In this course, we will study what novelists, poets, journalists, artists, sociologists, philosophers, filmmakers, politicians and great thinkers have said about the United States its inhabitants and the American way of life. Foreigners have focused their observations on many different aspects of American life. For example, how its democracy functions, how Americans work and organize industries, how different races interact. How they educate their children and future citizens, how they organize their cities, how they tame and traverse their vast landscapes. How relations between the sexes operate, how Americans entertain themselves, how they worship, how they view the meaning of life. Many of our sources are well-known and have had great influence in shaping the perceptions that whole cultures hold about the United States. Such as Octavio Paz from Mexico, Simone de Beauvoir from France, Chimamanda Adichie of Nigeria. Vladimir Mayakovsky of Russia and Sun Yat-sen of China, certain individuals have played big roles in informing or misinforming public opinion in their home countries about the United States. Some of them have traveled to the US, lived in the US, and others were mere armchair from afar. Unfortunately, most of our sources come from the elite abroad, such as writers, academics or filmmakers. It's more difficult for us to access especially historically the opinions and views of regular Sudanese people for example. Most of our sources about what the French think about Americans, by the very fact of being intellectuals or artists, are not representative of your average Simone or Pierre, but total objectivity is never possible. Everyone is a product of their time and place as well as their particular circumstances in life. We all have biases that arise from our backgrounds that lead us to see certain cultural differences and to be blind to others. Nor is total representation ever possible, no one view or piece of writing from a Chinese journalist for example, will represent the viewpoint of all Chinese. But we can have particular appreciation for our observers who are trying to describe something concrete about America. Who explain their methodologies carefully, and who are conscious of their status as an outsider. They do not have insider understanding of American culture, but they can see many things about American society more clearly because of their distance than average Americans can understand about themselves. Alexis de Tocqueville was one of these astute outside observers, and we must ask ourselves whether a Mexican perception is distinctly Mexican? Can it stand in for a larger Central American sentiment shared by other Spanish-speaking nationals of countries located nearby? Can a particular Mexican perception about the United States actually represent a common notion shared by other foreigners, on either side of the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans? Each time we encounter a cross cultural perception we should ask ourselves these questions. There is no required reading for this course, however, we highly urge you to read what we recommend in order to supplement our lectures. My five-minute rendition of Alexis de Tocqueville two-volume Opus Democracy in America, will certainly not suffice for you to appreciate his masterful 1830s French perspective on the United States. Consider our lectures as mere starting points that invite you to delve into your own readings and your own interpretations of the great books or controversial works that we have assembled for you. I always urge my students to read on four different levels, what does this article, documentary, essay, memoir, novel, treatise or archive say about the United States or about Americans? Yes, basic content, how valid or interesting is this work? Students are urged to think critically about what they read, is it accurate, is it biased in some ways, is it worth reading and if so, why? Why would this African National this Chinese, French, Mexican or Russian person at this time period focus on this aspect of American life? In other words, what does this work say about Malawians, Kenyans, Chinese French, Mexicans, Russians and not just about Americans. Let's look at some French examples, Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s was keenly interested in the democratic system of government in the United States. Because France was in the midst of regime instability and had recently restored its monarchy after the French Revolution. Another example, Josh Duhamel in the 1930s was fascinated by American industrialization and urbanization. Simone de Beauvoir in the 1940s observed the post-war political apathy in American college campuses. And finally Jean Baudrillard in the 1980s was mesmerized by superhighways, television and California culture. The fourth and final way I ask students to read is to ask themselves, what impact might this book, film or phenomenon have had on for example Chinese opinion and Chinese American relations. Even if artists, journalists or intellectuals are our main sources of information. We are very interested in the impact that they have had on mass or popular opinion. For example, there are many possible and even contradictory readings of Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Some French readers saw in his observations a favorable attitude toward the American form of democracy. Others took his observations as an alarm that warned against the dangers of democracy. These conflicting readings of Democracy in America meant that this book had wide appeal. Your professors will provide as much background as possible about the reception of published ideas about America back in their home countries. And how the impressions of opinion makers may have contributed to the creation of popular stereotypes about America over time. We encourage you to use this as a stepping off point for your own reading and study. So in this course, we will be studying the gazers Africans, Chinese, French, Mexicans, Russians, the gazee the US and the gaze itself. This is the nature of cross cultural analysis, now a gaze means observation, but it is not passive, it includes cross-cultural influences and adaptations and it goes both ways, it is mutual. For example with language Americans have widely adopted expressions in Spanish such as Mañana and hasta la vista. And Mexicans use English expressions liberally, such as okay and bye-bye, in fashion Americans of a certain class adore many famous French designers. And the French have gone all-in for blue jeans by the late 20th century, when we talk of how other countries adopt the vocabulary or fashion trends. Or habits, business practices, foreign policies, music video styles etc, from Americans. We call this process Americanization, and of course, let us not forget that there is also Frenchification, Mexicanization of America, too, this is globalization. We will begin the first week with the module on America through African eyes. Professor, Jeffrey Fleischer will present chapters that explore the perspectives of people from Malawi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Nigeria Ghana and other regions in Africa. However, all of the course material is available for viewing immediately, if you are interested in the module on America through Mexican eyes. You don't have to wait for Week 4, you can also rearrange the course for yourself by theme. If you would like to study all the chapters about racism and immigration for example, regardless of place, you can shuffle the chapters and select them by theme. There isn't a dodge, you can only know your own country once you have been abroad. So, if you live in the United States think of this course as your own stay at home study abroad program. Welcome again to America through Foreign Eyes. >> America through Foreign Eyes.
