VLVL2 (9.5): "The Folks Who Invented Giri"

[Dave Monroe]

"'I'm your doctor bill, bright boy, you pay by havin'
me in your life day in and day out, the person who
once murdered you, OK, attached to you now by bonds of
obligation far beyond what you, a disgrace to the
folks who invented giri, can grasp, it seems.'" (VL,
Ch. 9, p. 176)


"giri"

Cf. "giri chits" (VL, Ch. 7, p. 100)

It is not an easy task to translate (yet explain)
Japanese morals and emotions. Giri, what this feature
is based on, does not have a clear English
translation. The birth of the concept of giri occurred
during the feudal period in Japan, and holds the
highest regard in human relationships. A basic
breakdown of the the relationships are:
Master-subordinate, parent-child, husband-wife,
brothers-sisters, friends, and sometimes even enemies
and business associates. The most basic definition one
can give giri is a debt of gratitude and a
self-sacrificing pursuit of their happiness.

http://japaneseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa071497.htm

http://japaneseculture.about.com/bl50kanji4_giri.htm

“There is no possible English equivalent and of all
the strange categories of moral obligations which
anthropologists find in the cultures of the world,
[giri] is one of the most curious.” (R. Benedict)

Despite the rapid change of Japanese life, ideas and
society, the “curious” concept of “giri” has remained
and still strongly governs Japanese social behavior.
To analyze “giri” Berdict’s famous work, The
Chrysanthemum and the Sword, might be a useful
starting point.  Although this book is now a
“classic”, it is full of errors and misunderstandings,
such as the confusion of “giri” with “chuu”. Thus we
have to take care to avoid citing such errors from her
work.

[...]

What then is “giri”? A general definition may be
“duty” or “obligation” which arises from a social
interaction with another person. But this fails to
reveal a wide range of significant nuances.  Several
scholars have tried to provide a framework for
defining “giri” more completely. I will use their
categories to provide a number of examples of giri
effects in modern Japanese society, which I hope will
render this concept more easily understood.

http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/history/courses/his373/giri.html

And see as well ...

"Giri and the problems of obligation in Japan"

http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/csacpub/Mono19/Html/wrapped_gifts-2_-4.html

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