Comments on: Nope, no beautifying our colonial past here

By: Pyotr

Pyotr — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:39:19 +0000

Perhaps there are still a few things that the U.S. military could learn from the French.

Or from the Algerians.

By: lirelou

lirelou — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 05:11:23 +0000

According to Roger Trinquier’s “Les Temps Perdu”, it was custom in the (French) Colonial infantry that post commanders in Indochina select a local lady to act as their wife, teaching them the language, and providing a means for entertaining local notables within the official home (i.e., overseeing the preparation and serving of meals, etc). The custom lasted until at least the 1930s. When Trinquier chose not to take up with his predecessor’s “con gai”, she committed suicide. Beyond that, one of the Pre-WWII attractions of Indochina was the chance it afforded many Colonial NCOs and enlisted personnel to “se congayer” with a local young lady. The Americans, more moralistic than the French, frowned upon such liaisons, for which reason most of us who did end up with “Sleeping Dictionaries” did so via living arrangements which usually culminated in marriage. Hey, a “sleeping dictionary” gave golf one of its current champions.

On another note, such liaisons were impossible in Muslim areas, where it was imperative that local troops respect Muslim attitudes to women. The result was local and field brothels, staffed by women from outside the local area. Interestingly enough, many were recruited among an Algerian tribe whose custom demanded that the bride prostitute herself to earn her dowry.

Perhaps there are still a few things that the U.S. military could learn from the French.

By: mithridates

mithridates — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 16:04:52 +0000

It’s easy to pretend that such romances didn’t occur here both because the large numbers of Japanese that ran back to Korea after the war ended (since suddenly they didn’t run the place anymore) and the buildup to the war, which resulted in the US army ordering most remaining Japanese to go back to Japan even if they had decided that they wanted to stay in Korea (like to Shinrikuro Hozumi in 식민통치의 허상과 실상; he stayed behind for as long as possible to aid Japanese coming back from Manchuria et al. and it didn’t look like he intended to go anywhere until he was ordered to). If there had been a more gradual handing back of power and no Korean War, we’d have a lot more of these stories.

By: hanmeng

hanmeng — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:56:35 +0000

Many in Taiwan seem to have fond memories of the Japanese, and some, like Lee Teng-hui, seem to actually wish they were Japanese.

By: katolik shinja

katolik shinja — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:46:38 +0000

Yeah. I caught part of this one recently on cable and couldn’t think of anything else but Alba.

I spent a year in Malaysia and can report that Sleeping Dictionaries are no longer part of the package.

Somewhat on topic, you might find this interesting: Genghis Khan catalyst for Renaissance?

[By the way, I'm blogging at a new address: 西儒 - The Western Confucian.]

By: 조엘

조엘 — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:18:40 +0000

The worst part of the whole thing is that they used a body double for those Alba nude scenes. Talk about worthless.