[lit-ideas] Re: News via the web
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 14:11:00 +0900
On 2004/04/05, at 13:42, Andreas Ramos wrote:
> The non-conclusion. The story as a whole doesn't seem to "say
> something". It
> talks about this, it talks about that,
Notice, first, that this isn't a straightforward "breaking news" story.
It's editorializing in what that seems consistent with what I said in
an earlier message about Japanese conversational patterns. The author
provides context for the topic--the growing frequency of middle-age
divorces initiated by women--then gently nudges the reader toward a
conclusion.
> and then ends on a down note.
The down note is a typical ending for a Japanese newspaper piece
focusing on a topic identified as a social problem. In line with the
"official" (normally conservative) view of the situation, it ends by
pointing out the downside for women who may be considering divorce.
In this regard, this piece is responding to stories in women's
magazines that present divorce in a far more positive vein. These
stories became common in the 1980s and 90s, around the time that
retired husbands began to be described as *sodaigomi* ("big trash") and
*ochinuriba* ("fallen wet leaves," too sticky and hard to get rid of).
John
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