I tried to think of a place where different backgrounds and cultures clashed and grappled, it didn't take me long to think of one. A place where totally different people merge on one setting and mingle as brethren. Some take on alter-egos, some like to debate, still others just want to become one with the cultures of others.
Anime conventions are my contact zone.
I arrive at one and am immediately struck by Japanese words and phrases intertwined into the English natives' speech. The vernacular is always changing, the trends come and go. Still, year after year these same people descend upon hotels and convention halls and the only ones who don't enjoy themselves are the ones who are trying to ruin it for others. True Asians feel welcome, as do American japanophiles and technophiles.
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Hi Brittny,
ReplyDeleteThe intermingling of languages sounds intriguing. You make me think of academic conventions as a zone for the reasons you mention-- where people come together for a common purpose. Can you say something about the "asymmetrical relations of power" at an anime convention?
Who, for example, would want "to ruin it for others?"