It seems to me that America as a whole is far too insular-- a charge which could be applied to Japan and India as well. I think all three countries need more cross-cultural fans, not less
I think that's a really good point. My parents decided to Sell Everything and Move to Europe when I was ten, and we spent a year living in various cities in Portugal and Italy -- mainly small towns where we were the only Americans, although we did spend time in Lisbon and Rome. "Eye-opening" doesn't begin to describe that experience; it's one of the most precious in my life. That was in the early eighties, right around when NATO decided "Hey! European missile bases!" so it was also a big eye-opener when people decided to openly yell at you on the bus because you were American and hey, if you were American, you were a representative of America and totally agreed with America's foreign policies. But then again, I have parents who have never thought that America was the end-all and be-all and that it was shockingly small-minded to be concerned with only your own culture (my mother's half-Hungarian, second-generation American frex and so we've always been pretty aware of the immigrant experience).
I think any experience abroad is pretty much what you make of it. There's a great example by Margaret Atwood of American and Canadian military people living in India -- the Canadians lived off-base, had Indian friends, ate in local restaurants, and did their best to get along in the local culture. The Americans all lived on-base, which was basically a miniature American city, didn't speak any local languages, ate American food cooked by Americans, and in general didn't try to assimilate at all.
I also think Edward Said's Orientalism had a lot to do with the "if you like this other country's culture, you are an imperialist poseur" thing. Not that he didn't have a lot of really terrific points, but unfortunately that reaction is sort of a trickle-down effect from his book, I think (although he himself is an avowed humanist).
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really good points
Date: 2004-08-22 10:23 pm (UTC)I think that's a really good point. My parents decided to Sell Everything and Move to Europe when I was ten, and we spent a year living in various cities in Portugal and Italy -- mainly small towns where we were the only Americans, although we did spend time in Lisbon and Rome. "Eye-opening" doesn't begin to describe that experience; it's one of the most precious in my life. That was in the early eighties, right around when NATO decided "Hey! European missile bases!" so it was also a big eye-opener when people decided to openly yell at you on the bus because you were American and hey, if you were American, you were a representative of America and totally agreed with America's foreign policies. But then again, I have parents who have never thought that America was the end-all and be-all and that it was shockingly small-minded to be concerned with only your own culture (my mother's half-Hungarian, second-generation American frex and so we've always been pretty aware of the immigrant experience).
I think any experience abroad is pretty much what you make of it. There's a great example by Margaret Atwood of American and Canadian military people living in India -- the Canadians lived off-base, had Indian friends, ate in local restaurants, and did their best to get along in the local culture. The Americans all lived on-base, which was basically a miniature American city, didn't speak any local languages, ate American food cooked by Americans, and in general didn't try to assimilate at all.
I also think Edward Said's Orientalism had a lot to do with the "if you like this other country's culture, you are an imperialist poseur" thing. Not that he didn't have a lot of really terrific points, but unfortunately that reaction is sort of a trickle-down effect from his book, I think (although he himself is an avowed humanist).