子供の異文化認識について
5歳児の脳は、世界をどう解析しているのだろう。
私の“産まず育てず丸儲け孫”にとって、私はどうやら初恋の対象らしい。彼曰く、どこか違う国から来た、とても英語が上手な、おじいちゃんの奥さん。
夫や他の大人たちは「子供には偏見がない。あの年齢の子供は人種の違いなんて気づきもしないし意に介さない」と言うが、丸儲け孫は明らかに私が異人種であることを意識している、と私は思う。そしてその点に惹かれている、と。
私の親の働く教会に宣教師一家がいた。若い夫婦と、私より少し年上のジェフという男の子。その一家が任期を了えてアメリカに帰る時、ジェフが自慢の“ファーム”というミニチュア動物セットを私に譲ってくれた。私はそれからずっと、ジェフの面影を憶えていた。金髪の、とてもまつ毛の長い、アメリカに帰っていってしまった少年。私の初恋だった。
その時私が何歳だったか。父がアメリカに留学した時私は生後数ヶ月。何の記憶もあるはずがない。父が戻った時は2歳。その後数ヶ月以内に私たちは東京から北陸に引っ越した。そして、北陸にいた6年間、宣教師はいなかった。どう考えても、ジェフと接点があったのは父の帰国から北陸赴任の狭間の東京での数ヶ月。私は2歳だったに違いないのだ。
北陸にいた期間（2〜8歳）にも、宣教師ではないがワークキャンプだのなんだので教会には外国人がひっきりなしに往来していた。その中に、パルモアという名前のおそらくイタリア系アメリカ人がいて、よく遊び相手になってくれた。ある夏の日、私たち一家はパルモアさんと一緒に海水浴に出かけた。その浜辺で、水着姿のパルモアさんの胸に毛が生えているのを見たことは、私の発達の大きな段階となった。人種の違いというものをはっきり認識した瞬間だったのだ。
もうじき6歳になる“丸儲け孫”が継祖母を異人種として意識しているとしたら、私は不思議とは思わない。自分の日常にいつもいる多数派の見た目、話す言葉、それとちょっと違う人を「どこか違う国から来た人」と表現するのは、頭の中に彼なりの世界地図ができかけている証ではないのか。私の英語を「上手」と思うのは、それが私の母語ではないと認識しているからではないのか。
ところで丸儲け孫の母親はアルジェリア系フランス人で、母語はアラビア語、フランス語は第二言語だが今では日常の第一言語となっている。つまり私の日本語と英語の関係と同じで、そう説明すれば納得するだろう。
It would appear that for my freebee grandson (no giving birth, no raising, just freebee), I am the first object of romantic interest. “My grandad’s wife, who is from another country and speaks English very well,” according to him.
My husband and other grown-ups say children have no prejudice; kids that age are not aware or care about racial differences. But I think that my freebee grandson is conscious of the fact that I am of a different ethnicity. And that it is that which attracts him.
There was a young missionary couple in the church where my parents worked. They had a little son who was a little bit older than me. His name was Jeff. When that family finished their tenure in Japan and returned to America, Jeff left me a set of miniature animal figures which he was proud of and called “The Farm.” I always remembered his image after that. The blond boy with long eyelashes who had gone back far away to America. That was my first love.
So how old was I then? When my father left for America to study, I was just a few months old. I can’t possibly have any memories from that time. When he returned, I was 2. Within a few months of his return we moved to Toyama (central-north Japan). During the 6 years we spent there, there were no missionaries. Which brings me to the conclusion that the only time slot I could have known Jeff is the gap between my father’s return from America and our move to Toyama. I must have been 2 years old.
While there were no missionaries in the church in Toyama, there was a constant flow of Westerners coming and going for workshops, youth exchange or whatever. Among them was Mr. Palmour, probably an Italian American. He used to spend time with my brother and me, entertaining us. One summer day we went to the beach with him. Seeing him in his swimming trunks, I observed he had hair on his chest. I had never seen anyone with hair on their torso before. That was a huge step in my development. I suddenly became aware of physical differences between races.
Supposing that my freebee grandson perceives his step-grandmother as someone of a different race, that wouldn’t surprise me. His description of me as “someone from another country” who differs a bit from the majority of people around him in his daily life, in appearance and language, may well suggest that there is a world map being drawn in his own head. Could it be that he thinks my English is “very good” because he knows it isn’t my own language?
By the way his mother is a Frenchwoman of Algerian origin. Her mother tongue is Arabic, while French is her second language. But she speaks French as her primary language in her day-to-day life. That is pretty much the case with me in terms of the relationship between Japanese and English, so the freebee grandson would understand easily if I explained it that way to him.
