Essex Chronicle website 
(both 28.09.09)
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Monday, 28 September 2009
Newspaper website slideshows - cultural differences? Or just reflect what's on offer?
Sächsische Zeitung websiteEssex Chronicle website (both 28.09.09)
Essex Chronicle website (both 28.09.09)
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Books about Britain/Germany
Don't Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890
by John Ramsden, May 2006
448pp
Guardian reviews: James Hawes (+), Tim Gardam (-)
John Ramsden's book traces an extraordinary relationship that was central to Europe's 20th century. In 1890, "an Anglo-German war seemed utterly fantastic" - but in 2001, beating Germany 5-1 could turn "perfectly sane people all over England" mad with joy.
Amazon.co.uk paperback GBP 7.69 (hardback: 4 reviews, 31/2 stars)
Amazon.de paperback EUR 13.95 (hardback: 2 reviews, 4 stars)
The back cover reads:
"A century of opprobrium, mistrust and football-terrace rivalry - but it wasn't ever thus. A richly detailed and timely study of Europe's most enduring standoff, Don't Mention the War asks: what is England's problem with the Germans?"
If you want to know the answer, I'm afraid this book doesn' t tell you. John Ramsden avoids giving his opinion overtly, making his point only by his selection and juxtaposition of the facts he has collected. In the introduction, he calls his book "unapologetically empirical, and observational". I guess this is the reason there is no deeper discussion of causes or reasons for the behaviour of British people as described here. Ramsden limits his personal thoughts to the odd aside, quietly added scheinheilig at the end of a sentence, in brackets. (Apparently, he is not too keen on the Guardian's editorial style.) After a description of the famous Fawlty Towers scene, for example, he says John Cleese wanted it "to educate his audience by showing bigotry's ugly face", adding at the end of the paragraph: "It is less clear that British viewers over three decades got that same point". I found this kind of comment a touch irritating. First, claim not to be making a point, then when you do, do it quietly in a single sentence, apparently in the hope no-one will notice, and not backed up by any argument or explanation.
The last lines of the book convey a similarly negative impression of British character: "In 1965 Private Eye's cartoonist Hector Breeze drew a British housewife, comfortably knitting as her husband enters the room dressed as Hitler and giving the Nazi salute. So little has changed that the cartoon is as apposite now as it was forty years ago." It's left up to the reader, as usual, to decide what to make of this.
Dominic Sandbrook of the Daily Telegraph is quoted on the back cover as calling the book "A lucid, funny history of our attitudes to the Germans since the Victorian age". I must say I found it more depressing than funny, describing as it does all the horrible things the British have ever said, written or recorded about the Germans. There are not many light-hearted moments, the only real relief being the story of Bert Trautmann's time at Manchester City. Oddly enough, this football section is the one which makes the British seem the most human.
In the introduction, Ramsden also says that "To cover the German side of the story comprehensively is meat for a different historian", although he will describe German reactions to British opinion. This is understandable, considering that the book is already a long one, but also disappointing, as it makes the Germans into victims, doing nothing but react to British taunts. It would have been interesting to have had more comparison, and backed up my impression that the point Ramsden wants to make is how silly the English are.
A final quibble, but it annoyed me all the way through the book: Ramsden chooses not to put any commas around "though", meaning that I constantly misread it as "thought" or "through", and had to read one sentence in particular three times before I got the point.
This is certainly an interesting book: I enjoyed the sections on Bert Trautmann and Hardy Kruger in particular, having heard them mentioned so many times but being too young to have much idea of who they were. The writing is lively and easy to read, despite what is sometimes potentially dry material. Still, I did not find it an entirely enjoyable book to read, partly because of the depressing (unspoken) conclusion, and partly because of what was not in it. Definitely worth reading, though.
Five Germanys I Have Known / Fünf Deutschland und ein Leben (translation)
by Fritz Stern, 2006
amazon.co.uk GBP 7.12 (paperback), 1 review, 4 stars
amazon.de EUR 11.45 (paperback), 1 review, 4 stars
amazon.de (German hardback, translated from English) EUR 29,90, 2 reviews, 4.5 stars
Short Observer review (David Hare's book of the year 2007)
Arte review of the German translation
Tagesspiegel review of German translation
In this fascinating memoir, Stern looks back over the "five Germanys" his generation has seen—the Weimar Republic, Nazi tyranny, the post-1945 Federal Republic, the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic and, lastly, the reunited Germany of the present.
Fritz Sterns Erinnerungen sind weise, entschieden im Urteil, subtil. Sie sind vor allem das Werk eines leidenschaftlichen Bürgers und Demokraten. Fünf Deutschland und ein Leben legt grandios Zeugnis ab von der Überzeugung, daß die Geschichte uns eine Lehrmeisterin sein kann für ein moralisches Leben als Bürger und als Mensch. Die "deutsche Frage" wirft ihren Schatten auf die moderne Welt: Wie war es möglich, daß eine so zivilisierte Nation für das schrecklichste Verbrechen des 20. Jahrhunderts verantwortlich wurde? In diesem Buch, einer einzigartigen Verbindung aus Erinnerung und Geschichtsschreibung, betrachtet der große Historiker und Friedenspreisträger Fritz Stern die Frage durch das Prisma seines eigenen Lebens. Er verwebt historische Meistererzählung, scharfsinnige Analysen und dramatische Episoden seiner Lebensgeschichte zu einem unvergeßlichen Portrait jener fünf Deutschland, die er selbst miterlebt hat: Weimar, das "Dritte Reich", Bundesrepublik und DDR, das vereinigte Deutschland nach 1989. Seine Freundschaften mit deutschen Intellektuellen und Politikern haben ihm besonders tiefe Einblicke in die Grundlegung der liberalen Demokratie eröffnet. Doch Stern zeigt auch, daß die unruhige deutsche Geschichte politische Lektionen für die Bürger überall bereithält - vor allem für solche, die der Gefahr der Tyrannei entgegentreten wollen.
by John Ramsden, May 2006
448pp
Guardian reviews: James Hawes (+), Tim Gardam (-)
John Ramsden's book traces an extraordinary relationship that was central to Europe's 20th century. In 1890, "an Anglo-German war seemed utterly fantastic" - but in 2001, beating Germany 5-1 could turn "perfectly sane people all over England" mad with joy.
Amazon.co.uk paperback GBP 7.69 (hardback: 4 reviews, 31/2 stars)
Amazon.de paperback EUR 13.95 (hardback: 2 reviews, 4 stars)
The back cover reads:
"A century of opprobrium, mistrust and football-terrace rivalry - but it wasn't ever thus. A richly detailed and timely study of Europe's most enduring standoff, Don't Mention the War asks: what is England's problem with the Germans?"
If you want to know the answer, I'm afraid this book doesn' t tell you. John Ramsden avoids giving his opinion overtly, making his point only by his selection and juxtaposition of the facts he has collected. In the introduction, he calls his book "unapologetically empirical, and observational". I guess this is the reason there is no deeper discussion of causes or reasons for the behaviour of British people as described here. Ramsden limits his personal thoughts to the odd aside, quietly added scheinheilig at the end of a sentence, in brackets. (Apparently, he is not too keen on the Guardian's editorial style.) After a description of the famous Fawlty Towers scene, for example, he says John Cleese wanted it "to educate his audience by showing bigotry's ugly face", adding at the end of the paragraph: "It is less clear that British viewers over three decades got that same point". I found this kind of comment a touch irritating. First, claim not to be making a point, then when you do, do it quietly in a single sentence, apparently in the hope no-one will notice, and not backed up by any argument or explanation.
The last lines of the book convey a similarly negative impression of British character: "In 1965 Private Eye's cartoonist Hector Breeze drew a British housewife, comfortably knitting as her husband enters the room dressed as Hitler and giving the Nazi salute. So little has changed that the cartoon is as apposite now as it was forty years ago." It's left up to the reader, as usual, to decide what to make of this.
Dominic Sandbrook of the Daily Telegraph is quoted on the back cover as calling the book "A lucid, funny history of our attitudes to the Germans since the Victorian age". I must say I found it more depressing than funny, describing as it does all the horrible things the British have ever said, written or recorded about the Germans. There are not many light-hearted moments, the only real relief being the story of Bert Trautmann's time at Manchester City. Oddly enough, this football section is the one which makes the British seem the most human.
In the introduction, Ramsden also says that "To cover the German side of the story comprehensively is meat for a different historian", although he will describe German reactions to British opinion. This is understandable, considering that the book is already a long one, but also disappointing, as it makes the Germans into victims, doing nothing but react to British taunts. It would have been interesting to have had more comparison, and backed up my impression that the point Ramsden wants to make is how silly the English are.
A final quibble, but it annoyed me all the way through the book: Ramsden chooses not to put any commas around "though", meaning that I constantly misread it as "thought" or "through", and had to read one sentence in particular three times before I got the point.
This is certainly an interesting book: I enjoyed the sections on Bert Trautmann and Hardy Kruger in particular, having heard them mentioned so many times but being too young to have much idea of who they were. The writing is lively and easy to read, despite what is sometimes potentially dry material. Still, I did not find it an entirely enjoyable book to read, partly because of the depressing (unspoken) conclusion, and partly because of what was not in it. Definitely worth reading, though.
Five Germanys I Have Known / Fünf Deutschland und ein Leben (translation)
by Fritz Stern, 2006
amazon.co.uk GBP 7.12 (paperback), 1 review, 4 stars
amazon.de EUR 11.45 (paperback), 1 review, 4 stars
amazon.de (German hardback, translated from English) EUR 29,90, 2 reviews, 4.5 stars
Short Observer review (David Hare's book of the year 2007)
Arte review of the German translation
Tagesspiegel review of German translation
In this fascinating memoir, Stern looks back over the "five Germanys" his generation has seen—the Weimar Republic, Nazi tyranny, the post-1945 Federal Republic, the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic and, lastly, the reunited Germany of the present.
Fritz Sterns Erinnerungen sind weise, entschieden im Urteil, subtil. Sie sind vor allem das Werk eines leidenschaftlichen Bürgers und Demokraten. Fünf Deutschland und ein Leben legt grandios Zeugnis ab von der Überzeugung, daß die Geschichte uns eine Lehrmeisterin sein kann für ein moralisches Leben als Bürger und als Mensch. Die "deutsche Frage" wirft ihren Schatten auf die moderne Welt: Wie war es möglich, daß eine so zivilisierte Nation für das schrecklichste Verbrechen des 20. Jahrhunderts verantwortlich wurde? In diesem Buch, einer einzigartigen Verbindung aus Erinnerung und Geschichtsschreibung, betrachtet der große Historiker und Friedenspreisträger Fritz Stern die Frage durch das Prisma seines eigenen Lebens. Er verwebt historische Meistererzählung, scharfsinnige Analysen und dramatische Episoden seiner Lebensgeschichte zu einem unvergeßlichen Portrait jener fünf Deutschland, die er selbst miterlebt hat: Weimar, das "Dritte Reich", Bundesrepublik und DDR, das vereinigte Deutschland nach 1989. Seine Freundschaften mit deutschen Intellektuellen und Politikern haben ihm besonders tiefe Einblicke in die Grundlegung der liberalen Demokratie eröffnet. Doch Stern zeigt auch, daß die unruhige deutsche Geschichte politische Lektionen für die Bürger überall bereithält - vor allem für solche, die der Gefahr der Tyrannei entgegentreten wollen.
Friday, 20 July 2007
The British history saga
January 2007 -- breaking news on the BBC:
"Schools 'must teach Britishness' ... A review of how schools teach citizenship found there was not enough emphasis on UK identity and history." link
BBC forum user:
"This is were [sic] multiculturalism has brought us. An emphasis on learning ethnic backgrounds, white children marginalised in some schools, 1 in 5 children of an ethnic background, over 50% of all pupils in inner city schools of an ethnic background, English spoken as only the second language by many Asians. We must stop any more immigration and we must withdraw from the Human Rights Act, it is an asylum seekers / economic migrants charter." link (Recommended by 297 people)
July 2007 -- also on the BBC:
"Pupils in primary and secondary schools across England lack an overview of world history and have little sense of chronology, Ofsted inspectors warn. The watchdog said the curriculum was too England-focused, ignoring the rest of the UK and Europe. ... 'Importantly too, in many schools, the stories of the people who have come to Britain over the centuries are ignored'" link
"Schools 'must teach Britishness' ... A review of how schools teach citizenship found there was not enough emphasis on UK identity and history." link
BBC forum user:
"This is were [sic] multiculturalism has brought us. An emphasis on learning ethnic backgrounds, white children marginalised in some schools, 1 in 5 children of an ethnic background, over 50% of all pupils in inner city schools of an ethnic background, English spoken as only the second language by many Asians. We must stop any more immigration and we must withdraw from the Human Rights Act, it is an asylum seekers / economic migrants charter." link (Recommended by 297 people)
July 2007 -- also on the BBC:
"Pupils in primary and secondary schools across England lack an overview of world history and have little sense of chronology, Ofsted inspectors warn. The watchdog said the curriculum was too England-focused, ignoring the rest of the UK and Europe. ... 'Importantly too, in many schools, the stories of the people who have come to Britain over the centuries are ignored'" link
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Religion
"Heute sind in Westdeutschland 74 Prozent der Wohnbevölkerung Mitglied einer christlichen Kirche. In Ostdeutschland sind es nur noch 27 Prozent. Im gesamtdeutschen Durchschnitt ergibt das gut 64 Prozent." a
"Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults say they believe in God and almost as many (87 percent) say they identify with a specific religion. Christians far outnumber members of any other faith in the country, with 82 percent of the poll’s respondents identifying themselves as such. " b
"About half of the British believe in God, yet about 72% told the 2001 census that they were Christian, and 66% of the population have no actual connection to any religion or church" c
"Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults say they believe in God and almost as many (87 percent) say they identify with a specific religion. Christians far outnumber members of any other faith in the country, with 82 percent of the poll’s respondents identifying themselves as such. " b
"About half of the British believe in God, yet about 72% told the 2001 census that they were Christian, and 66% of the population have no actual connection to any religion or church" c
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