Watching The English by

Author:.
Language: ru
Format: mobi
Tags: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior
Published: 2013-04-04T17:20:55+00:00

our self-deprecating remarks at face value. Modesty also requires that we try to play down or deny class/wealth/status differences – polite egalitarianism involves a combination of the three ‘key values’ (courtesy, modesty, fair play) with a generous helping of hypocrisy. English modesty is often competitive – ‘one-downmanship’ – although this game may involve a lot of indirect boasting. English displays of modesty (whether competitive, hypocritical or genuine) are distinctive for the degree of humour involved. Our modesty rules act as a counterbalance to our natural arrogance, just as our courtesy rules protect us from our own aggressive tendencies. Key phrases include: ‘Don’t boast’; ‘Stop showing off’; ‘Don’t blow your own trumpet’; ‘Don’t be clever’; ‘Don’t be pushy’; ‘I do a bit of sport’ (meaning I’ve just won an Olympic medal); ‘Well, I suppose I know a bit about that’ (meaning I’m the acknowledged world expert on it); ‘Oh, that’s all a bit over my head, I’m afraid) (ditto); ‘Not as hard as it looks/just lucky’ (standard response to any praise for personal achievement).

THE DIAGRAM

So. There are the defining characteristics of Englishness. They already seem to have arranged themselves into something a bit more structured than a list. We have a ‘core’ and we have identified three distinct categories –

reflexes, outlooks and values – each with a ‘cluster’ of three characteristics. Diagrams are not really my strong point (for non-English readers: that is a big understatement) but it looks as though I might be able to keep my somewhat rash promise to represent all this visually in some way. 67

It is impossible to show all of the individual interconnections and interactions between the characteristics – I spent several days trying, but it always ended up looking like a tangled mass of spaghetti, only less appetising.

And, in any case, I realized that these connections between defining characteristics are only relevant or even apparent in relation to specific aspects or features or rules of English behaviour. The money-talk taboo, for example, is a product of social dis-ease + modesty + hypocrisy + class-consciousness (that is, the ‘core’ plus one from each ‘cluster’); the Christmas moan-fest and bah-humbug rule is Eeyorishness + courtesy + hypocrisy (one from each ‘cluster’ again, and all indirectly related to the ‘core’). So, I would have to include all the minutiae of our behaviour patterns and codes in the diagram in order to show these relationships, which would effectively mean including everything in the book.

I think we’ll just have to settle for something much simpler. Ditch the microscope, stand back and look at the big picture. This basic diagram of Englishness won’t tell us anything we don’t already know from the ‘narrative’ list above. It just shows what the defining characteristics are, how they can be classified, and that the ‘clusters’ are all linked both with each other and with the central ‘core’. But the diagram does at least convey the notion that Englishness is a dynamic system rather than a static list. And it gets the whole thing on to one convenient page.

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