Michael's Travels:
Promoting Cultural Misunderstandings
Through Gross Caricatures Since 1998
(The Date of the Famous Essay on European Toilets)
Promoting Cultural Misunderstandings
Through Gross Caricatures Since 1998
(The Date of the Famous Essay on European Toilets)
What comes to the minds of most Americans when they think of Germany? When I ask myself this question, I quickly become enmeshed in two levels of stereotypes. First there are the stereotypes that I think Americans have of Germans, but then there are also the stereotypes I have of my fellow Americans, the stereotypes I use to make sense of what the "average" American thinks of Germans. As Americans -- at least as Americans with a certain level of education and a certain socio-economic status -- we are profoundly uncomfortable with stereotypes. Come to think of it, that last statement is a stereotype. Or is it just a correct generalization? What is the difference? Is a stereotype simply a false or hastily formed generalization? Can a true generalization still be a stereotype?
Of course it isn't just a matter of stereotypes. Our relation to other cultures consists in a host of associations and images that are as inevitably simplistic as they are unavoidable. We have no way to relate to other cultures except in terms of generalizations, a few paradigmatic images, phrases, events, etc. So these associations are inevitable, but they are also ridiculous and simplistic. In the last six weeks I've been amazed to discover how many of the generalizations I'd formed in Germany eight years ago were really just generalizations about Munich. I remember all the students at the University there wrote with pens that cost hundreds of dollars. There were stores selling nothing but pens worth one hundred, two hundred, and even three hundred dollars. The student classroom attire was similarly... schicky micky...was the word that seemed to be used. (I never heard a local use this word, but lots of "in-the-know" expats used this word to describe the way the locals thought about themselves. I've heard both positive and a negative connotations ascribed to this word. I've also heard that it means "Mickey Mouse Chic," though I can't confirm the truth of this.)
Anyway, since coming to Jena, I've seen a different side of Germany -- no expensive pens, more counter-culture, lots of interest in otherwise defunct 80s metal bands, and much less talk of the clubs where Boris Becker hangs out.
So back to the original question: What comes to most Americans ' minds when they think of Germany? I would venture to say that most of our friends at grad school associate Germany with the singular strength of the country's Green party, with a relatively successful blend of capitalism and socialism, with a happy place where everyone recycles and is, in just about every way, very continental. The "average" American probably has a less favorable set of associations, ranging from the Nazi's to the Nihilists of Big Lebowski fame.
(Following in this slightly more ironic pop-cultural vein, the Simpsons provide some pretty good stereotypes about the Germans. In one episode, the Simpsons turn their house into a youth hostel frequented by German Eurotrash (another vague but potent word -- does it apply to Americans who backpack Europe or to European jetsetters?). At one point you see a German youth talking to Marge. You hear: "Reason number 112 that American sucks -- no universal health care.")
Back to our stereotypes about the Germans: (a) tourists that wear black socks with shorts; (b) people who have rules for everything and always follow them; (c) "This is the time on Sprockets when we dance;" (d) all black clothes; (e) leather pants; (f) beer; etc., etc.
Now we come to the more interesting topic: German's image of Americans (beside the no universal health care part). Germans are completely obsessed with two things about American -- New York and the open spaces of the West.
The fascination with New York is understandable, I guess. It comes from watching all the movies filmed there and assuming that everyone in New York lives like the people in the movies, as though characters from Woody Allen films are constantly bumping into Sarah Jessica Parker, Seinfeld, and Andy Warhol. There is also the fact that New York presents a kind of mutli-ethnic cosmopolitanism that doesn't exist in Europe (except maybe London). Also, for the most part, European cities don't have skyscrapers. Frankfurt has a few. Paris has some, but they are all outside the city proper in La Defense. Most European cities were built before elevators and cars. They have a human scale. They simply don't have the impressive/oppressive quality of the New York city skyline.
Almost every time people find that out Dolores is from New York, they look at here like she is a celebrity. They get a big smile. Their eyes widen. They take a step back.
The card board cowboy has been placed in our Mensa for the last few days. People gave us strange looks when we took his picture, but it was worth it.
The German fascination with the West and with Cowboys is more perplexing to me, since in so many ways the Cowboy stands for what they don't like about us -- our guns, our rugged and unrefined ways, our president. And yet despite all this, the cowboy is still loved.
Of course it isn't just a matter of stereotypes. Our relation to other cultures consists in a host of associations and images that are as inevitably simplistic as they are unavoidable. We have no way to relate to other cultures except in terms of generalizations, a few paradigmatic images, phrases, events, etc. So these associations are inevitable, but they are also ridiculous and simplistic. In the last six weeks I've been amazed to discover how many of the generalizations I'd formed in Germany eight years ago were really just generalizations about Munich. I remember all the students at the University there wrote with pens that cost hundreds of dollars. There were stores selling nothing but pens worth one hundred, two hundred, and even three hundred dollars. The student classroom attire was similarly... schicky micky...was the word that seemed to be used. (I never heard a local use this word, but lots of "in-the-know" expats used this word to describe the way the locals thought about themselves. I've heard both positive and a negative connotations ascribed to this word. I've also heard that it means "Mickey Mouse Chic," though I can't confirm the truth of this.)
Anyway, since coming to Jena, I've seen a different side of Germany -- no expensive pens, more counter-culture, lots of interest in otherwise defunct 80s metal bands, and much less talk of the clubs where Boris Becker hangs out.
So back to the original question: What comes to most Americans ' minds when they think of Germany? I would venture to say that most of our friends at grad school associate Germany with the singular strength of the country's Green party, with a relatively successful blend of capitalism and socialism, with a happy place where everyone recycles and is, in just about every way, very continental. The "average" American probably has a less favorable set of associations, ranging from the Nazi's to the Nihilists of Big Lebowski fame.
(Following in this slightly more ironic pop-cultural vein, the Simpsons provide some pretty good stereotypes about the Germans. In one episode, the Simpsons turn their house into a youth hostel frequented by German Eurotrash (another vague but potent word -- does it apply to Americans who backpack Europe or to European jetsetters?). At one point you see a German youth talking to Marge. You hear: "Reason number 112 that American sucks -- no universal health care.")
Back to our stereotypes about the Germans: (a) tourists that wear black socks with shorts; (b) people who have rules for everything and always follow them; (c) "This is the time on Sprockets when we dance;" (d) all black clothes; (e) leather pants; (f) beer; etc., etc.
Now we come to the more interesting topic: German's image of Americans (beside the no universal health care part). Germans are completely obsessed with two things about American -- New York and the open spaces of the West.
The fascination with New York is understandable, I guess. It comes from watching all the movies filmed there and assuming that everyone in New York lives like the people in the movies, as though characters from Woody Allen films are constantly bumping into Sarah Jessica Parker, Seinfeld, and Andy Warhol. There is also the fact that New York presents a kind of mutli-ethnic cosmopolitanism that doesn't exist in Europe (except maybe London). Also, for the most part, European cities don't have skyscrapers. Frankfurt has a few. Paris has some, but they are all outside the city proper in La Defense. Most European cities were built before elevators and cars. They have a human scale. They simply don't have the impressive/oppressive quality of the New York city skyline.
Almost every time people find that out Dolores is from New York, they look at here like she is a celebrity. They get a big smile. Their eyes widen. They take a step back.
The card board cowboy has been placed in our Mensa for the last few days. People gave us strange looks when we took his picture, but it was worth it.
The German fascination with the West and with Cowboys is more perplexing to me, since in so many ways the Cowboy stands for what they don't like about us -- our guns, our rugged and unrefined ways, our president. And yet despite all this, the cowboy is still loved.
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