I'm not sure if it's a noun or verb (I think it's a verb), but what it amounts to is paying lip service to an idea in a totalitarian regime while actually holding an opposing viewpoint.
Originally, it was in a book by Gobineau called "Religions and Philosophies In Central Asia" and originally described it as the act of paying lip service to Islam while holding personal opposition, usually done under totalitarian islamic rule; but Czeslaw Milosz's "The Captive Mind" makes parallels between Ketman and the act of lying under the totalitarian rule of communists. I'm guessing that this has allowed usage of "ketman" as I initially explained it.
I'll be honest, I couldn't care less about ever reading the books and the only reason I know the term is because my god-brother Eric formed a Boston-based band called Ketman, and I asked him about the name's origins. Pretty good progressive/punk band too! If nothing else, they rock hard.
You should check them out at http://www.ketman.net/
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 06:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 07:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-24 11:57 am (UTC)Originally, it was in a book by Gobineau called "Religions and Philosophies In Central Asia" and originally described it as the act of paying lip service to Islam while holding personal opposition, usually done under totalitarian islamic rule; but Czeslaw Milosz's "The Captive Mind" makes parallels between Ketman and the act of lying under the totalitarian rule of communists. I'm guessing that this has allowed usage of "ketman" as I initially explained it.
I'll be honest, I couldn't care less about ever reading the books and the only reason I know the term is because my god-brother Eric formed a Boston-based band called Ketman, and I asked him about the name's origins. Pretty good progressive/punk band too! If nothing else, they rock hard.
You should check them out at http://www.ketman.net/
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-24 06:07 pm (UTC)Good word... I'll add it to my vocabulary (and check out the band :D)