Quote:
Erick Mead wrote:
Let me ask a dumb question.
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Why did you call it a dumb question?
Quote:
Erick Mead wrote:
If O Sensei intended to be understood (let us assume this is so, since he troubled to lecture and to write the Doka) and native and scholarly Japanese speakers have trouble grasping categorically what he meant -- then do we not have to ask the question if his language and intent was precisely outside of category in many respects -- of Japanese or any other language? This may make it less accessible in some respects, but more accessible without regard to strict language in another sense. Image and intimation speaks more than any category. On empirical grounds his communication mode has some demonstrated merit, whether it was a deliberately chosen or simply fortuitous strategy.
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It would cover too much ground and involve too much repetition, for me to answer these questions or to discuss the issues raised, until after the next two columns have appeared. Of course, this does not prevent others from having a go.
Best wishes,
PAG