ABSTRACT
In 1971 a Japanese psychoanalyst named Doi Takeo 1 produced a book which represented the culmination in the development of his thesis on the fundamental human need to be dependent. Amae No KŌzŌ (The Structure of Amae) was translated into English in 1973 as The Anatomy of Dependence. 2 The term amae, however, is not easily understood by non-Japanese. In fact, as will at length become apparent, there is considerable disagreement even among Japanese about the precise definition of the word. Amae is the nominalization of the verb whose citation form is amaeru (https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline1.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>). Although the English translations for the verb which are given in a popular Japanese-to-English dictionary bear only some resemblance to the more technical meanings which Doi has given to it, those definitions are instructive starting points in gaining an appreciation for the full range of nuance conveyed by the word:
2 Amaeru https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline2.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> 1.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline3.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> applied to a child)https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline4.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> behave like a spoilt child. 2.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline5.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (applied to women)https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline6.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> be coquettish. 3. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline7.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>(applied to dogs, etc.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline8.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> fawn on [a person]. 4. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline9.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (synonymous with sebiru. to importune)https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline10.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> coax.... 5 ; https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline11.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline12.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>"(applied to good will, kindness, etc.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429051753/62c43ad6-838f-4408-824c-26b3adfb0516/content/inline13.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> avail oneself of, take advantage of. 1
