中国法律博客
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Chinglish Commentary on Obama
媒体来源: 中国法律博客

Political commentary from People's Daily that is getting some buzz, for the wrong reasons:

The skin color of Senator Barack Obama poses the greatest focus of attention in the ongoing U.S. presidential election campaign this year. This Democratic nominee with half of the blood from the African stock in his veins has been commended as the "star of change", who now seems to look especially dazzling and splendid with his victory in the recent primaries.

If this article seems quite normal to you, then you have been an expat in China too long.

Seriously, I don't think it's that bad, although obviously the translation was never smoothed out. Other folks have been more critical, although I doubt that those readers have really bothered to look behind the poor language to discover what is really being said, which is rather benign, even pedestrian.

Because of the poor translation and the lack of political correctness, however, we are looking at an article that actually discusses some racial issues without feeling obliged to follow all the little unwritten rules we (Americans) have established for ourselves over the years to hide what we are really feeling, and disguising what we really want to say on the topic.

Every once in a while, we are reminded of the fact that political and social discourse in some countries is thick with bizarre rules that have mounted over the years. Rather sad, really. It was much easier to talk about these kinds of issues in an honest and straightforward fashion during the 70s (when I was growing up) than it is today.

On the other hand, if everyone felt completely free with their discourse on race, I would shudder to think about what those Republican attack ads would look like. One small vote for political correctness, I suppose, amidst my general dislike.