[lit-ideas] A phrase you never heard before

The ability to generate an infinite number of novel utterances is an
essential characteristic of natural languages. Here is a case in point. My
wife and I are talking about recent debates within anthropology over the
ownership of cultural artifacts (including intangible artifacts) by the
groups that anthropologists study. Partly what is at stake here is the meme
which says that anthropologists should be ashamed of themselves for, in
effect, ripping off a culture and going off to write their books and
articles with no reward for the people whose lives are being analyzed—seen
as a form of gross colonialist/neoliberal imperialist exploitation. The
stakes in this debate have, however, risen, especially in North America,
where Native American assertion of rights to rituals, songs, myths,
therapies, recipes, etc. have converged with the similar claims of
intellectual property lawyers working for the likes of Disney, who want to
assert an eternal and exclusive right to control all use of, for example,
Mickey Mouse. Then, reflecting on our own research in Taiwan, Ruth suddenly
says,
"You weren't upskirting your Daoist master."

I know what she's saying. Do you?

John

-- 
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/

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