I KNOW RIGHT. I know I get rage-y when someone presumes to know All About Koreans. To have an outsider blithely say they know what you feel and think about your identity better than you, so don't worry your little head about it, dear--so condescending. So erasing.
Every inhabitant UNLESS THEY WERE A SLAVE or female or a freedman or even a plebeian, to some extent.
I got a strong sense that Fears is drawing a parallel between ancient Rome and the U.S., and in both instances my answer is NOPE.
the Romans didn't create France you asshole YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH
AGREED. The assertion that the Romans created France doesn't work within the bounds of Fears' own argument, since he clearly says that Caesar invaded and annexed a formerly independent people--one that had a preexisting identity as Gauls.
I don't know, maybe the invasion created a greater sense of unity than there was before, since I imagine the different groups banded against a common threat, kind of like how Arab nationalism was a response to Western colonialism. But if so Fears didn't make that argument, whether in the passage I quoted or anywhere in that lecture.
That's why the most popular comic series here is about a bunch of Gauls (breton Gauls even) making an utter mockery of Rome and the Romans.
I remember thinking that of the Asterix books, too, like, hmm, the French must be pretty invested in their Gaul heritage! I think that's why the books resonated with a Korean audience, because we've had our history of colonial rule and threatened erasure of our identity, too. Plus, the books are funny as hell!
Is it significant that Asterix and co. are Bretons? But then Breton seems to be a term for the inhabitants of Britannia, at least in the book Asterix chez les Bretons? (I LOL'd at just the synopsis. British soldiers won't fight while they drink their hot water with a drop of milk! XD And the villager Anticlimax and the Druid Getafix... OMG, dying.) I also found this article about Asterix while looking for "Asterix" and "Breton." (Side note: I've seen Anthea Bell's work before--she also did Stefan Zweig's Beware of Pity. According to her Wikipedia page she translated numerous French, German, and Danish works into English.)
I'd be interested to hear what you have to say on La Marseillaise, but however did it end up in your head?
It seems to have been totally at random. Maybe memories of Casablanca surfaced in my subconscious, maybe it had to do with the Charlie Hebdo coverage? I just got the hankering to listen to it one evening, and I've memorized the two most famous verses in addition to the refrain and sing it every day now. (Help)
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Date: 2015-03-21 04:53 am (UTC)I KNOW RIGHT. I know I get rage-y when someone presumes to know All About Koreans. To have an outsider blithely say they know what you feel and think about your identity better than you, so don't worry your little head about it, dear--so condescending. So erasing.
I got a strong sense that Fears is drawing a parallel between ancient Rome and the U.S., and in both instances my answer is NOPE.
AGREED. The assertion that the Romans created France doesn't work within the bounds of Fears' own argument, since he clearly says that Caesar invaded and annexed a formerly independent people--one that had a preexisting identity as Gauls.
I don't know, maybe the invasion created a greater sense of unity than there was before, since I imagine the different groups banded against a common threat, kind of like how Arab nationalism was a response to Western colonialism. But if so Fears didn't make that argument, whether in the passage I quoted or anywhere in that lecture.
I remember thinking that of the Asterix books, too, like, hmm, the French must be pretty invested in their Gaul heritage! I think that's why the books resonated with a Korean audience, because we've had our history of colonial rule and threatened erasure of our identity, too. Plus, the books are funny as hell!
Is it significant that Asterix and co. are Bretons? But then Breton seems to be a term for the inhabitants of Britannia, at least in the book Asterix chez les Bretons? (I LOL'd at just the synopsis. British soldiers won't fight while they drink their hot water with a drop of milk! XD And the villager Anticlimax and the Druid Getafix... OMG, dying.) I also found this article about Asterix while looking for "Asterix" and "Breton." (Side note: I've seen Anthea Bell's work before--she also did Stefan Zweig's Beware of Pity. According to her Wikipedia page she translated numerous French, German, and Danish works into English.)
It seems to have been totally at random. Maybe memories of Casablanca surfaced in my subconscious, maybe it had to do with the Charlie Hebdo coverage? I just got the hankering to listen to it one evening, and I've memorized the two most famous verses in addition to the refrain and sing it every day now. (Help)