by liberal japonicus
This is an illustration from issue 372 of Sino-Platonic papers (pdf link) which consists of S. Robert Ramsey’s book The Japanese and Their Language: How the Japanese Made Their Language and It Made Them.
Sino-Platonic papers is “a monograph series…[whose] chief focus of the series is on the intercultural relations of China and Central Asia with other peoples” and is hella fun to just dip into the archive, (and feel free to point out anything of interest), but the map was striking and thought it might occasion some comments and thoughts from all of you.
That really shows world domination clearly. And not coincidentally, many people are leaving those colonized parts of the world for because of the difficult living conditions.
I have been noticing incidents of cultural transfer possible because of the Internet. Have you seen/heard “Jerusalema?” It started with a South African musician using European musical instruments but his own language and music traditions who wrote a song about a Middle Eastern religion. He produced a video of people dancing in the style of his cultural background which because a global phenomenon of people doing watered down versions of the dance. The song is simple, addictive, and emotionally resonate, full of yearning. It is notable how much better the dancers are in the African videos!
Another example is Music for Change, tho they focus on songs that originate in the US, mostly.
If we are converging globally, I hope some of the better aspects of other cultures influence us rather than just us influencing them. I mean values, not just food and music.
First impression: Fascinating that Japan is grouped with North Korea as well as South. But Thailand? Where did that come from?
OK, I look at the key and get a glimmer. But it still seems pretty daft. Just for openers, it utterly ignores the realities of anything but current national boundaries.
For example, Tibet was never colonized, controlled, or influenced by Europe. And not part of China until well after European influence was being eradicated in the PRC. For that matter, all of Russia** east of the Urals should be “colonized by Europe”, not part of Europe. Just like the Stans in central Asia.
** For that matter, a case could be made that even European Russia qualifies as “partial European influence” — the cultural differences from the rest of Europe are pretty stark.
Note to Sino-Platonic Papers: wj would like to be one of your outside readers for peer review. He has methodology questions. Hit him up.
I assume that the absence of Tibet is related to transitivity, in that Tibet is currently controlled by China so on a map that indicates current borders, it would be inside of China, which was partially controlled by Europe.
That also accounts for the grouping of the Koreas with Japan. Korea was a colony of Japan, which was never colonized by Europe, so gets the same color as japan.
Any guess (other than Africa being outside their area of study) why Ethiopia isn’t included in the “never colonized” group?
Any guess (other than Africa being outside their area of study) why Ethiopia isn’t included in the “never colonized” group?
Over about 50 years, Italy claimed it as colonial property and significant numbers of Italians settled there. (See, Italian East Africa.) Post-WW2, it went through much the same sort of protectorate process that other European colonial holdings in Africa did, eventually gaining independence. Sorting out all the borders, many influenced by Italian colonial status, didn’t get fully sorted out until the 1990s.
I went looking for the references. The actual source for the map is here:
https://www.vox.com/2014/6/24/5835320/map-in-the-whole-world-only-these-five-countries-escaped-european
They cover the reasoning for Ethiopia in a paragraph towards the end.
Given the source of the map, I’d venture that its inclusion is less a matter of rigorous argumentation and more a means of provoking a conversation. That’s not unusual in a prologue – it’s the academic equivalent of a clickbait headline.
Hard to spot, but up in the NE corner of South America, French Guiana is no longer a colony but part of France. The 300,000 residents are French citizens and vote in French elections. Ask someone who thinks they are clever for their opinion on the EU’s lengthy land border with Brazil :^) 15-20% of the economy is the Guiana Space Center, owned by the European Space Agency and operated by Arianespace.
Geography nerds’ quiz: Part of Alaska (the panhandle, including the state capital) is not an island, but can only be reached by car by driving thru another country. What other state includes that feature?
Minnesota
“What other state includes that feature?”
Isn’t there a piece of Washington State that also has that?
“Alaska, Minnesota, North Dakota, Vermont, and Washington are the US states with parts that can only be accessed by road through Canada.”
US States Accessible Only Through Canada