David Gibney Jan 16, 2015:

"Familism" looks like it comes from Spanish (or unholy darkness). I hate the sound of it as well. My eyes would bleed if I had to read it more than three times.
"Runs contrary" conveys the nuance of a close but oppositional relationship, belief, value, opinion, etc.

Port City Jan 16, 2015:

From the context Nick gave below, 裏腹の関係 may mean "closely related"; when people can't find spouses in their own countries, they have to find ones elsewhere so that their parents may be taken care of. That means 国際結婚市場 and 家族主義 are closely related. 裏 and 表 are inseparable, which means they are closely related. http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q121...
Anyway, it means either "contrary" or "closely related" depending on the context.

Nicholas Hallsworth (asker) Jan 16, 2015:

I think family care sounds better too. Whoever thought of familism as a term anyway, sounds terrible! Thank you for the answer.

David Gibney Jan 16, 2015:

"Market" is sometimes used colloquially in this context (a pick-up bar could be described as a meat market, the single's market in Berlin, etc.) but obviously doesn't mesh with an academic text where familism could be used.

I think familism is fine in context (verging on pedantic) but I think "family provided care" or "family care" sounds more natural. I'd probably translate "家族主義" on a case by case basis. It seems like one of those words that would sound unnatural if translated consistently. In some cases "the family's overall welfare" might be a better fit and in others "prioritizing care for the elderly".

Nicholas Hallsworth (asker) Jan 16, 2015:

Thank you. Yes, I think the point is that international marriage was used as a means of securing care for single elderly people in richer Asian countries (Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong) and that, as David suggested, runs contrary to this Asian family care tradition. I'm wondering if "familism" is okay in this context because this term comes up throughout the whole paper.

Port City Jan 16, 2015:

I think the 家族主義 here refers to the Asian tradition where younger generation of family members take care of their aged parents. With the spread of international marriages, the younger generation, who are traditionally expected to take care of their parents, live overseas or live with someone who doesn't follow this tradition. Hence, it's against this 家族主義 tradition. I'm not sure if the 市場 means a market where people trade. Probably it doesn't.

Nicholas Hallsworth (asker) Jan 16, 2015:

The obvious answer is a "inverse relationship," but can the formation of a market have an inverse relationship with a way of thinking?