I've heard the unreliable narrator trope, but never knew it was common in Asian literature. Good to know.
I'm gonna butcher this paraphrasing, but the traditional Japanese have like this trio of 'self' I guess. The face you show to others, the face you show to your friends/family and the face you show to yourself. It's not dishonorable if you're authentic to one of those, but 'lying' in another.
To us in the west, it just comes across as dishonest/inauthentic when it's outed. The Chinese have a different, but similar outlook. It's just ok to fleese outsiders, but it's not ok to put one over on peers/family. Now.. shit may have greatly changed in the past 20 years, but that was my interpretation of the norms.
I've heard the unreliable narrator trope, but never knew it was common in Asian literature. Good to know.
I'm gonna butcher this paraphrasing, but the traditional Japanese have like this trio of 'self' I guess. The face you show to others, the face you show to your friends/family and the face you show to yourself. It's not dishonorable if you're authentic to one of those, but 'lying' in another.
To us in the west, it just comes across as dishonest/inauthentic when it's outed. The Chinese have a different, but similar outlook. It's just ok to fleese outsiders, but it's not ok to put one over on peers/family. Now.. shit may have greatly changed in the past 20 years, but that was my interpretation of the norms.