Possibly the most sensitive issue Europeans have to deal with when they meet Americans has to do with the image of America and Americans in the eyes of foreigners. There’s no hiding that many Euros still hold the prejudice of lack of culture, brutality, rudeness as the most salient traits of Americans whereas said Americans very often suspect some haughtiness and superiority complex from Europeans. At a time when Europe meant names like Wagner, Rimbaud, Dickens, Rossini, Dostoiyevsky and thousands similar landmarks, America was the land where Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, Calamity Jane, the Dalton brothers etc. were the most famous characters of the Nation. To the point that they now belong to “the legend of the West”, so to speak, with innumerable books and films that have been written and directed in order to tell their stories. They seem to have attained some sort of hero’s status in the History of America.
Of course there were also F. Cooper, E. Poe, H.W. Longfellow but their popularity certainly didn’t compare with that of the aforementioned outlaws.
Other names come to mind such as Buffalo Bill who came touring in Europe as well as P.T. Barnum whose name, in France at least, has nearly become synonymous with Capernaum.
And this apparent American fascination for criminals has endured long into the XXth century. Think Al Capone or Bonnie and Clyde for example…
All these characters are still very famous in Europe and Americans may be surprised to learn it but the Dalton brothers in particular have been immensely popular since the 50s due to a comic strip which started publishing their (fake) adventures in 1957.
Now, when the XIXth American century is associated in the mind of all Europeans to criminals and cow-boys before philosophers and musicians, no wonder the memory lingers on and recalls on souvenirs dating back to the time when to all European children, America was the land of adventures and reckless characters.
Memories die hard indeed and although America after the XXth century is now at par with Europe when it comes to arts and culture, the souvenir of America in the making still weighs heavy in the image of the USA abroad.
4 commentaires:
Mark Twain comes to mind as a famous American in Europe. He gave conferences which he was well paid for and wrote about Europe among other things.
Ah oui, je n'avais pas pensé à Mark Twain, probablement le plus célèbre écrivain de son temps.
Come to think of it, maybe was Twain the first major American writer/intellectual not to be born in the first 13 former colonies.
Un peu simpliste. Les outlaws du far-west ne sont qu'un petit aspect de l'image des USA. Le français moyen connait bien d'autres américains célèbres, d'Edison à George Washington : inventeurs, industriels, hommes politiques...
Pour moi la mauvaise image des américains est plutot née du self-made man qui venait claquer ses dollars en Europe sans le moindre souci des traditions et des bonnes manières qui font la vieille Europe :-)
Bienvenue sur Shall we talk Nathalie (in Avignon),
Ce billet ne traite pas particulièrement d'une possible "mauvaise" image des Américains mais bien plutôt de la perspective historique qui a mené ceux d'un côté de l'océan à voir ceux de l'autre côté d'une certaine façon et avec certains préjugés spécifiques.
"self-made man qui venait claquer ses dollars en Europe"
Je ne crois pas qu'il y ait eu beaucoup plus d'une centaine -allez, quelques centaines grand maximum- d'individus de ceux que vous évoquez qui soient venus en Europe.
Hormis Paris et Londres, je ne crois pas non plus que les autres capitales européennes en aient vu plus que quelques unités entre 1800 et 1900 disons.
Certes ce cliché du nouveau riche qui vient claquer ses green backs aux Folies Bergères a alimenté les préjugés mais la perception assez dédaigneuse des Européens était déjà en place au XVIIIè siècle je crois.
Connaissez-vous Sandy et Hoppy?
Merci de votre visite Nathalie :-)
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