OT DAK, Overall it is my experience that Germans generally are much more aware of America than we are of any European culture...
Few would argue with that statement, on the face of it. However, I am not sure that it has any significance. Reason: the (educated) people in just about any country in the world know more about the US than Americans do about that country. Like it or not, that is due to America's world hegemony (geopolitical/military/economic/cultural/linguistic, etc. etc.). America "matters" to any other country more than that country "matters" to the US. Therefore, the people in other countries know more about the US than Americans do about them. That is not to excuse American's lack of interest in other cultures blah blah blah, but you have to put it in a meaningful context. People are always attracted to the hegemon, whether global or local. Hence, Japanese people know more about the US (and European countries as well BTW), than the Americans or the Europeans know about the Japanese. More locally, Koreans know more about Japan than Japanese know about Korea, again due to the same "power" relationship. If you ever teach English in Japan (many tried their hand in the bubbly 80s), it is kind of funny to see these people knocking themselves out trying to learn the "Queen's English" or French or German, when they would have a much easier time learning the linguistically similar Korean--but it almost never happens. Along the same lines, I would venture to guess that a lot more Turks and Polish people know German than vice-versa. Is it because the Turks and Poles are more "cultured"? I think it is kind of amusing when Europeans pat themselves on the back about how cultured they are... If the Balkan situation is any indication, they are as good at "compartmentalizing" their interests as the rest of us. |
