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languages and popular images
Fab,
« even if Spain was the first spanish speaking country, it seems that the hispanic stereotype of today in popular imaginary is based mainly upon countries such as Cuba, Mexico or Puerto Rico. »
I really doubt that the image which Northern Europeans have of Spain is very much influenced by images of Mexico, Cuba or Puerto Rico (if many Northern Europeans actually even have particular images of those places at all — I certainly don't).
On the other hand, vast numbers of Northern Europeans have been to Spain, many on a regular basis, and apparently millions own a house or even live there permanently. Probably all Northern Europeans at least know someone very well who has been to Spain. Thus, I tend to think that the views which Northern Europeans often have of Spain are influenced by their experiences there — which tend not to be representative of the whole country throughout the whole year (I've never known anyone go to Madrid in January, for example).
At least in Britain, Spanish is associated fundamentally with Spain. Places such as Mexico and Argentina might not instantly come to mind when one mentions the Spanish language.
Yes, and it all depends on the location in which you live. For instance, someone who lives in Latin America will most likely associate English primarily with the United States, because of the cultural and economic influence which the U.S. exerts on the world and its neighbors. The most media, foriegn films, and music in English comes from the U.S. It is by far, the largest English speaking nation in the world, and that is why many people, outside of Europe, probably associate English predominantly with the U.S., even though English originated in England. Just as Americans most likely will first think of Mexico in relation to Spanish, instead of Spain, which is the actual mother country of the language. Spain is a small nation of 40 million people across the Atlantic, while Mexico is a large nation of 130 million people who are our next door neighbors.
I visited Italy with my folks in 1987. I guess you could say I did "The Grand Tour", you know, the Rome Florence Venice thing. We started in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland (Lugano, Ticino), then we went to Milan, after that we went to Venice. From there, we got back on the mainland, crossed the Po River into Emilia-Romagna and we visited Bologna, which is the gastronomical capital of Italy. After that, we went to Florence, Pisa, saw some Tuscan countryside, went down to Rome (my favorit part), we went further down to Naples, Sorrento, and Amalfi. The main part of our trip was to visit my parents hometowns. My mother is from Sulmona, a beautiful city surrounded by the Appenine mountains. My father's hometown is a little further south in Apulia in the province of Foggia near the Gargano promontory. It was fun. We all did it in about 3 weeks. Italy is truly a tourists paradise. There are exceptions, of course.
The above message is adressed to Tiffany.
Italy is a beautiful country, no? I haven't been to the parts where your parents come from, but I hope to take a trip down there. Time is hard to come by as we always need to visit his relatives in Tuscany. With your experience, you would certainly know what an inflated stereotype we have Italians in America. Italian-Americans today, a bright and vibrant culture though they are, are not the Italians of Italy. We have taken the view of one group - the Italian-Americans of mostly Sicilian descent, who remember the Southern Italy of yesterday, and the media made it a caricature. Humans seem to do that a lot.
I agree with you Tiffany.
"Italy is a beautiful country, no? I haven't been to the parts where your parents come from, but I hope to take a trip down there. Time is hard to come by as we always need to visit his relatives in Tuscany. With your experience, you would certainly know what an inflated stereotype we have Italians in America. Italian-Americans today, a bright and vibrant culture though they are, are not the Italians of Italy. We have taken the view of one group - the Italian-Americans of mostly Sicilian descent, who remember the Southern Italy of yesterday, and the media made it a caricature. Humans seem to do that a lot. "
Yes, I think that is the conception of Italy and Italians which most Americans have. Staunchly Catholic. Poor to middle class. Down to earth, straight foward, loud, open, and affectionate people, where the men kiss you on the cheek, and the women openly embrace a casual friend. Where large families gather around the table to partake of Mamma Maria's homemade raviolis arrabiata. Boisterous, jovial, family gathering around a big table, with messy tomato sauce all over the place. Organized crime, men singing romantic love songs to women atop in their window or balcony. Laundry hanging in the sky on cables between rooftops, with narrow, cobbled, streets below. Brightly colored homes all about, with a festival taking place on the hill outside of the village, where the whole town is gathering together to honor their patron saint. Everyone singing and dancing and drinking wine. When everyone returns home, you hear old men singing of their foregone "amore", and "la bella luna".
This is the highly inflated stereotype which Americans are bombared with and exposed to in the media and on movies. More educated people might have this perception of Italy and Italians present somewhere in their sub-conscious, but also are aware of Italy's fine culture, luxury cars, art, fashion design, wine, cuisine, cosmetics and colognes, etc.
" Yes, I think that is the conception of Italy and Italians which most Americans have. Staunchly Catholic. Poor to middle class. Down to earth, straight foward, loud, open, and affectionate people, where the men kiss you on the cheek, and the women openly embrace a casual friend. Where large families gather around the table to partake of Mamma Maria's homemade raviolis arrabiata. Boisterous, jovial, family gathering around a big table, with messy tomato sauce all over the place. Organized crime, men singing romantic love songs to women atop in their window or balcony. Laundry hanging in the sky on cables between rooftops, with narrow, cobbled, streets below. Brightly colored homes all about, with a festival taking place on the hill outside of the village, where the whole town is gathering together to honor their patron saint. Everyone singing and dancing and drinking wine. When everyone returns home, you hear old men singing of their foregone "amore", and "la bella luna".
This is the highly inflated stereotype which Americans are bombared with and exposed to in the media and on movies. More educated people might have this perception of Italy and Italians present somewhere in their sub-conscious, but also are aware of Italy's fine culture, luxury cars, art, fashion design, wine, cuisine, cosmetics and colognes, etc "
The stereotypes you've made are not all a past image, but some still exist in a lot of mediterranean regions - some others are really old-fashionned realities of southern Italy only.
Stereotypes such as : laundry hanging on cables, narrow cobbled streets, outside festivals, drinking wine... still exist in the mediterranean europe countryside (and also in some city centers). these are the images that the tourists come to see when they come to southern France.
These "popular" images are not at all contradictory with the "high-class" culture of fashion, fine cuisine, etc. both still exists in the same places.
I would speak about Nice, my own city, where I spent a big part of my life before coming to study in Paris, wich is at once narrow-streets colored with red, blue, yellow with hanging clothes city and a city luxury high class hotels and fashion 19th strait boulevards. http://www.nice-art.com/tourisme/nice.htm, http://www.nice.fr/mairie_nice_548.html
Barcelona and most other big European mediterranean cities are also really made on this model, with the "barri gotic" (old narrow medieval narrow streets) and the "eixemple" (19th century extension of the city).
I've always found in rather strange that people often have the image of Italians having lots of children, because I believe that Italy now has one of the lowest (if not the lowest) birth rates in Western Europe.
The post above Benjamin's was Fab, correct?
LAA wrote:
<< Yes, I think that is the conception of Italy and Italians which most Americans have. Staunchly Catholic. Poor to middle class. Down to earth, straight foward, loud, open, and affectionate people, where the men kiss you on the cheek, and the women openly embrace a casual friend. Where large families gather around the table to partake of Mamma Maria's homemade raviolis arrabiata. Boisterous, jovial, family gathering around a big table, with messy tomato sauce all over the place. Organized crime, men singing romantic love songs to women atop in their window or balcony. Laundry hanging in the sky on cables between rooftops, with narrow, cobbled, streets below. Brightly colored homes all about, with a festival taking place on the hill outside of the village, where the whole town is gathering together to honor their patron saint. Everyone singing and dancing and drinking wine. When everyone returns home, you hear old men singing of their foregone "amore", and "la bella luna". >>
Actually, that sounds pretty much like Little Italy in New York when I lived there (1975-1984). But yes, the "Little Italians" were descended from (or, in the case of some of the old peope, sometimes actually *were*) immigrants mainly from Sicily or southern Italy. The festival (the Feast of San Gennaro) took place in the city streets right below my window, not on a hill outside the village, and I never heard much singing, but the rest of it is very familiar.
However, I tend to think of this setting as Italian-American, not Italian. Firenze comes to mind when I think of Italy.
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