This is one of my favourite statements and posts. I am a curvy girl and got a lot of comments about my body in Japan. Some were negative, some were positive, some seeped in jealousy. I didn’t mind it so much when I lived there. I understand what a riveting experience it was for everyone. It took me a long time to realize that others don’t know what you know. Others don’t look at the world the way you do. I know I’m kind of an interloper, foreign and fascinating. I am as perplexed by the Japanese as they are with me. And this is their turf. It’s fun to learn new things.
Saphir Warf hypotheses (Linguistic relativity)
- In linguistics, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be understood by those who live in another language.
- The hypothesis states that the way people think is strongly affected by their native languages.
- It is a controversial theory championed by linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf.
References
- Paul Kay and Willett Kempton. What is the Sapir-Whorf- hypothesis?. 1984. American Anthropologist 86, 65-79.