Presentation Information
[SY-84-05]Becoming aware of a strangeness- from a personal experience studying abroad in France
*Yuichiro Abe (1) Ishiki Hospital 2) Tokyo University and Graduate School of Social Welfare(Japan))
Keywords:
Strangeness,encounter,Paris Syndrome
After having studied abroad in France for four and a half years around 2010, I previously wrote an essay about this experience (Abe Y: Bulletin Médical Franco-Japonais, 2016). Rereading my own text for the first time in several years brings back fond memories of those times. This nostalgia is not just nostalgic, but also sheds light on the unresolved strangeness I continued to feel in my daily life, even after returning to Japan. One of the benefits of studying abroad is that it makes us realize this in an explicit way. During that stay, I got interested in several concepts of French sociology. Therefore, the early texts I translated, after returning to Japan, were the result of collaboration with Japanese sociologists.
Translating may be my own way of coming to terms with the strangeness that I have carried with me.
Leaving a familiar place once is to confront an uneasy strangeness through the body. The famous concept of “Paris Syndrome (Syndrome de Paris)” has long been known in relation to the mental health of Japanese people living in France. The mental troubles of such patients may be due to the way in which the subject comes to terms with their own strangeness. Having had an experience of being a stranger might permit us to take care of the sense of strangeness that others should have. Several encounters by staying overseas for an extended period of time are surely valuable and unique experiences to me.
Translating may be my own way of coming to terms with the strangeness that I have carried with me.
Leaving a familiar place once is to confront an uneasy strangeness through the body. The famous concept of “Paris Syndrome (Syndrome de Paris)” has long been known in relation to the mental health of Japanese people living in France. The mental troubles of such patients may be due to the way in which the subject comes to terms with their own strangeness. Having had an experience of being a stranger might permit us to take care of the sense of strangeness that others should have. Several encounters by staying overseas for an extended period of time are surely valuable and unique experiences to me.