Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id LAA11475 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 3 Feb 2002 11:48:11 GMT X-Authentication-Warning: cheetah.nor.com.au: Host 009.digital.ppp.port.dataheart.net [202.147.134.9] claimed to be green-machine Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20020203223655.006d81c0@pophost.nor.com.au> X-Sender: jeremyb@pophost.nor.com.au X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 22:36:55 +1100 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: Jeremy Bradley <jeremyb@nor.com.au> Subject: Re: ply to Grant In-Reply-To: <LAW2-F928lQo5QVyND300021a05@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
At 07:52 AM 14/01/02 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi, Jeremy.
>
>I like most of your ideas but I'm puzzled by some. What is the nature of
>the "mapable code," for instance? And why do you call our linguistic system
>"binary?"
>
>I've personally run into the problem of being called a "barbarian" in China
>and a "foreign devil." This xenophobic attitude pervades China at every
>level, with villagers I encountered sometimes coming up short, taking a
>step back and exclaiming, "Aiyo! Yang Gui." which means approximately, "Oh
>my. A foreign devil!"
>
OK Grant
I will try to answer both of your questions in brief as my time is occupied
with caring for my mother, renovating an old house, helping with my
grandchildren, preparing for my doctorate and trying to have a life with my
partner.
Unlike many on the list i think that we have only a few memes. These memes
are the fundamental building-blocks of sense-making within a culture. Each
culture has its own modes of making sense of their circumstance and pass
these on in the form of narrative elements. These narrative elements
pervade all of a culture's artefacts and, I would suggest, identify items,
ethics and behaviours as valid or invalid within that culture depending on
the presence or lack of the element in the artefact.
I can send you, as a Word6 attachment, an excerpt from my honours thesis
which shows the 'map' of the cultural memes for the English colonists and
the Australian indigenes. It is based on anthropological, cultural and
narratological works.
Your second question is linguistic and I would like to dodge a long debate
on an area in which I have only moderate expertise. However you could check
out baby Bush's State of the Union Address for examples of linguistic
binarisms ( with us or against us, good v/s evil, etc). These binarisms are
seen in Western cultures as normal rhetoric. Or you could try some of Noam
Chomsky's earlier works.
As for being a "foreign devil" in China, your observations of xenophobia
should also include such friendly usanian terms such as 'slopes' 'gooks'
and 'chinks'. Maybe you just weren't on the same meme team as each other
Grant.
Cheers
Jeremy
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