2008 Dewey Decimal Project: 306.461 F
Mar. 30th, 2008 10:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleI stayed home sick on Thursday and, somewhat appropriately, used the time to finish Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.
The book, in case you haven't heard of it, is the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with epilepsy (the Hmong term for epilepsy literally means "the spirit catches you and you fall down"). The book chronicles the clash of cultures as her traditional Hmong family and her American doctors each do what they think is best for her. Along the way, Fadiman weaves in the history of the Hmong.
The book is fascinating, both for the story of Lia and for the history. It's also heartbreaking, both for what happens to Lia and for how that affects the people around her.
The biggest lesson I took away from the book is that in the case of cross-cultural, cross-language communications, you don't need an translator to do a straight translation of the words, you need a cultural broker who can bridge the connections between the people and the cultures.
I highly recommend the book.
The book, in case you haven't heard of it, is the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with epilepsy (the Hmong term for epilepsy literally means "the spirit catches you and you fall down"). The book chronicles the clash of cultures as her traditional Hmong family and her American doctors each do what they think is best for her. Along the way, Fadiman weaves in the history of the Hmong.
The book is fascinating, both for the story of Lia and for the history. It's also heartbreaking, both for what happens to Lia and for how that affects the people around her.
The biggest lesson I took away from the book is that in the case of cross-cultural, cross-language communications, you don't need an translator to do a straight translation of the words, you need a cultural broker who can bridge the connections between the people and the cultures.
I highly recommend the book.
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Date: 2008-03-30 08:47 pm (UTC)