![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Clashing cultures...
Mar. 1st, 2008 03:34 pmI'm currently reading An Englishwoman in Russia: Impressions of the Society and Manners of the Russians at Home, by A Lady, 10 Years Resident in that Country (Published 1855)
One of the most striking things about this account is its air of condescension. The Russian natives are charming but ignorant, colorful but dirty, and despite their government's attempts to civilize the people, it is apparent through the author's narrative that they have failed....(in her opinion)
Oddly, this is the same air that I always 'heard' in the voice of Dr. James Watson. Foreigners were simply not as good as the English. (Nothing against the English here, mind you, they simply serve as examples of a culture that considered outsiders as....lesser. Most people would agree that Americans reputedly wear those shoes nowadays.)
Last night I watched the PBS presentation of the NY Philharmonic playing in Pyongyang. The North Koreans are officially taught that the rest of the world is unnecessary, irrelevant, and well....rather inferior. As I watched the people in the crowd, I wondered how many of the North Korean audience thought that about An American in Paris or The New World Symphony...or if they secretly enjoyed it, but couldn't afford to show that....
We are a bizarrely competitive species.
One of the most striking things about this account is its air of condescension. The Russian natives are charming but ignorant, colorful but dirty, and despite their government's attempts to civilize the people, it is apparent through the author's narrative that they have failed....(in her opinion)
Oddly, this is the same air that I always 'heard' in the voice of Dr. James Watson. Foreigners were simply not as good as the English. (Nothing against the English here, mind you, they simply serve as examples of a culture that considered outsiders as....lesser. Most people would agree that Americans reputedly wear those shoes nowadays.)
Last night I watched the PBS presentation of the NY Philharmonic playing in Pyongyang. The North Koreans are officially taught that the rest of the world is unnecessary, irrelevant, and well....rather inferior. As I watched the people in the crowd, I wondered how many of the North Korean audience thought that about An American in Paris or The New World Symphony...or if they secretly enjoyed it, but couldn't afford to show that....
We are a bizarrely competitive species.
