Chinese names
MAJOR PET PEEVE: Why do white fiction authors like to create Chinese characters identified by the literal translations of their Chinese names? The absolute worst offenders are science fiction and fantasy authors...much as I like the genre, it has a lot of stupid tendencies with regard to making up "exotic" stuff.
Recently finished reading Card's "Shadow of the Giant" and was really really bothered by "White Tiger". How come he and all the other guys get bizarre names but Han Tzu, a main character who's a member of Ender's jeesh, doesn't? Maybe because if you translated "Han Tzu" literally it would just be "Chinese Guy"...
Also was recently reminded of the really, sickeningly saccharine name of "Wind Blossom" (minor character in Anne McCaffrey's Pern series).
Of course Chinese parents take meaning into account when naming kids, but so do most parents speaking any language. When you meet someone you're not going to be thinking about their name so much unless it means or sounds like something really funny. If you meet a guy called Peter you don't think of him as "Rock".
If real life worked like this I would be walking around going "Hi, I'm Pink Cloud Poem". *groannnnn*
posted by xenobiologista @ 01:43
3 Comments:
"Of course Chinese parents take meaning into account when naming kids, but so do most parents speaking any language."
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My impression was that people in this country are mostly ignoramuses when it comes to that stuff.
Right on! I cringe when I read books with those f**king weird translated names. Just can't seem to take them seriously.
Wasn't this trend started by those women authors, though? Can't remember clearly but I though books like Joy Luck Club, Falling Leaves, etc. did it as well.
I read a few Amy Tan books but stopped after realizing their plots were essentially the same.
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