dragon lady
～ Word DNA ～～～～～～～～～
I [1930s]
“forcefully dominant or hostile woman, especially one of south-east Asian descent.”
FORMATION
dragon + lady = “dragon-natured woman”
Dragon Lady was created by the American cartoonist Milton Caniff (1907-88). In his comic strip Terry and the Pirates in 1930s, she was the villain drawn as the south-east powerful woman.
The Chinese dragon is generally thought to hold power & dominance over people, & the Western dragon, to have brutality bringing people to fear.
The Chinese dragon is generally thought to hold power & dominance over people, & the Western dragon, to have brutality bringing people to fear.
DECUPHERMENT IN JAPANESE
「龍 (の性質の) 女、支配的な (アジア) 女性、悪女、お局様、女帝、いじわるばあさん、鬼ばばあ」:
用例
・Mrs. Adams, better known to the underclassmen as “the Dragon Lady,” teaches the higher-level history courses...
・The name "Dragon Lady" has often been applied to powerful Asian women such as Empress Cixi and Madame Chiang Kai-shek of China or Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu of Vietnam...
・Mei-ling became world famous as Madame Chiang, the dragon lady of international anti-Communism who shaped American policy toward China until 1972, when the ice was broken by then U.S. president Richard M. Nixon... )
・Mrs. Adams, better known to the underclassmen as “the Dragon Lady,” teaches the higher-level history courses...
・The name "Dragon Lady" has often been applied to powerful Asian women such as Empress Cixi and Madame Chiang Kai-shek of China or Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu of Vietnam...
・Mei-ling became world famous as Madame Chiang, the dragon lady of international anti-Communism who shaped American policy toward China until 1972, when the ice was broken by then U.S. president Richard M. Nixon... )
～～～～～～～～ 言葉の遺伝子 ～
Dragon Lady の字面は「龍女」。中国の龍は天候を司るので国の運命を左右する支配的立場にあり、西洋では黙示録に照らし合わせて、悪魔の化身として極悪とされている。また、厳格で支配的な女性を指す dragon of virtue 「美徳の龍」なる表現が十九世紀には発している。二十世紀前半のアメリカの漫画家であるカニフは、龍の持つそういったイメージを利用して「龍女」なるフレーズとキャラを造ったのだろう。
日本語のお局様は「若い女性たちの上に立って指導し、その立場を利用して支配的に振る舞う女性」を指す。
No comments:
Post a Comment