are two early theorists linked to the ‘Six degrees of separation‘. I am slightly disappointed that it does not seem to work on Facebook - maybe the population is too small or too specific, but each group, be it social, geographical or based on interest, seems to exist in a vacuum. Hmmm… I shall go on thinking.
Terry Eagleton
Marcel Theroux
Jimi Tenor
Nick Drake
Pink Martini
Bjork
wrote a very interesting book called Orientalism. I was reminded of this today as a delightfully middle class woman sought to purchase some Serbian language learning materials to converse with her (soon to be) daughter-in-law’s parents. She was to travel to Beograd and stay with them, and was concerned that they would not have a bath or shower, that the food would be terrible and that it would be cold. She also stated that she would buy them a washing machine as these kinds of goods are very hard to come by.
Now, the point of this interlude is to query if (and indeed, how), Western European (especially British) perceptions of the former Soviet Bloc have changed and continue to change following the fall of Communism and the expansion of the EU. I have posted before about the Russian middle classes that have appeared in the last 7-8 years, and I note that many of the Central European nations are now home to shopping centres on an almost American scale. Although the exterior of many building have not changed, the interiors would, I’m sure, shame many inhabitants and businesses of this fair isle. So, as I know at least some of my readers have a wealth of experience in said Mittel-Ost Europa, what do you think?
Kazan was certainly a culture shock to me some 10 years ago now, but Moscow, Piter and Petrozavodsk less so. (Although whether this was due to higher material standards, or due to lower expectations, I don’t know). Central Europe is now very much part of Europe - the languages and cultures may change, but Pizza Hut is all pervading, as are Ipods, digital cameras, nice airports, tarmacced roads, washing machines, etc. The notion of the launderette still has to take off, I believe, and takeaways are, I would imagine, lagging slightly behind, but what can you do?
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