Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_identity
HOW BRITAIN STEREOTYPES EUROPE
'...Various modern cultural studies and social theories have investigated cultural identity. In recent decades, a new form of identification has emerged which breaks down the understanding of the individual as a coherent whole subject into a collection of various cultural identifiers. These cultural identifiers may be the result of various conditions including: location, gender, race, history, nationality, language, sexuality, religious beliefs, ethnicity and aesthetics. The divisions between cultures can be very fine in some parts of the world, especially places such as Canada or the United States, where the population is ethnically diverse and social unity is based primarily on common social values and beliefs.
As a "historical reservoir", culture is an important factor in shaping identity. Some critics of cultural identity argue that the preservation of cultural identity, being based upon difference, is a divisive force in society, and that cosmopolitanism gives individuals a greater sense of shared citizenship. When considering practical association in international society, states may share an inherent part of their 'make up' that gives common ground, and alternate means of identifying with each other.
Also of interest is the interplay between cultural identity and new media
In the current era, cultural identity does not necessarily mean an individual's interaction within a certain group but a social network of people imitating and following the social norms presented by the media.Instead of learning behaviour and knowledge from cultural/religious groups, individuals from the present era are learning these social norms from the media to build on their cultural identity....'
Cultural Intenties I found this randomly on Google images and I find it very interesting, I believe it is an american design manly because when you look at where America is it says 'Civilised People' which I think is quite a one sided look at their culture and their people. However, this design is made up of stereotypes and companies etc that relate to a country. I think that where ever you go in the world this map would change and I believe that to be a starting point in many ways. If I can take this map as a key bit of secondary refrence I think I will be able to make something that relates to world stereotypes. The research that I will be able to get out of this I think we be vast as there are many countries in the world and many stereotypes! Just to make myself very clear I will not be looking into stereotypes within a country. Just the country as a whole. If I take the Americans for example, we think of them to be a fat, highly patriotic country.
"...Interestingly enough it looks like both sexes say that a majority of arguments begin outside the car and are just carried over into the trip; stereotypes would lead us to believe that navigation issues and comments on driving abilities would come in first, and by a long-shot. But it looks like that’s just not the case. It’s been my experience, though, that men require way more pit stops than women...." - theblindleadingtheblonde
Even though this is looking at the difference between Male and Female driving I like looking at how its been put together and also how its been designed. I feel the design is alright bit I don't like it as a whole. I guess what is important about is it is that is is quite clearly communicating results of a questionnaire to the audience. Its amazing how we run very strongly with stereotypes but they are never actually that true. Thats another reason why I think looking into cutlural intenties will be intresting. How people will assume straight away that 'you are a bad driver' when in actual fact you could be a very good driver. Your stereotype is giving you a bad name and theres nothing you can do about it! Thats is very much why being stereotyped is mostly always offensive and it makes sense to create something about stereotypes as it will be interesting.
I think what I like amount this is the amount of detail that has gone into it. If you look at the arrows I think its suggesting what each country or indeed state thinks of one another. For example, Europe has an arrow pointing at the United States of America, within this arrow is written 'Fat'. A very common sterotype of the Americans. The USA then has an arrow pointing into europe saying 'Never Fat'. This is something I'm not too familiar with as I honestly have no idea what the americas think of Europe.
Looking at this map I need to find a way of gathering information about what we as a nation (England) think of the countries surrounding Europe. I don't want to get my information from the internet as that will be easier and will be secondary research. I think its time I look into some primary research and make a online survey. One thing I have to be carful of is offending people so I am going to have to be very sneaky with what I right, that or just very careful.
In terms of the design, again I can not find a designer but I definantly bealive it to be an american who peiced this together considering that America is taking more than 50% of the design its self. I found it on this blog.
Blog: http://www.amykett.com/
What Europeans Think of Each Otherhttp://dailycandor.com/what-europeans-think-of-each-other/
I managed to come across more of these maps about how each country looks upon their neighbours and I have to say I find them so funny, I am far from being offended too as on the whole a lot of it is quite true! I find it funny how some countries the english just think 'cake' like we don't give two shits about the county as all. Very funny. But I want to find bolder statments about what we think of wach other, I think thats what i need to be able to crack on with designing.
A little chart about what europe thinks of each others work efforts.
In terms of the design, again I can not find a designer but I definantly bealive it to be an american who peiced this together considering that America is taking more than 50% of the design its self. I found it on this blog.
Blog: http://www.amykett.com/
What Europeans Think of Each Otherhttp://dailycandor.com/what-europeans-think-of-each-other/
The French — Disliked by some Spanish (particularly the Catalonians), for being arrogant. One woman from Barcelona told me, “Come on¦who really likes the French? Nobody!” The Swiss don’t like the fact that they have contempt for authority and are lazy. The Brits, of course, have the most mixed feelings about the French, though. One half the country hates them, the other half loves them. Those that hate the French tend to like the Americans, and vice versa. In the UK, they’re considered stinky, rude (they never line/queue up like decent people), and a bit yellow, based on their tendency to not fend off invaders like the Nazis.The French, in turn, dislike the British, look down on Belgians for being stupid, and don’t have much to say, in my experience, about Spaniards or Germans (oddly).
The Italians — Most of the stereotypes are positive, but mostly because of the food. Northern Europeans consider them lazy and flaky, and maybe incapable of managing anything right (mostly because of the 50+ governments they’ve had since WW2). One Dutch professor I had dismissed another Italian one, saying, “All the Italians care about are pasta and mamma.”Italians, in turn, don’t have strong feelings about other Europeans, but within Italy, the north-south divide is pretty strong. Northern Italians continuously complain that Southerners are lazy and unproductive, while Southerners complain that Northerners are devoid of culture or joie de vivre.
The Germans — Germans are considered industrious but uptight and humorless, by just about all the other Europeans. They know WW2 is a sore spot for them, so other Europeans will often mercilessly tease them about it. As much as Germany is considered an economic powerhouse, the vast majority of Europeans don’t really want to learn German or study there (or send their kids there to study). The food is considered uninspired, too, and only Berlin has some cachet among younger Europeans for its vibrant underground club scene. The most anti-German sentiments are among the Dutch and Danish, who just hate them from invading their countries too often. When German ask for directions in Holland, they’re usually given directions to the shortest way out of the country, or told “Give us back our bikes!”, a reference to the fact that Germans confiscated Dutch bicycles during WW2.Danes hate it when you pronounce their capital as “ko-pen-HAH-gen”, because this is the German pronunciation. Either pronounce it the English way (with “HAY” instead), or the Danish way, which is literally impossible to put down here.Germans tend to like their Western neighbors far more than they are liked by them, but they look down on their Eastern neighbors, particularly Poles. They, oddly, have some mixed respect for the Czechs, who have resisted German aggression.
The Scandinavians — Widely respected by most other Europeans, because of their high standard of living …and blond hair and blue eyes. However, within Scandinavia there are some persistent stereotypes. The Norwegians, Danes and Finns all think the Swedes are stupid and uptight. Norwegians are considered racist. Danes are considered more blunt than the others, maybe a bit more cranky, and the Finns are oddly introverted, even by Scandinavian standards. Except for the Danes really disliking Germans, and Finns really disliking Russians, they don’t really have anything against other Europeans.
The Belgians — Considered idiots by both the Dutch and the French. Belgians, in turn, consider the Dutch to be a bunch of cranky assholes, and French stuck-up.
The Dutch — The Dutch, like the Scandinavians, have an enviable economy and social order that’s admired by southern European countries. However, they do have a reputation of being self-righteous “know-it-alls” and very similar to their German cousins in terms of their rigidity. But they do not like any comparisons to Germans, and if you remind them that the Dutch national anthem makes a reference to the Dutch being “van Duitse bloed” (from German blood), you might quickly get the silent treatment. The Dutch are also disliked for being the biggest misers in Europe, and because of this they incur the wrath of the tourist industry wherever they travel. The Dutch have been known to stock up on water before they take their campers down to the south of France.The Dutch, in turn, kind of look down on just about everyone. Yes, there’s a bit of a reason for the “know-it-all” smart-ass reputation they have.
The Swiss — Considered extremely rigid, even by the Germans. Blunt to the point of being rude, the Swiss probably have the least likely reputation for being characterized as “friendly” or “warm”. Note that there is a big cultural divide between French-speaking Swiss, and the German-speaking Swiss. The former are almost exactly like the French, except having a blander cuisine and more respect for authority, the latter being more like the Germans except even more stiff, rigid and cranky. However, everyone knows Switzerland “works” so the fact that foreigners comprise 20% of the population (mostly from EU member states) should make this clear.Note that the German-speaking Swiss also speak their own variant of German, which sounds very strange if you’ve only been exposed to standard “hoch-Deutsch”.
The Spaniards — Honestly, very little antagonism against the Spanish or by the Spanish. No one really seems to dislike them, and they don’t seem to really dislike anyone else. (Yes, some Spaniards near the border to France don’t like the French very much) Not entirely sure why. However, God forbid you speak Spanish with a Latin American accent — there is still a lot of snobbery among Spaniards towards Latin Americans. Spaniards consider themselves white and European, and would be deeply insulted if you suggested they were Latin American of any kind.
The Greeks — Only nominally considered European by other Europeans, but the Greeks fiercely identify as European. Naturally, this is a huge irritant to Greeks.
The Poles — Not much seems to register about Poland and the Poles except that they’re quiet. They are a relatively big country (40 million people) so the supposed scare of being overrun by Eastern Europeans when a bunch of Eastern European countries joined the EU in 2005 focused in on the Poles. The Germans really don’t like Poles, and among Germany’s 9 neighbors, are disliked the most. Poland is considered a country of car thieves by the Germans. Really, the relationship between Germany and Poland is similar to that of the United States and Mexico, and often for many of the same reasons (differences in income, history of war, different languages, etc.).Poles really shore up their hatred for their eastern & southern neighbors, primarily Russia and Ukraine, although they don’t like Czechs, Slovaks or Lithuanians either. Oddly, they don’t really mind the Germans, and probably still fear them a bit — you never, ever hear jokes about Germans in Poland.
The Czechs — Considered a relatively bright spot of Eastern Europe by Western Europeans, but I think primarily because Prague is such a gorgeous city and a popular tourist destination. Czechs are a bit like Germans, though — a bit rude, blunt, and cold. Poles don’t have much good to say about them.
The Austrians — Considered a mix of the best & worst aspects of Germany and the Balkans, Austrians are considered laid-back but very nationalistic and racist. They’re said to be the birthplace of Hitler, but never came around to being fully apologetic about the Holocaust (unlike Germany). Neutral feelings from most ofWestern Europe, negative feelings from Germans (who consider them backwards, and not always the representing the best image of German-speaking people) and admired by Eastern Europeans (a throwback to the Hapsburgs).
The British – About half of the British would be really angry at being called European, so that should provide an apt starting point. The main beef with the Brits is that they’re considered the lapdog of the U.S., and are anti-European because the U.S. tells them to be so. They are considered polite, but maybe a bit two-faced (hence “Janus Britain”) and snobby. The Scots and Welsh are tolerated and liked, inasmuch as that no one really knows too much about them outside the UK, but the English are those that bear the brunt of negative sentiments among other Europeans. After all, London is in England.
The English also have a poor reputation in tourist traps, such as Amsterdam and Ibiza, for being loud-mouthed, obnoxious drunks.
The English, in turn, really seem to hate everyone. This is because it’s pretty hard to find an Englishman that has even, at best, neutral opinions about other Europeans (or Americans, or other nationalities). Europe is full of English expats, and the longer they live abroad, the more they seem to hate their host country. And yet they never seem to want to move home.
The English also have a poor reputation in tourist traps, such as Amsterdam and Ibiza, for being loud-mouthed, obnoxious drunks.
The English, in turn, really seem to hate everyone. This is because it’s pretty hard to find an Englishman that has even, at best, neutral opinions about other Europeans (or Americans, or other nationalities). Europe is full of English expats, and the longer they live abroad, the more they seem to hate their host country. And yet they never seem to want to move home.
The Irish — A very small country, despite its exaggerated importance in Americans’ minds (just over 3 million) but considered polite and humble. They nominally dislike the English, but I have yet to meet an Irishman who really loathes the English. The sentiments towards the Irish and by the Irish seem to be positive, overall.
I’ll leave you with this poster I saw in an Italian office years ago, that helps sum it up in some ways:
In Heaven…
- the mechanics are German
- the chefs are French
- the police are British
- the lovers are Italian
- and everything is organized by the Swiss.
In Hell…
- the mechanics are French
- the police are German
- the chefs are British
- the lovers are Swiss
- and everything is organized by the Italians.
A little chart about what europe thinks of each others work efforts.
