the national identity as well. Chinese people generally refer to an unknown person on the street using titles such as little brother/sister, big brother/sister, aunt/uncle. This can be seen in the novel, especially when we are looking at the relationship between Logan and Didi. Didi's name, 弟弟 in Chinese (although they are the same character, the first di is pronounced with the fourth tone and the second di is pronounced with the neutral tone) means little brother. Similarly, Didi often refers to Logan as dage (in Chinese 大哥), the da is pronounced in the fourth tone and means "big", the ge is in the first tone and means "older brother." This is derived from the word 哥哥, which means older brother. So Didi is effectively calling Logan "big brother." Dage can also be used to mean "boss." I hope that this clarifies some of the language that is used in the novel. I'll see you next time!
-Logan
No comments:
Post a Comment