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Re: Father/Motherland

From:Adrian Morgan <morg0072@...>
Date:Thursday, May 25, 2000, 12:13
Jonathan Chang wrote, quoting Nik Taylor:

> > We have the Statue of Liberty, a woman, but also Uncle > > Sam, a man, and the Bald Eagle, which, at least to me, > > seems masculine. > > To me, Lady Liberty always struck me as being rather > "butch" (big, stocky, rather hamfisted, & oh so Germanic > looking [yes the French built HER, I know]).
Having never been to America, I want to say that I approve very much of the Statue of Liberty, on the basis that, philosophically, it's a good thing for a symbol of a country to be something created by another country. Every country should find its own answer to two questions, which can be expressed as follows: 1. What _sets_ us apart from the world? 2. What _makes_ us a part of the world? The human tendency, especially in a materialistically successful culture, is to stress the first question at the expense of the second. And we all know that Americans as a group have a reputation for being fiercely patriotic and generally dismissive of the rest of the world [1]. But the Statue should serve as a reminder of the interdependence of nations; it should remind Americans that every country becomes what it is not by its own efforts alone but also by what it gives, what it receives, and what it shares. Here in Australia it is unfortunate that no-one ever sings the second verse of the National Anthem because it illustrates exactly what I'm talking about: Beneath our radiant Southern Cross We'll toil with hearts and hands To make this commonwealth of ours Renowned through all the lands For those who've come across the seas We've boundless plains to share (etc) Regardless of whether these last two lines are _literally_ true (us being the driest continent in the world save Antarctica), the metaphorical sentiment is what it's really about. How many other national anthems speak positively of the whole world, and acknowledge that the country it celebrates is only a part of the whole? Every country needs a symbol that puts that country back in its proper context. For Americans, the Statue of Liberty should serve that purpose. (Whether it does or not is another issue entirely.) [1] Anyone participating on a conlang list is evidently not contributing to the stereotype. Adrian. http://www.flinders.edu.au