![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phonon_beltBelow is a translation of a blog post that's part of a longer series about events that happened in Thailand, and I will try to translate or summarize them in the future. This is the first part. It's interesting because it deals with issues of sexuality and takes the form of a dialog between Mr. Hirasawa and an American friend of his.
The only Hirasawa Vocabulary you might need to know this time is Kathoey, which is one Thai word for male-to-female transgender people. Mr. Hirasawa now uses different words (like "SP-2") for them, but this was back in 2003 when he still used "Kathoey." The reason for the change will be translated another day. ;)
Now on to the translation!
Dagonfai in the Gallows: Phase-1
Translation of post from July 19, 2003 (original post here)
Standard disclaimer: any inaccuracies in the translation are entirely my fault. Weird vocabulary is sometimes Mr. Hirasawa's fault, though in the end it's my problem that I can't always figure out what he's saying.
The only Hirasawa Vocabulary you might need to know this time is Kathoey, which is one Thai word for male-to-female transgender people. Mr. Hirasawa now uses different words (like "SP-2") for them, but this was back in 2003 when he still used "Kathoey." The reason for the change will be translated another day. ;)
Now on to the translation!
Dagonfai in the Gallows: Phase-1
Translation of post from July 19, 2003 (original post here)
θ=7 β=3
Notice: As usual, Thai Kathoey are the subject of this blog. You may be sick of it, but, well, I want you to read this. The impressions I gather from Thai Kathoey are always intense, and if I don't periodically spit out my thoughts like this, they overflow inside me and adversely affect my work. What would you think if my next album ended up as a bunch of chaotic, explosive material? That might be alright every now and then, but I suspect I would be entirely burnt out within a year or two.
Now then, I'll spit it out.
——Introduction
I failed. At any rate, I failed.
——Phase-1
I have no idea how on earth he got a hold of it, but an American friend of mine acquired some manga like those sold at Comiket. He was shocked to see that the manga depicted me as a homosexual. As he had apparently acquired a couple of varieties of manga, he was taken aback that almost all of them depicted me in the same way. He can't read Japanese interviews or lyrics, and the only way he can try to grasp what Hirasawa's work is about is by picking up clues from the few English keywords I use. From phrases like "Chaos Union," "Wire Self," "World Cell," and "Black in White," he discovered a constant rule and understood that this was a fundamental theme in my work.
Yes, that's it exactly.
Disturbed by the content of the manga, he asked me a question:
"Are you really a homo?"
No, I'm not.
This level of manga doesn't cause me any discomfort, but it seems that Americans consider it a considerable humiliation for a hetero person to be depicted as gay for no reason. Interpreting the manga, he said:
"I wonder if the manga authors engage in this kind of mischief because they're envious of the people you depict within your transsexualism?"
I don't know.
"I think your transsexualism explains the paradoxes you deal with in the most straightforward manner. But I understand. I understand how Kathoey, who aren't even envied by anyone, have the potential to become paradoxes."
Bingo!
Standard disclaimer: any inaccuracies in the translation are entirely my fault. Weird vocabulary is sometimes Mr. Hirasawa's fault, though in the end it's my problem that I can't always figure out what he's saying.