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Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo7/29/2023 ![]() ![]() At your age and level, it is important for you to build up an understanding about how meaning is constructed not only on the surface of the writing you read, but also in the layers beneath it. ![]() I will be writing much more about the origins of the stories we know and the debates surrounding their wider meaning. ![]() It is important for us as we read it, however, to be aware that these issues exist, and to give them some real thought rather than simply laughing along at the twists and turns of the story itself. Whatever the facts of this, I think the story may be very useful not least because it allows us to explore some of these issues. On first reading it the story struck me as charming and harmless, at least in the manner it is likely to be read now, but as I look more into it, and read some of the comments on the Good Reads page I link to above, I am less sure (one comment says it is “not necessarily racist but very ignorant”). Sadly, some very ignorant and indeed obviously racist stereotypes of Chinese people were common in American popular culture at around the time the book was published, as is clear from this clip from Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Such cultural sensitivities are understandable, although I wonder if many of those mentioned above were more of a concern years ago before Chinese people were such an established part of the culture of countries such as The United States where the book has won many awards, and before Chinese culture became more widely known. The intentionally absurd long name given to the first-born son, Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo, is considered by some to be culturally offensive because it gives the impression that Chinese consists of nonsense syllables. The fact that it was moved to a Chinese setting is offensive to some readers because the two cultures are so different. According to some people, the story was originally Japanese. The story is a retelling of an older story. The book is lovely, but the main reason I write about it today is that it is controversial and gives us opportunity to think about many different features of the stories we know and which help to build up our ideas about the world we live in. The story is an example of what is called an origin myth, which means that it provides a mythical explanation for the way something is in the world we know today, here, the fact that Chinese names tend to be very short, which, now and again, may seem strange to Westeners or speakers of other languages (this was certainly true when the story was first written, or ‘retold’ to use the word on the front of the book). The book is funny and sweet, and tells the story of two brothers growing up in China a long long time ago. Sorting books in the library today I came across a wonderful book by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent called Tikki Tikki Tembo. Sheesh.(Another one taken from the library Fronter page, where it was filed under year 5 and above this one from a few weeks back.) What gives with this moral? The ONLY lesson all of China took from these near tragic mishaps is to give the first son - the one they actually care about - a short name, just like the second son? That seems of limited value, given their current one child policy, I must say. My favorite part is when Chang is trying to tell his mother that Tikki tikki tempo has fallen in the well for the third time, and he’s so distraught and out of breath that he says it like this: “Honorable Mother! Chari bari rembo tikki tikki - pip pip has fallen into the well!” When I read it aloud, I practically spit the “pip pip” out. So, when Chang falls in the well, there’s a bucket in there, why doesn’t Tikki tikki tempo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo just pull him up? Or have the parents taught them nothing except to avoid the well? If that’s the case, I’m not confident of their ability to discuss the importance of contraception when it’s time to have the birds and the bees conversation.Īnd shouldn’t they have done a little family style lessons learned session after Chang was fished out? “Listen, kids, if this ever happens again, just run right to the old guy with the ladder cuz that’s all I’m gonna be able to tell you to do.” ![]()
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