Americani
Friday night I had a brief conversation with a coworker from Latin America. He told me that in school, they learn of only five continents: Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Eurasia and America. Outside of this being a lot of "A" places, it seems to make a lot of sense; All of the Americas are one giant land mass, and Europe and Asia touch as well.
This, therefore, lead us to discussing the concept of being American vs. Mexican vs. Canadian vs. Latino etc. Technically, he says, we are all Americans, but he definitely things of himself in terms of Mexican and Canadian. Further, I would also be American, but identify as Canadian as it is my country of origin. Why, then, am I so offended when I am "mistaken" for American? What's more, why are only people from the United States generally called "Americans" to the exclusion of all other types of Americans?
Central/South Americans learn us all as American, and don't really differentiate between the hemispheres. When we want to be specific, we can be Brazillian, Mexican, Canadian, Peruvian etc. So why do US citizens get the monopoly on the simple "American?"
These days, of course, it would take a grand effort of linguistic re-appropriation to convince Canadians, Mexicans etc. to identify as "American" because of the grossly negative connotations surrounding the word, much in the same way many women are offended by the terms "Cunt" and "Bitch" (both being translations of ancient words for Priestess). We would also have to think of some other term for the current "Americans," such as U-S-ers, or Statesians (maybe U-S-ians?). I'm not sure how this would go over with the Almighty Superpower, either.
Today I learned that the reason North Americans (and probably Europeans, and I'm not sure who else as I have not experienced all education systems) differentiate continentally between North and South America, as well as Europe and Asia, has to do with tectonic plates and how they are laid out; just because the continents seem connected on the surface does not mean they actually are. Or something like that. This makes me wonder about Central America then; is it tectonically North or South, or is it its own thing and we haven't had time to update the maps into eight continents? If anyone has answers I would certainly like to hear them. In the meantime, I will continue to think up non-ridiculous terms to apply to citizens of the United States that go beyond simply "American" as it belittles the rest of us on the (two) continent(s).
This, therefore, lead us to discussing the concept of being American vs. Mexican vs. Canadian vs. Latino etc. Technically, he says, we are all Americans, but he definitely things of himself in terms of Mexican and Canadian. Further, I would also be American, but identify as Canadian as it is my country of origin. Why, then, am I so offended when I am "mistaken" for American? What's more, why are only people from the United States generally called "Americans" to the exclusion of all other types of Americans?
Central/South Americans learn us all as American, and don't really differentiate between the hemispheres. When we want to be specific, we can be Brazillian, Mexican, Canadian, Peruvian etc. So why do US citizens get the monopoly on the simple "American?"
These days, of course, it would take a grand effort of linguistic re-appropriation to convince Canadians, Mexicans etc. to identify as "American" because of the grossly negative connotations surrounding the word, much in the same way many women are offended by the terms "Cunt" and "Bitch" (both being translations of ancient words for Priestess). We would also have to think of some other term for the current "Americans," such as U-S-ers, or Statesians (maybe U-S-ians?). I'm not sure how this would go over with the Almighty Superpower, either.
Today I learned that the reason North Americans (and probably Europeans, and I'm not sure who else as I have not experienced all education systems) differentiate continentally between North and South America, as well as Europe and Asia, has to do with tectonic plates and how they are laid out; just because the continents seem connected on the surface does not mean they actually are. Or something like that. This makes me wonder about Central America then; is it tectonically North or South, or is it its own thing and we haven't had time to update the maps into eight continents? If anyone has answers I would certainly like to hear them. In the meantime, I will continue to think up non-ridiculous terms to apply to citizens of the United States that go beyond simply "American" as it belittles the rest of us on the (two) continent(s).
posted by Em at
11:18 AM
1 Comments:
When the U.S.Oil companies were in Venezuela in the 1960's, the Venezuelans called the foriengers "North Americans".
It's true that they do have a monopoly on the name Americans, but then again, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are also technically Asians (due to india being it's own sub-continent), although nobody considers that when asking "Where are you from?".
Maybe the reason for using such names when associating ourselves with other cultures is to use our contry's name as symbols to attach it to ourselves. A not-just-a-place-but-a-state-of-mind kinda thing.
-Graham-
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