I congratulate you on your response, but when I saw that the article was
written by notorious blunderbuss and pathological German-hater Julie
Burchill...well, what else can you expect? Not that she might take 'a
proper look at Germany and the Germans', I'm afraid...
At 12:18 24/09/01 +0100, you wrote:
>Dear All:
>
>I was appalled at an article in this Saturday's Guardian, and have written a
>response (below). I have no idea if The Guardian will publish it, but could
>I ask other colleagues, if they feel as I do about this article, to respond
>as well? I can't take any more of this anti-Germanness. More to the point,
>nor can my German wife.
>
>Bill Niven
>
>
>
>From: Niven, William
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Cc: [log in to unmask]
>
>Subject: Julie Burchill's Article
>Sent: 9/24/01 12:13 PM
> Importance: Normal
>
>
>Dear Editor:
>
>Having always considered 'The Guardian' to adopt a fair and balanced
>attitude to the Germans, I was horrified, not to say livid, at the article
>'Thinking the Wurst' by Julie Burchill in Saturday's 'Weekend' magazine. It
>is little more than an awkwardly formulated assemblage of the most appalling
>prejudices. If Julie Burchill thinks the Germans make one feel thin, she
>should take a longer look at her fellow-country(wo)men. If she thinks the
>Germans are impolite, then presumably because they sense her prejudice or
>because she confuses directness with rudeness. If she thinks German food is
>bad, she has never eaten in a British restaurant, or in a German one (where
>the quality is incomparably better). If she thinks German children are
>taught to be silent, she should visit a German school and listen to the
>noise, or visit a British school to hear children being told they should be
>seen and not heard. If she thinks the German language is full of words that
>sound like 'fart, sick and shit', then she should at least register the fact
>that the English language as spoken by many of her compatriots actually
>consists of such or similar words and of precious little else.
>
>I am sorry that Julie Burchill was shown pictures of the concentration camps
>at an early age and that she was unwillingly exposed to the German language.
>This was indeed harsh. Perhaps this is the source of her unwillingness to
>take a proper look at Germany and the Germans as they are today. If she did,
>she would find them not at all as she sees them. I spent several years
>living in Germany, and they were the most exhilarating years of my life. I
>admired their love of culture, their openness to debate and discussion,
>their preparedness to say what they think (in contrast to our hypocritical
>discretion). I loved their food and their beer, and was (am still am)
>entranced by their women. As long as we continue to live in our glorious
>past instead of recognizing our true position as a small and relatively
>insignificant country, it seems the Germans will go on being pilloried in
>press and public. The longer we go on ridiculing them, the longer we can be
>reminded of VE Day and how good it was to give those Germans a sound
>thrashing. And of course if we look too closely at Germany today, we will
>see a culturally and intellectually rich country that makes ours seem rather
>dull and pale and insular. The problem with the Germans is not the Germans,
>but our pathological need for blinkers.
>
>Instead of berating the Germans, we might learn from them, not least from
>the way they have sought to come to terms with the past (see my forthcoming
>book 'Facing the Nazi Past', Routledge 2001). What makes us think our past
>is so great? It is true that the Nazis perfected the concentration camps to
>monstrous effect, but we invented them. British ingenuity at work.
>
>As a teacher of German (at The Nottingham Trent University), I, as do my
>colleagues across the country, face the scenario of dropping student numbers
>and, ultimately, unemployment. I had thought that German was viewed at
>schools as being 'too hard'. Now I wonder if xenophobia is the reason for
>the reduction in interest. Can I issue a plea to children not to listen to
>the anti-German tones of many articles in the media, notably 'The Sun'? Can
>I ask us, as a nation, not to answer the xenophobia of the Germans under
>Hitler with British xenophobia in the present? Let us not forget either how
>many Germans live in this country (such as my wife), and how they feel when
>constantly exposed to our paranoia. The Germans like Britain, respect us,
>come gladly to us; by way of thanks, we slap them in the face. Does Julie
>Burchill find that polite?
>
>Dr. Bill Niven
>8 Wellin Lane
>Edwalton
>NOTTS NG12 4AS
>
>Tel.: 0115 923 1054
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
Tim Nisbet
Division of Applied Languages and Linguistics
School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences
University of Wolverhampton
Stafford Street
Wolverhampton
WV1 1SB
tel. 01902 322465
fax 01902 322739
(code outside UK 0044 1902)
email [log in to unmask]
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