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November 2, 2006
Is this U.S.-centric or not?
I've just blogged about Americans' thin skins at the Berkshire Blog and hope you'll read that (amazing to find that Americans have always worried about criticism and even 200 years ago seemed to be excessively touchy) after giving me a hand with an editorial question. I was looking over an article for our Global Perspectives on the United States volume and found that at the beginning of each country article we compare the area of the country with something familiar to U.S. citizens and students, our states. Most readers will be Americans, and we very much want this work to be used in thousands of schools, but here's what worried me: Greece was compared in area (hectares, btw) to Alabama. Just "Alabama." I thought, and think, that it should read, "the U.S. state of Alabama." We wouldn't assume everyone knows every English county, after all. Maybe I'm being a little touchy myself here and I'm curious to know what you tthink.
Posted by Karen Christensen at November 2, 2006 10:49 AM
Comments
Well, I don't like it very much either when my country is being criticized - unfairly and ignorantly most of the time - but what riles me is this: when one tells an American that some stuff (tool, system, car, whatever - even the metric system)is actually better in some other country. They just stare (glare?) and they cannot "take it". It is not saying to them "you are no good at making ...". It is just saying that, for example, overthere, houses are built with stones and therefore stronger, or "why America hasn't joined the metric system which the rest of the world uses... etc. "What? you mean we aren't number one?" is what they think and they can't bear it. It is the same thing with soccer which the whole world calls football, and which Americans think is a girlie sport. And only American football can be called football!
Anyway, this is my grain of salt for today.
By the way I went to this site on the subject of criticism=treason or something like that. Facism anyone? The human endeavour is an eternal circle... how sad. When you think that we shall never see that again. Well, think again.
Posted by: Evelyne (EJ) at December 13, 2006 7:48 PM