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演者と観客
数年前オーストラリアで変わったパフォーマンスを見た。今思うと、それはアメリカとほかの国々の関係を象徴するパフォーマンスだったように思える。
The performer and the audience
A couple of years ago, I witnessed, by chance, an unusual performance on a Sydney beach. About a dozen young men and women were sitting cross-legged in a semi-circle with a handsome young man in the middle. They all had their togs on except the young man, who was stark naked.
After a while, the young man began to masturbate, his every move watched keenly by the others. Some moments later he reached a climax and, the performance over, the others gave him an enthusiastic round of applause.
It was certainly what one would call, in my profession, a well-made play, with a beginning, a middle and an end, though the middle part did not really last very long.
The thing that brought this event to mind was an article in The Asahi Shimbun (May 18 evening edition), written by Yamanaka Toshihiro in New York. He reports that only a very few Japanese people have had their obituaries written up, over the years, in the New York Times. The only ones who apparently made it to the front page were Mishima Yukio, Emperor Showa and Kurosawa Akira. Mr. Yamanaka seems to express a touch of disappointment in the fact that "Tezuka Osamu's (obituary) was nowhere to be found."
What should one expect, I wonder, from a country whose media is riding the fast carriage to a mission? More than ever, the American media — save for a few individuals who genuinely view the world with an objective, international eye — serves the national and commercial interests of the United States.
In fact, those two interests have virtually merged since the tragic events of September last year; and we are currently being barraged, wherever we live in the world, with the with-us-or-against-us, good-versus-evil bent of American public life. In 2002, at least, the American media is feeding on itself and getting increasingly self-satisfied with the result.
How does Japan, for instance, respond to this unabashed cultural onslaught? Should there be surprise or disappointment when world-class Japanese figures are not given their due in the American press? Might this mean that these figures are not really as excellent and worthy of recognition as we in Japan may believe? Heaven forbid.
I am an avid reader of obituaries in the Japanese press, and I can tell you that every second-rate American songwriter, whose name even I do not know, and every third-rate American television actor, from sitcoms that never went to air in Japan, are given their five or more centimeters of space. If the American press ignores Japanese creators and innovators, it is clear that the Japanese press is jumping at the chance to honor American ones, whatever the caliber of their originality or true importance may be. Japan appears to be eager to feed the American appetite for the limelight and its many commercial fruits.
I merely happened along that performance in Sydney that day. For me, the man performing on that beach — young, handsome, skilled — is a metaphor for today's America. People from other countries who crave a spot beside him are his willing and often zealous audience.
Shukan ST: June 21, 2002
(C) All rights reserved
- witnessed
- 目撃した
- by chance
- 偶然に
- cross-legged
- あぐらをかいて
- semi-circle
- 半円
- togs
- 水着
- stark naked
- 全裸の
- masturbate
- 自慰行為をする
- keenly
- 熱心に
- enthusiastic round of applause
- 熱烈な拍手
- in my profession
- 私の専門(演劇)の世界では
- obituaries
- 死亡記事
- made it to 〜
- 〜に載ることができた
- Emperor Showa
- 昭和天皇
- was nowhere to be found
- 見つからなかった
- is riding the fast carriage to a mission
- 使命遂行のためにひたすら突っ走っている
- save for 〜
- 〜を除いて
- genuinely
- 実際に
- objective
- 客観的な
- serves the national and commercial interests of 〜
- 〜の国益と商業利益のために動いている
- have virtually merged
- ほぼ同一のものになってしまっている
- (are)being barraged(with 〜)
- 〜を浴びせられている
- with-us-or-against-us
- アメリカの味方か敵か
- bent
- 傾向
- is feeding on itself
- 自らの報道に集中する
- self-satisfied
- 自己満足の
- unabashed
- 臆面もない
- onslaught
- 猛襲
- world-class Japanese figures
- 世界的に認められた日本人
- are not given their due
- 相応の扱いを受けていない
- worthy of recognition
- 認められるに値する
- Heaven forbid.
- とんでもない
- avid
- 熱心な
- second-rate
- 二流の
- sitcoms
- 連続コメディー
- never went to air
- 一度も放映されなかった
- innovators
- 革新者
- is clear that the Japanese press is jumping at the chance to honor 〜
- 〜を称える機会に喜んで飛びついている
- caliber
- 才能
- eager to feed 〜
- 熱心に〜を満たそうとしている
- appetite
- 欲しがる気持ち
- limelight and its many commercial fruits
- 注目を集めることと、それによって得られるさまざまな商業的見返り
- metaphor
- 例え
- crave a spot beside him
- その隣にいたくて仕方がない
- zealous
- 熱心な