English Stereotypes About Other Nations

The English, by Jeremy Paxman, is an attempt to pinpoint exactly what it means to be English, as opposed to British. The text is taken from a chapter in the book which deals with English attitudes to foreigners.

It’s hard to escape the conclusion that, deep down, the English don’t really care for foreigners. […] in 1497, a Venetian noticed that ‘the English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner they say “he looks like an Englishman” and that “it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishman”’.

In describing a visit to England by Frederick, Duke of Württemberg in 1592, a German author commented upon the fact that ‘the inhabitants … are extremely proud and overbearing … they care little for foreigners, but scoff and laugh at them.’ Another visitor, the Dutch merchant Emmanuel van Meteren noticed the same arrogance when he listed the qualities of the English character. “The people are bold, courageous, ardent and cruel in war, but very inconstant, rash, vainglorious, light and deceiving, and very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise.” […]

The picture had hardly changed by the middle of this century. In 1940, George Orwell, who had noticed how little ordinary soldiers were affected by their exposure to foreign cultures in World War one, turned his attention to the boys’ magazines the Gem and the Magnet. He hated almost everything about them, from their conservative politics to their absurdly dated mise-en-scène.

As a rule [he wrote] it is assumed that foreigners of any race are all alike and will conform more or less exactly to the following patterns:

FRENCHMAN: Wears beard, gesticulates wildly.

SPANIARD, MEXICAN, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.

ARAB, AFGHAN, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.

CHINESE: Sinister, treacherous. Wears pigtail.

ITALIAN: excitable. Grinds barrel-organ or carries stiletto.

SWEDE, DANE, etc.: Kind-hearted, stupid.

NEGRO: comic, very faithful.

Note that Americans do not appear on this list of hilarious stereotypes. But then, speaking English, they weren’t really foreigners. It would have been impossible for ‘Frank Richards’, the author of these hugely successful stories, to have got away with the simple-minded caricatures Orwell despised, had the English not had a profound ignorance of foreigners.

As he had been turning them out for thirty years, Orwell assumed the name to be a nom de plum for a team of writers. He underestimated the man: Richards once wrote 18,000 words in a single day, and his lifetime output was estimated at the equivalent of a thousand ordinary novels. To his astonishment, after the article appeared, Frank Richards […] demanded the right of reply. On the question of stereotypes he wrote, “As for foreigners being funny, I must shock Mr. Orwell by telling him that foreigners are funny. They lack the sense of humour which is the special gift to our chosen nation: and people without a sense of homour are always unconsciously funny.”

Appendix 4.

Russia

Russia was once the largest and the most prominent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, or Soviet Union). In 1991 the USSR broke apart and Russia became an independent country.

The USSR had a totalitarian political system in which Communist Party leaders held political and economic power. The state owned all companies and land, and the government controlled production of goods and other aspects of the economy, a system known as a command, or planned, economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began transforming itself into a more democratic society with an economy based on market mechanisms and principles. Russia has made many successful changes: There have been free elections at all levels of government; private ownership of property has been legalized; and large segments of the economy are now privately owned.

The transformation is far from complete, however. In the economic sphere, privatized assets have not been allocated fairly among the population and privatization of land is still in its infancy. Russia must also deal with the large-scale environmental destruction and other problems inherited from the Soviet Union. In the political arena, a stable society based on citizen involvement in local, regional, and national affairs has yet to develop.

The transformation has affected the people of Russia in a variety of ways. Under the Soviet system, Russians became accustomed to having the government define many aspects of their lives. For many, the collapse of the USSR and the Communist ideal created an ideological void, and Russians increasingly turned to traditional and nontraditional faiths to fill that void. The post-Soviet era has also seen an overall decline in Russia’s population, despite the influx of immigrants from other parts of the former Soviet Union. Russia has the lowest life expectancy and the highest infant mortality rate of the industrialized countries. The social welfare system, already constrained by inadequate funding, was greatly challenged to combat these growing problems.

Appendix 5.

Halloween

Halloween means “holy evening”, and takes place on the 31^st October. Although it is a much more important festival in the United States than in Britain. It is celebrated by many people in the UK. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts.

It is an evening immediately preceding the Christian feast of Hallowmas or All Saint’s Day, November 1, according to the western European Christian church calendar. However, its traditions date back to pre-Christian Celtic beliefs once prevalent in what is now known as Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Halloween is associated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the year and the beginning of winter. It was believed that on the evening of Samhain supernatural creatures were on the prowl and the souls of the dead were allowed to revisit their former homes. Costumes and jack-o-lantern were thought to protect people from any harm they might cause. A jack-o-lantern is a face carved into one side of a hallowed out pumpkin in which a lighted candle has been placed. This gives it an inviting yellow and orange glow on a dark autumn night. That is why the Halloween colours are orange and black.

Customs associated with Halloween in the USA and the UK include children wearing masks and costumes, and “trick or treating” – going from house to house collecting sweets, fruit or money. In the evening you may hear a knock on your door. Outside there are children dressed as ghosts and witches, holding a bag. They shout, “Trick or treat!” Give them a piece of candy or they may put soap on your window.

More and more adults are also celebrating Halloween with masquerade parties in which they dress up like political and historical figures, or just plain old scary fellows from recent horror films like ghosts, vampires, goblins, Frankenstein, etc.

Another popular activity at Halloween parties is bobbing for apples. One person at a time must get an apple out of a tub of water without using his hands and only by sinking his face into the water and biting the apple. The party may start or end with a Halloween costume parade, wherein those with the best or scariest costumes receive prizes. Telling scary stories or “ghost” stories while huddled together by candlelight is one of the highlights of Halloween night. Any story will do, but it must be spoken in a low, tense voice and reach a startling climax, as does the story “What do you come for?” told in Britain and in certain US eastern coastal states.

Here are some Halloween poems and songs.

TREAT

by Jack Prelutsky

Trick or treat, trick or treat,

Give us something good to eat.

Give us candy, give us cake,

Give us something sweet to take.

Give us cookies, fruit and gum,

Hurry up and give us some.

You had better do it quick

Or we’ll surely play a trick.

Trick or treat, trick or treat,

Give us something good to eat.

BOBBING FOR AN APPLES

by Jack Prelutsky

Watch us bobbing for an apple,

For an apple apple apple,

But no apple apple apple,

Not an apple can I get.

Oh I cannot catch an apple,

Not one apple apple apple,

Though my sister got an apple,

All I got was soaking wet.

JACK-O-LANTERN

Sometimes big and sometimes small,

But always round and yellow.

When children make my famous grin

Then I’m a scary fellow.

WITCHES’ BREW

Traditional

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too;

Stir them in my witches’ brew.