A conversation last night with Dave got me thinking about what aspects of American culture are unique and would be interesting to those with other cultural backgrounds.
Truly unique, American culture is a difficult thing to nail down. As a nation of immigrants we have absorbed a plenitude of foreign customs, changed them (often substantially) and claimed them as our own. Too much of our culture is produced by companies and canned for consumption, and that which is produced is also marketed abroad, thus removing any specialness it may have once had. I came up with a list of about ten things, then crossed of seven of them, leaving three things that I think are truly, uniquely American:
- Backyard barbecues: While many cultures have similar such events, I think the American version is different than any of them. Hamburgers, hot dogs, music and beer… it’s hard to beat.
- An obsession with cars: The vastness of the United States, combined with a high standard of living, has resulted in the American obsession with automobiles of all types. Of course, this also helps contribute to us having the highest per capita energy consumption in the world, but that’s another story altogether.
- College sports: I could have just picked American football (but not baseball, thanks to its popularity in Asia), but the national attention that college sports get are a bigger item. While in D.C. over Spring Break I had a British guy comment to me that he was amazed how popular college basketball was. Other nations have college athletics, but I would challenge them to fill stadiums, big stadium, week after week all year.
And of course there are more… authors, poets, artists, architects that have come out of the United States and changed the world. But those three are the things I came up with. Any more ideas?
This is a tough one. I’ve even had the opportunity to visit a number of other countries, and yet, I’m still hard pressed to think of good examples of this. I’m absolutely positive they exist, I just can’t think of any.
Though to add to #1, I think BBQ style restaurants tends to be another good (slightly different) example. I remember seeing a chinese family in the local Sunny’s enjoying a bbq feast in much the same way that I remember enjoying authentic chinese meals in china. Struck me at the time that bbq really is an american tradition.
Left by Jordan on June 3rd, 2003
What’s interesting (I found this out on a History Channel special about American culinary traditions) is that what we consider to be barbecue today started in the black community after the Civil War. It began as a way to make good meals out of the cheap cuts of meat that we available to them at the time.
I’d like to remind the next group of dumbass racist good ‘ole boys I see throwing a shindig of that little fact there.
Left by John on June 3rd, 2003
Hmmm…
Diners/Greasy Spoons — Especially with comfortable booths. I miss these most when abroad.
Political Correctness — PC is good and bad. On one hand we’re very civil to one another, on the other college administrators take it too far.
Evangelical Christianty — Specifically it’s acceptence by mainstream culture. Also religiosity in public life in general.
Radical individualism — i.e. the preference for liberty over equality, esp. compared to Europeans.
High School Sports — This is almost more important than college sports becasue more kids play. It breeds competitiveness and loyalty (be true to your school) early.
Sprawling Cities — Most Western American cities developed after the car, so are spread out in ways that no old world city is.
Music — Jazz, Rap, Musical Theater (Cole Porter, Rogers/Hart, etc.)
Institutional Reverence — Since we are not bound by blood in any way, Americans tend to be fanatical about their political institutions in a way that older, more settled nations do not.
Great topic…I’ll see if I can think of some more.
Left by Magyar on June 4th, 2003
Wait a minute…
“religiosity in public life”…? Are you on crack? The whole problem with The Birthplace Of Civilization is that public life _is_ religious life.
“Music - jazz…” Jazz might have begun in the United States, but it’s made the rounds and cemented its place in many cultures.
Much better candidate:
The cult of the gun. Convention centers filled with people selling Weapons Of (Not Quite) Mass Destruction - at least until you make some post-retail modification - are an American phenomenon.
Left by The Fool On The Hill on June 4th, 2003