speech and respect - College of Social Sciences and International ...

Addressing the Harms of Speech
Business people in and out of Japan call me a 'Ginza Jew.' I am
satisfied with that." A board member of the Japanese-Israel Friendship
Association commented cryptically: "In Japan, there is no anti-
Semitism. But many Japanese accept this Nazi-style stereotype that
Jews control the world." 95
5. Style. Texts occupy a stylistic continuum from the clarity of
propaganda through the double entendres of advertising to the
irreducible ambiguity of art. Authors are not their protagonists nor
actors their characters, even if audiences and critics constantly
conflate the two. Echoing classical theories of the cathartic function
of tragedy, Bruno Bettelheim has argued that fairy tales must elicit
fear and anger if children are to work through those emotions. 96
Messages vary from demotic to esoteric: compare tabloids with
scholarly journals, soap opera with literary criticism, television
commercials with modern poetry. The esoteric reaches fewer people
but claims greater authority.
6. Dissemination and Reception. Even if the medium is not the
message it may be equally important. Writing is more permanent
than speech but less immediate. With declining literacy, visual
images become more powerful than words and appear more truthful.
Still images can be consulted at will and displayed permanently,
but moving images offer greater verisimilitude. Direct interaction
increases emotional power, but reproduction allows the speaker to
address a larger audience. Live performances are unique and transitory;
recording allows repetition but may reduce impact. Cultures
imbue media with different weight: peoples of the book revere
writing; oral traditions respect rhetoric and story-telling. Environment
may affect emotional tone: compare the intimacy of the
bedroom with the impersonality of the street. Spontaneity may be
excused, while deliberation aggravates: compare insults exchanged
after a road accident with premeditated affronts. A message expressing
the hegemonic culture has greater influence than a frontal attack
on received wisdom. Group dynamics can reinforce or undermine
the message. Audiences may be critical or credulous, attentive or
distracted. We have developed a protective carapace against the
media's massive assault; all writers know how little their readers
absorb or retain. How much do you remember of the last five pages?
B. Encouraging Complaints
If speakers are to become more sensitive to the ways they reproduce
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