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H-ASIA April 23, 2007 On the usage "laowai"/Taiwan example ************************************************************************ From: Jeff Martin <jt.martin@gmail.com> For whatever it might contribute to this discussion, the Taiwanese commercial which can be seen at the link below uses "laowai" imagery to position a vegetable juice product as Bruce Lee, fighting off the negative effects of "always eating out" (laoshi chi zai wai = laowai) with a "fistful of vegetables." Its opening scene consists of the Bruce Lee character saying "Eat my fist, Laowai!" followed by a shot of a white man saying "Who, me?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Uwvk5ynb0 Jeff Martin Graduate Institute of Taiwan Studies Chang Jung University ------------------------ [Ed. note: What a fascinating example! -- thanks to Dr. Martin for pointing it out. Interesting that it inscribes over-indulgence in meat (esp. Western-style fried and grilled meats -- hamburgers, kebabs, and fried chicken are all pictured) as a "foreign" eating habit, with the camera angle making the white man look fat, while the Chinese are all slim. Then just when you think it is a public health exhortation to "eat 100 grams of vegetables at every meal," in flies (literally) the rural woman selling pre-packaged vegetable juice! Well worth a look. RD] ************************************************************************* To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu> For holidays or short absences send post to: <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/
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