Subject: RE: ethnic origins of Mudcatters
From:
Sourdough
Date: 05 Mar 01 - 03:25 PM
I started to write a paragraph or two add to this discussion and then got carried away by the topic. THis is not an argument, more like a series of thoughts rather than a response to anyone in particular's posting.
This idea of "ethnicity" is interesting. Does "ethnic" mean French or English or some other nationality? So many of the European countries are modern constructs that if you are talking "ethnic" wouldn't it make more sense to talk about beng Welsh, Breton, Tuscan or Bavarian as examples rather than saying English, French, Italian or German? Now, if we are talking about who we identify with, perhaps that would be something different. It may not be an important distinction as long as we don't try to ascribe behaviour to our genes.
My wife is German, or more accurately, Bavarian. She finds it interesting how many Americans consider themselves German because they have some German ancestry in their background. She often hears, "I'm German, too". She used to think that it meant that they had grown up in a German speaking household or that they spoke German or had perhaps lived there or even visited there. Instead, it seems to mean that they identify somehow with Germany, generally as a whole, rather than with a particular cultural region. These people get a nice feeling when they hear German traditional music, they feel more connected somehow when they go to a local Oktoberfest, and they feel free to interpret their personalities as though they are made up at least partially of "german" traits as they understand them. It can often mean a lot to them, it is part of their identity.
One of the most interesting discussions about this happened one afternoon when the subject of ethnicity came up. Two acquaintances were talking about the traits they had inherited as a part of their ethnic heritage. One was Swiss and the other was German, at least some grandparents of each came from those countries. The "Switzer" saw herself as conservative, rather bourgeois and very dependable, traits she had inherited from her Swiss ancestors while the "German" saw himself quite differently. According to his self-inventory, he was stubborn, aggressive in business and had a belief in Social Darwinism, all of which he ascribed to his German ethnicity. He also happened to mention that his great-grandfather was from a village near the Lake of Constance. It turned out that the German woman's family, or at least the German part of it, was from that region too. In fact, their "ancestral homes" were only about 30-40 km. apart. This has not been a closed border. The lLake has provided the means for a lot of contact over the centuries.It is hard for me to think of these people as being ethnically separate. Perhaps there are some cultural differences. I don't think that anyone could look at ten photos of people from one group and ten of another and say which group is which.
If it were possible to talk with the immigrant ancestors of many Americans, people who came here, say, 100 years ago, I think most would tell us that they would have been very proud of the fact that they had had the courage to get up and leave a culture that had little opportunity for them and to risk starting over in a new country.
I'd be really interested to hear an Australian point of view on this.
Sourdough
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sj
