The last few days have witnessed an immensity of thinking and feeling--thinking and feeling my way around this place: Australia, Sydney, the northern beaches...
Being here, in this farthest of European satellites, has lead me to think--over and over again--about Europe. It is strange--I realize this--but I can't help but think about Europe and its immense will to extend its arms and legs as far out as possible, and end up here. It is so clear to me that Sydney is a European city and Australia at large is a European "satellite." [I use this term "satellite" because it seems more appropriate than either "colony" or "country." It is not a European country because it is not in what we call "Europe" geographically, and because Australia is, in some ways, decisively different from Europe. Not all Australians belong to or feel a connection with Europe, and in some ways the Australian out-back is distinctively Australian. It is not a colony, because, well, it is independent of England, and has its own laws, leaders etc. But it is a European satellite, because it belongs, in a strong way, to the European world, and world-view. Its values are European. It is an implantation of Europe in the far east.]
Last night I read an article in the Australian magazine, The Monthly, that connects the origins of Melbourne University's humanities departments, among them the philosophy department, to recent European immigrants. The first people to really make the University an exciting and intellectually rich place were WWII refugees from Europe. They went on to start important journals, conceive whole departments (Anthropology), and create a strong sense of culture at the University--European culture, of course. But if one thinks only one step further--the very idea of a University and of the various faculties is, well, European (German, to be exact).
In Sydney, I find myself surrounded by Europeans. All of Luke's family are recent immigrants from Europe (post WWII), and their connections to Europe are very strong. His mother and aunt still speak French; his other aunt, German. Many Friends have European connections--whether they were born in Europe, married to Europeans, or living in Europe. (Yesterday I went for a walk in Manly with a family friend, and we spoke German the whole time... )
All this Europe around me has lead me to think about Europe--surprisingly, for the first time. I had always thought: I am not European, therefore I don't need to concern myself with Europe. This attitude was based on the belief that Europe is for the Europeans, and they should really be thinking about it--I am an outsider.
But here, where Europe has extended itself so clearly "outside" of Europe, the ideas of "inside" and "outside" don't hold. In fact, they are shown to be completely false. We don't have a choice any more--whether or not we are Europeans or live "inside" or "outside" of it--but to think about Europe, because, in fact, every day, we are living with and in Europe.
What does this mean? Well, I write and speak in English. Though it is not my first language, it is the language I am most comfortable in. I study European thought. I read mostly European authors. I lived in "Europe" for many years. I speak German, and French. My home country was deeply influenced by European activity in the region (colonization, etc.). My aunts looked at Europe as setting the standard for fashion. My father studied in European institutions. The list goes on.
But what is remarkable to me, is that in spite of these deep connections to "Europe," it is not until Australia that I begin to become aware of them. Europe, I now realize, is much more than a geographical location.
[Side note: You may think my realization is quite late, and, might wonder, why I didn't consider this question previously, in the US, for example. It is interesting to think about the US and how it differs from Australia in its relation to Europe. I actually think that Australia's connections to Europe are much more present than America's connections to Europe. The European immigrants are more recent, and their connections are therefore stronger. Also, the cities here look more European (think Chicago, LA, Atlanta--they are very "American" cities). Though of course America is an offshoot of Europe and represents the unfolding of some European ideas (capitalism, for example), it has also a very strong and specific identity that makes it more independent of Europe as well.]
What do the Europeans think of this? I would be excited to hear...
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Hello Dalia,
ReplyDeletethanks for the interesting thoughts about Europaustralia. What do you think about the character of the U.S.? I also think the States differ in some ways fundamentally from Europe, but I don't know american culture in its depth. What do you think makes the USA distinct from Europe?
M.
Hi Michael, sehr schön von Dir zu hören!
ReplyDeleteWell, you're not the only one to ask me this question. Others have written to say: what about the US--it too is Europe! Here are some further thoughts on the matter:
- Australia is much younger and so has had less time to construct its own identity.
- Australia is not a republic, does not have a constitution or a president, but is part of the commonwealth (and the Australian flag continues to bear the union jack).
- there are far fewer Aussies than Americans (only 22 million) and this has also a role to play--indirectly--in the slower construction of a specifically Australian identity.
- There is a much larger percentage of European immigrants continuing to come to Australia than to America (i.e., in relation to the whole population). Many Europeans immigrated after WWII to Australia; not so many to the US. (Here is an interesting example: the present PM of Australia was born in Wales to Welsh parents.)
- And being so far away from Europe geographically also makes it *very* clear that this is nevertheless part of Europe; in fact, Australia, although it is "east" considers itself "west", and this shows how our concepts of "east" and "west" are politically-socially determined rather than geographically (but even the original geographic determination is originally political in that it was based on what Europe considered to be east and west).
- Generally, in the US, I never really saw a close connection in the general culture to Europe (only in a certain strand of culture that was interested European thought and intellectual products--and European food and drink too); here I think the culture as a whole is much more interested in Europe and feels more connected to Europe.
What do you think?
Guten Abend Dalia!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think, there are some things whitch are very different in the states. To mention two:
The role of religion in public life is quite different in comparison to Germany and Western Europe. In the States, it is much more common for conservative politicians to express their faith, and faith plays a role in politics (presidential elections) as well as education. The whole debate about the status of the evolution theory and creative design seems to show a stronger precence of faith in the states. I think that for the role of faith in the public, shows that the distinction between public and private realms is filled somehow differently in the States and in Europe (with many similaryties).
Then there there seems to be a strong antietatist sense of freedom shared by many Republicans. When one thinks about trench war on the health care reform in the states, or the bitter resistance against nationwide rules to decrese the CO2 emissions, there seems to be a widespread fundamental resentment amongst Republicans against social or ecological policy by the government. This position combines in its extremes conservativism with an extreme libertarianism (Anarchism?) which is a cultural pattern, quite unique for states, I don't see something likely in Europe.
M.
Hallo Michael,
ReplyDeleteFunny that you mention politics, because here, with the upcoming election, I've been able to witness how politicians talk and campaign. Australia is certainly less religious in the sense you describe, and the religious life does not enter into the public sphere to the same extent as it does in the US (though I often wonder whether that would still be the case if the politician were to have, say, a Muslim rather than Christian background). [Side note on the political scene here right now: the debates between the two sides seem to be rather vapid and empty of much content. It is hard to really tell what they stand by, what they stand for. There has been a lot of media discussion on this point, and it is exciting to see that the media can be very smart and critical of the politicians and their campaigning; in the US, I never witnessed the media really getting intelligent and philosophical about politics, nor did I ever see anything half as critical as the media here. They really go after the politicians, no matter what the party.]
Australia is also a more socialist country than the US, with even the more right-wing party arguing for parental leave (!).
But here are some further thoughts that were sent to me by email, which I think are worth considering:
Ein weiterer Aspekt, der mir sehr wichtig ist, ist das Amerika eine alte Fantasie (oder auch eine Utopie) der Europäer war (ist und wahrscheinlich immer bleiben wird).
Australia, of course, had a very different beginning; it was much more pragmatically-driven than ideologically. And so with a more practical agenda, the British that settled here were not seeking to create a perfect republic, or to fulfill a "manifest destiny," as the continued expansion into the western United States was understood. This mythologizing clearly had a lot to do with the construction of identity in the US and creating a particular American self. Here, it seems to me, there is a much more pragmatic (grounded) take on things.