T. F. Rhoden, author of Making Out in Burmese (June 6 - June 12)
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1LibThingDan
Please welcome T. F. Rhoden, author of Making Out in Burmese. Thomas will be chatting on LibraryThing until June 6th. The chat will begin with an interview by member macart3
2macart3
Hello, everybody! My name's Meghan and I so very happy that you've dropped in this author chat! Feel free to pepper this chat as often as you want with your questions, comments, observations, etc. However, do be considerate and no flaming, please. Mr. Rhoden has taken time out of his daily schedule to have this author chat and I would certainly hate it if he were to leave with a bitter experience. Now onto the question!
I noticed in the "Watch Your Mouth!" section that there was a translation for "Is it because I'm white?". Are there a lot of racial tension between whites and other race(s) in Burma? And what do you mean by "white"? American? Westener? What's the rational behind this insult?
I noticed in the "Watch Your Mouth!" section that there was a translation for "Is it because I'm white?". Are there a lot of racial tension between whites and other race(s) in Burma? And what do you mean by "white"? American? Westener? What's the rational behind this insult?
3rhoden
Hello Meghan,
First off, thanks for posting these initial questions to me for Making Out in Burmese!! I do appreciate it. Also, for anyone else out there in the LibaryThing world, if you have any queries about my fiction writing like The Village or my current project Burmese Refugees, Letters from the Thai-Burma Border, please feel free to jump in as well. Also, speaking of the Burmese Refugees project, you can also track our current progress here, even pledge if you think it's a good cause: http://kck.st/itaINu
Okay, so onto the first query: "Is it because I'm white?"
There are indeed racial tensions in Burma, particularly between the numerous ethnicities--something like over 130 "tribes" are recognized by the military government there--but they are not of the same flavor, as say, America's own ignoble experience with racially-imbued slavery, the civil rights movement of the last century, or the experience of modern-day Americans of any skin pigmentation today.
This subject, of course, cannot be exhausted in a simple forum like this, but what can be said is that, in Burma, racial tensions do exist, that they can be found haunting the relationship of groups within and without Burma, and that they can be as fervent, nasty--and petty--as anything one might meet in some communities in America.
In short, I would have preferred to have written "Is it because I'm Western?" but I felt that it just would not sound good in Burmese. I believe this is mainly because in Burma, like in too many countries in Asia, there is a misconception that all modern-day inhabitants of the Occident are Caucasian--are of some form of Northern European decent. And that if one is a shade other then manila white, then one is not truly a Westerner.
I remember having conversations with Burmese (and Thais and Laos) when Obama ascended to the presidency in 2009 that he was somehow not really an American, not like how pale-faced folks are American. Not being used to such a strident racism, I argued verily that that was anything but the case. My colleagues were, however, not moved by what I had to say.
Even for the word Caucasian, I translate as အဂၤလိပ္ /ihn-gə-láyt/ in the book, which is the Burmese word for English. This is because even if you are from Germany or America of Canada or whatever, if you look white, the little children running about half-naked on the street will invariably shout out "English! English!" as you stroll past them.
So...when I wanted to provide an expression useful for when one feels like they are being charged an exorbitantly high price for some trinket in a Burmese street market in Yangon, I wanted something that even the most terribly undereducated of street vendors would understand.
After saying:
Why is this so expensive?
ဘာလုိ႔ ဒီေလာက္ေစ်းႀကီးရတာလဲ?
/bah lóh dee lâot zây-jêe yá dah lêh?/
I have found it infinitely easier to quip:
Is is because I'm white?
ငါက ကုလားျဖဴတစ္ေယာင္မို႔လား?
/nagh gá góh-lâh də-yaon móh lâh?/
It is just one of those things in Burma: the more like a local Burmese you look, the easier it will be to get local prices for goods.
First off, thanks for posting these initial questions to me for Making Out in Burmese!! I do appreciate it. Also, for anyone else out there in the LibaryThing world, if you have any queries about my fiction writing like The Village or my current project Burmese Refugees, Letters from the Thai-Burma Border, please feel free to jump in as well. Also, speaking of the Burmese Refugees project, you can also track our current progress here, even pledge if you think it's a good cause: http://kck.st/itaINu
Okay, so onto the first query: "Is it because I'm white?"
There are indeed racial tensions in Burma, particularly between the numerous ethnicities--something like over 130 "tribes" are recognized by the military government there--but they are not of the same flavor, as say, America's own ignoble experience with racially-imbued slavery, the civil rights movement of the last century, or the experience of modern-day Americans of any skin pigmentation today.
This subject, of course, cannot be exhausted in a simple forum like this, but what can be said is that, in Burma, racial tensions do exist, that they can be found haunting the relationship of groups within and without Burma, and that they can be as fervent, nasty--and petty--as anything one might meet in some communities in America.
In short, I would have preferred to have written "Is it because I'm Western?" but I felt that it just would not sound good in Burmese. I believe this is mainly because in Burma, like in too many countries in Asia, there is a misconception that all modern-day inhabitants of the Occident are Caucasian--are of some form of Northern European decent. And that if one is a shade other then manila white, then one is not truly a Westerner.
I remember having conversations with Burmese (and Thais and Laos) when Obama ascended to the presidency in 2009 that he was somehow not really an American, not like how pale-faced folks are American. Not being used to such a strident racism, I argued verily that that was anything but the case. My colleagues were, however, not moved by what I had to say.
Even for the word Caucasian, I translate as အဂၤလိပ္ /ihn-gə-láyt/ in the book, which is the Burmese word for English. This is because even if you are from Germany or America of Canada or whatever, if you look white, the little children running about half-naked on the street will invariably shout out "English! English!" as you stroll past them.
So...when I wanted to provide an expression useful for when one feels like they are being charged an exorbitantly high price for some trinket in a Burmese street market in Yangon, I wanted something that even the most terribly undereducated of street vendors would understand.
After saying:
Why is this so expensive?
ဘာလုိ႔ ဒီေလာက္ေစ်းႀကီးရတာလဲ?
/bah lóh dee lâot zây-jêe yá dah lêh?/
I have found it infinitely easier to quip:
Is is because I'm white?
ငါက ကုလားျဖဴတစ္ေယာင္မို႔လား?
/nagh gá góh-lâh də-yaon móh lâh?/
It is just one of those things in Burma: the more like a local Burmese you look, the easier it will be to get local prices for goods.
4macart3
I was intrigued by the inclusion of insults. Why have it in there? How much do the Burmese insult each other? I know it depends on the person, but in general?
5rhoden
The Burmese do insult each other, but not any more or less than I think other people do.
In the past, I was asked a similar a question when Outrageous Thai first came out. People wanted to know if Thais really spoke that way with each other as well. I think my answer here for Making Out in Burmese should be something of the same: it really does depend more on class/education/personality than on any aggregate notion of an entire community of language speakers.
So, the short answer is nope--not so much.
I should say the primary reason for even including anything like those insults (and I should also mention that a lot of the nastier ones were cut out by the publisher) is to arm one's self with the ability to know what is going on around them. Of course, if one uses them flippantly, then we shouldn't feel too sorry for the hapless fellow. But, as I outlined in the first few pages of the publication...this book is for adults. Common sense like, maybe I ought not to use the f-bomb in this engagement with this particular local, goes a long way in any culture, in any country, in any corner of the world.
^__^
In the past, I was asked a similar a question when Outrageous Thai first came out. People wanted to know if Thais really spoke that way with each other as well. I think my answer here for Making Out in Burmese should be something of the same: it really does depend more on class/education/personality than on any aggregate notion of an entire community of language speakers.
So, the short answer is nope--not so much.
I should say the primary reason for even including anything like those insults (and I should also mention that a lot of the nastier ones were cut out by the publisher) is to arm one's self with the ability to know what is going on around them. Of course, if one uses them flippantly, then we shouldn't feel too sorry for the hapless fellow. But, as I outlined in the first few pages of the publication...this book is for adults. Common sense like, maybe I ought not to use the f-bomb in this engagement with this particular local, goes a long way in any culture, in any country, in any corner of the world.
^__^
6macart3
I noticed that you also included a section on partying. How's the nightlife in Burma? Do people tend to stay up late? I remember when I was in Spain that if you went to the bar at 2am, you were *early*. Also, people didn't start eating dinner until about 10:30pm. I tried doing that but the latest I could do was 9:30pm. And people would bring their young children (4-7) out to play at 10:30 at night, especially in the warmer weather, on school night. Have you seen that in Burma?
7rhoden
Well, Burma definitely cannot compare with Spain (few countries can). Nor can Burma compare with its neighbor to the east, Thailand. Yangon, the main commercial city, is no Bangkok. From my own experience, a large portion of the population is indoors by about 9:00pm, especially in the areas outside of Yangon.
That said, the there are a few spots in Yangon that stay open later into the evening, even into the night and early morning hours. Some cater to foreigners, others to locals, others to foreigners specifically from Asia (read China)--all of them slightly shady.
I'm not positive about this, but I would assume there exists some rule on the military regime's law books that stipulates that restaurants and discos should not stay open past midnight. But, along with any corrupt government, some under-the-table exchanges of cash will allow a bar owner to keep his establishment open even later.
That said, the there are a few spots in Yangon that stay open later into the evening, even into the night and early morning hours. Some cater to foreigners, others to locals, others to foreigners specifically from Asia (read China)--all of them slightly shady.
I'm not positive about this, but I would assume there exists some rule on the military regime's law books that stipulates that restaurants and discos should not stay open past midnight. But, along with any corrupt government, some under-the-table exchanges of cash will allow a bar owner to keep his establishment open even later.
8macart3
I really enjoyed the sweet talking section of the book. And the break up section brought a few chuckles. Do you think that if I were to go to Burma I might have success?
9macart3
And you know I have to ask, what drew you to Burma? What are your likes and dislikes? Do you miss home or is this your home? Is there anything you'd like to have? How comfortable do you feel in Burma?
10rhoden
Thank you again Meghan for being a participant in this whole process. I've enjoyed your queries!!
Yes, I think you would do wonderfully in Burma! :)
As far as how I ended up spending time in Burma. I've been lucky ever since I started attending international schools for my undergrad work. During that time, I developed relationships with quite a few of my classmates who were from Burma, so that by the first time I traveled there about ten years ago, I had friends that I could hang out with in just about every major urban area visited.
My more recent work/travel though put me again into contact with many different Burmese people as well as allowed me the opportunity to brush up on my Burmese and finally put together this fun title for publication. However, as of right now I've moved back to Thailand to work on another manuscript.
Do I miss home????.....hmmmmm....well, I'm originally from North Texas, and, well....nope, not at all! ^__^
All the best,
-Thomas
--
www.tfrhoden.com
Yes, I think you would do wonderfully in Burma! :)
As far as how I ended up spending time in Burma. I've been lucky ever since I started attending international schools for my undergrad work. During that time, I developed relationships with quite a few of my classmates who were from Burma, so that by the first time I traveled there about ten years ago, I had friends that I could hang out with in just about every major urban area visited.
My more recent work/travel though put me again into contact with many different Burmese people as well as allowed me the opportunity to brush up on my Burmese and finally put together this fun title for publication. However, as of right now I've moved back to Thailand to work on another manuscript.
Do I miss home????.....hmmmmm....well, I'm originally from North Texas, and, well....nope, not at all! ^__^
All the best,
-Thomas
--
www.tfrhoden.com
11fmgolden
I read The Village. I found that, in my opinion, with the exception of a few cultural references it could have been written about any small village or town, and group of people.
Did you intend for that message to come across as you were writing?
Did you intend for that message to come across as you were writing?
12rhoden
fmgolden
Yes, very much so. And I am happy that The Village read that way.
My experience has been that the more I travel and come into contact with cultures different than my own, the more I feel that the joys, hardships and aspirations that all conscious creatures like ourselves face are universal. Anthropologically, my favorite text on the subject is Human Universals by Donald E Brown. Though it may sound bromidic to say so, I really do believe that there is more that combines all of us together than separates us.
For me, personally, what I love best about visiting a new place is simply just that: the newness of it all, the exotic differences that cannot be ignored. After some time though what really sticks out, after all the newness has sizzled away, is our ultimate sameness. I think there is something very reassuring about that.
Thank you for the question! :)
Yes, very much so. And I am happy that The Village read that way.
My experience has been that the more I travel and come into contact with cultures different than my own, the more I feel that the joys, hardships and aspirations that all conscious creatures like ourselves face are universal. Anthropologically, my favorite text on the subject is Human Universals by Donald E Brown. Though it may sound bromidic to say so, I really do believe that there is more that combines all of us together than separates us.
For me, personally, what I love best about visiting a new place is simply just that: the newness of it all, the exotic differences that cannot be ignored. After some time though what really sticks out, after all the newness has sizzled away, is our ultimate sameness. I think there is something very reassuring about that.
Thank you for the question! :)
