[lit-ideas] Re: The Mr. Nice Guy Strategy
- From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:45:30 -0400
Robert: Google 'myanmar wiki. They have an interesting
account of the name change.
A more general discussion of the phenomena is found in the
essay "The Freedom to Offend" by Ian Buruma, published in
_The Best American Essays 2007_ (edited by the late David
Foster Wallace). It includes many examples of small elite
groups forcing a name change, and Westerners, over-concerned
with postcolonial politeness, blindly accepting the change.
Another good example is the change of Bombay to Mumbai being
blindly accepted "because the leaders of the powerful
Maharastran community decreed it." Yet another example is
the NHK (Japanese broadcasting company) constantly updating
its list of acceptable terms for minorities until most
Japanese media "prefer not to touch the subject at all."
All the best,
Eric
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