03.20.07
To my Chinese readers…
Recently, I have received several blog responses from some of you who think that my blog is too negative on China. I know that as a foreigner, it can be easy to nitpick and rant about aspects of China which we may find annoying, disturbing or completely nonsensical. This is not my intention in this blog.
One of the most common manifestations of humor in the United States is what we call “satire.” My Chinese-English dictionary translates “satire” as 讽刺文学, but I am not sure this definition is completely accurate.
Satire derives its humor from mockery, which is a polite word for “makin’ fun of stuff.” Satirists do not necessarily make fun of a person, a thing, or an idea, because they are opposed to it. Rather, they choose topics which are well-known, thus making them universally laughable. Simply put, we laugh at these topics because they are capable of being laughed at, not because they are deserving of being laughed at.
It happens that I live in China, so most of the funny things I encounter on a daily basis pertain to China. If I was in the United States and ran into the following tattoos, I would certainly write a blog on them as well.
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photos taken from hanzi smatter
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When we laugh at these tattoos, we are not making a judgment about all Americans and their inability to properly carve Chinese characters permanently into their skin (which for the record, I think is much more ridiculous than making an English mistakes on a sign or a menu). Instead, we are picking out one little piece of our everyday lives which is worthy of a laugh.
So please do not take my satire at face value. Look at it for what it is, comedy. In return, I will try to put more focus on exposing the comical aspects of American society, and believe me there are a ton.
If you are interested in more examples of American satire, I recommend you check out www.theonion.com, or watch the following TV shows:
The Simpsons (辛普森家族)
Saturday Night Live
The Daily Show with John Stewart
Or if you are really confident in your English level, try to find some stand-up comedy from George Carlin.
Danielle
said,
March 20, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Sorry Ben but to be frank, i did not read through all your words carefully because they were really too long and i was just too impatient. That’s why i failed to catch your main points. I begin to understand your feelings towards China now and i know that sometimes my views were kinda too extreme. (Or maybe every time?) Won’t do that again. At least won’t do that again before i fully figure everything out:)
Danielle
said,
March 20, 2007 at 5:43 pm
P.S..Hope i didn’t break your little fragile vunerable heart…
Benjamin Ross
said,
March 20, 2007 at 5:54 pm
That’s okay Danielle. Your comments always provide a little bit of much-needed fire into this blog. I just wanted to be sure nobody gets the wrong idea about my opinions towards China and Chinese people
P.S. my little fragile vulnerable heart was partially broken. Now, thanks to your support, I am in the process of picking up the pieces and putting it all back together again. Will keep you updated…possibly another blog entry.
Culture News at worldculturenet.com
said,
March 20, 2007 at 9:08 pm
[...] Expatriate blogger Ben Ross tries to explain American satire to his Chinese readers. [...]
James
said,
March 21, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Oh, It’s American satire.I like it.Thanks,Ben.
Xiao Zhu
said,
March 22, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I don’t really agree with your definition of satire. I think satire is to take a subject and imitate it, accentuating it in such a way so the viewer can see the inconsistencies of the subject. The inconsistencies, which often come across as stupid, are the funny parts. Chinese e’gao is a form of satire.