An Anatomy of Englishness
I'm half way through Kate Fox's renowned book about Englishness Watching the English. It's a delightful read: clever, amusing, and very very English. I've been in London long enough to realise that the English are, not surprisingly, a rather restrained, refined and subtle species. And Ms Fox has written down an interesting example of how this works in real life.
*quote*
My fiancé is a brain surgeon. When we first met, I asked what had led him to choose this profession. 'Well, um,' he replied, 'I read PPE [Philosophy, Politics and Economics] at Oxford, but I found it all rather beyond me, so, er, I thought I'd better do something a bit less difficult.' I laughed, but then, as he must have expected, protested that surely brain surgery could not really be described as an easy option. This gave him a further opportunity for self-deprecation. 'Oh no, it's nowhere near as clever as it's cracked up to be; to be honest it's actually a bit hit-or-miss. It's just plumbing, really, plumbing with a microscope - except plumbing's rather more accurate.' It later emerged, as he must have known it would, that far fom finding the intellectual demands of Oxford 'beyond him', he had entered with a scholarship and graduated with a First. 'I was a dreadful little swot,' he explained.
*end of quote*
Some may call this hypocrisy. It is true to some extent. But the English are only as hypocritical as the Chinese could be. With all due respect, we Chinese are no strangers to hypocrisy when it comes to manners. However, I guess the modesty rule that prevails in Chinese culture appeals more to the outside world. It is fundamentally a people-pleasing technique. Whereas with the English, they simply don't take themselves too seriously, and furthermore, they take pride in this attitude. Hence the pervasive self-mocking and self-deprecation. For me this is a commendable quality. The Americans (oh the Americans!) show their emotions all too easily and too flamboyantly, at least for my taste. The general rule of attractiveness, in my view, is that anything that comes too easily does not feel too sincere/interesting. That's why, I'm much more into things that are subtle, complicated and quirky, and for all my sins, men who need second-guessing.
But this is all good fun, isn't it?
*quote*
My fiancé is a brain surgeon. When we first met, I asked what had led him to choose this profession. 'Well, um,' he replied, 'I read PPE [Philosophy, Politics and Economics] at Oxford, but I found it all rather beyond me, so, er, I thought I'd better do something a bit less difficult.' I laughed, but then, as he must have expected, protested that surely brain surgery could not really be described as an easy option. This gave him a further opportunity for self-deprecation. 'Oh no, it's nowhere near as clever as it's cracked up to be; to be honest it's actually a bit hit-or-miss. It's just plumbing, really, plumbing with a microscope - except plumbing's rather more accurate.' It later emerged, as he must have known it would, that far fom finding the intellectual demands of Oxford 'beyond him', he had entered with a scholarship and graduated with a First. 'I was a dreadful little swot,' he explained.
*end of quote*
Some may call this hypocrisy. It is true to some extent. But the English are only as hypocritical as the Chinese could be. With all due respect, we Chinese are no strangers to hypocrisy when it comes to manners. However, I guess the modesty rule that prevails in Chinese culture appeals more to the outside world. It is fundamentally a people-pleasing technique. Whereas with the English, they simply don't take themselves too seriously, and furthermore, they take pride in this attitude. Hence the pervasive self-mocking and self-deprecation. For me this is a commendable quality. The Americans (oh the Americans!) show their emotions all too easily and too flamboyantly, at least for my taste. The general rule of attractiveness, in my view, is that anything that comes too easily does not feel too sincere/interesting. That's why, I'm much more into things that are subtle, complicated and quirky, and for all my sins, men who need second-guessing.
But this is all good fun, isn't it?
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