TIL that some languages apparently have words inherently differentiating one's status as a citizen or resident of the entity versus a member of a particular ethnic or cultural group? I don't quite grasp the whole thing, although I heard the point being made. What's interesting to me is a) that there is such a thing, which seems very revealing of something about a culture that would need such concepts built into the language, and b) that there seem to be people who think it's inaccurate to interpret the word choice as meaningful. Firstly, since languages have all sorts of concepts built into them, many very specific to their primary culture of use, it seems reasonable that such a thing could exist. Not that I would have thought of it before, since I'm not from a culture where that sort of subtlety functions. Secondly, if that is, indeed, the subtlety of the word choices, where one essentially and inherently includes people, and the other excludes, then I'd kind o...
Erm... are we talking about the TV episode, or the book?
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ReplyDeleteWell, ironically it's actually the only episode of that show I've ever seen, because I'm not into cooking shows, so if my sister hadn't gotten me to watch it I'd never have seen it.
ReplyDeleteBut I did see it, and I thought it was a lot of fun. Totally divorced from my own experience of living in Louisiana, of course (contrary to popular belief, we are not all Cajun farmer folk living in swamps), but still there was enough kinship (and common cuisine) there that I got a kick out of it. I understand that there was a bit of controversy over the thing with Bourdain and the pig, but I applauded his bravery, personally. Apparently he was really quite shaken up over it.
Is that what you wanted to know, or was there something more specific you were looking for?
I was curious about the bit inside the city but in a neighborhood I hadn't seen where it looked like they were serving pretty tasty ordinary local food with fried chicken, red beans and rice, etc.
ReplyDeleteAh. Unfortunately I don't really remember that part. It's been a long time since I watched it. However, the neighborhood in question has about a 75% chance of being the Bywater.
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