is it interesting or uninteresting for you to know that inside the U.S. we have this micro-dynamic between the rest of the country and california, or sometimes california + new york vs the rest of the country? where in every other state people feel underrepresented and like these big ultra populated areas are sucking the air out of the cultural room. thinking about visiting family friends in ireland when i was 18 and my irish friend my age complained about this exact same thing to us, it was during the 2016 election too so she had the same points about political discourse then. its all so fair and would probably annoy me just as bad!
this is so interesting! thank you for sharing. I had a sense that may be the case too, a bicoastal cultural monopoly. my own experience of America is solely east coast based (I’m half Canadian, from Toronto) which I imagine has also skewed my perspectives growing up (the first time I went to New York is like, The memory of my young childhood).
such an interesting read! and so interesting to hear a non-american's perspective on americana - i grew up in a prototypical suburb with pool parties and football games and whatnot and found all of it incredibly boring, even stifling. i think that's also why i have a hard time connecting to lana del rey's music + general unchallenged interpretations of coca-colonization (and why I'm such a huge ethel cain fan!)
this piece of writing is BRILLIANT (as an immigrant kid from eastern europe living in western europe, i really thought high school musical was gonna be my high school experience, oh boy i was so wrong haha, glad to see it's an actual shared experience) :')
as a political science student, this is exactly what we've been learning about! i'm also not american but i'm sooo fascinated by how deeply entrenched american culture is everywhere. when i was in europe, i saw tons of people wearing that ralph lauren sweater with the american flag, and plenty of people in australia wear it too! i think everyone is so unfazed by how american western society (and even in non-western cultures) that we don't even question their presence or authority anymore. and that's quite possibly what they want.
this is such a wonderfully threaded read. i think about this a lot in the context of Blackness. what does it mean for to be America so culturally ubiquitousness but a section of its population is so devastatingly marginalised domestically? I believe it makes Black America (and its culture) susceptible to the same pillaging they've experienced on the US continent writ large to the entire world. I suppose I touch upon it in a piece I wrote about the breakdancer Racheal Gunn, who is a small part of a bigger phenomena of Black American cultural productions (breakdancing) being zombified beyond their conceived environments – the literal environment of the NY streets but also its sociopolitical environment of Black resistant joy.
Loved this! I'm an American and so I can't see it from outide, no matter how far I travel. Weird how nominally international spaces like the internet (outside China, etc.) take on national identities, in their corners...then there's the big one national idenity over 'em all. On Substack I write for Americans and Kiwis both, but in Substack's larger conversation, I feel an immense push/draw to writing about America & Being American, even (especially!) as an expat. Even the haters who left love to trade on our native soft power, no? I will be thinking about this piece for awhile, and will definitely go check out more Eggleston. Thanks!
Great writing, it was interesting to read this as an American who desperately searched for any culture that wasn’t the USA as a kid. I had access to one Canadian and one British TV channel and made it my job to watch and learn as much as I could.
Excellent piece :) every now and then I feel an overwhelming pang of sadness at never having been able to live an all American teenhood — mind you, I didn’t come to the US till I was 18 anyway, but growing up with that idea never goes away
What a fascinating exploration of America's cultural dominance! Your observations about the Americanization of internet culture are spot-on. It's so interesting to think about that brief moment when Brits dominated Internet culture—sometimes I look back on that era and feel very nostalgic. Thank you for this great reminder to an American to seek out and appreciate non-American voices and perspectives online. Looking forward to reading more of your insightful writing!
thank you so so so so much for writing this, especially from an outside perspective. so many of my friends and family abroad are deeply swayed by promises of americana, and flinch at even the slightest questioning of its “better”ness and goodness in comparison to their home countries—usually entirely based on economic opportunity and relative wealth in the U.S. it’s genuinely nice to hear someone challenging and articulating this soft power so pointedly—thank you!
i am curious whether this protection reflex is the case in the UK, somewhere with more economic opportunity, as opposed to my folks in italy + greece + more agrarian countries with high unemployment rates? obviously the countries have a more complicated past with each other, but curious to hear what brits are thinking these days!
is it interesting or uninteresting for you to know that inside the U.S. we have this micro-dynamic between the rest of the country and california, or sometimes california + new york vs the rest of the country? where in every other state people feel underrepresented and like these big ultra populated areas are sucking the air out of the cultural room. thinking about visiting family friends in ireland when i was 18 and my irish friend my age complained about this exact same thing to us, it was during the 2016 election too so she had the same points about political discourse then. its all so fair and would probably annoy me just as bad!
this is so interesting! thank you for sharing. I had a sense that may be the case too, a bicoastal cultural monopoly. my own experience of America is solely east coast based (I’m half Canadian, from Toronto) which I imagine has also skewed my perspectives growing up (the first time I went to New York is like, The memory of my young childhood).
such an interesting read! and so interesting to hear a non-american's perspective on americana - i grew up in a prototypical suburb with pool parties and football games and whatnot and found all of it incredibly boring, even stifling. i think that's also why i have a hard time connecting to lana del rey's music + general unchallenged interpretations of coca-colonization (and why I'm such a huge ethel cain fan!)
this piece of writing is BRILLIANT (as an immigrant kid from eastern europe living in western europe, i really thought high school musical was gonna be my high school experience, oh boy i was so wrong haha, glad to see it's an actual shared experience) :')
thank you! perhaps it’s the unifying European noughties kid experience?
yeah also thought that as someone from germany
as a political science student, this is exactly what we've been learning about! i'm also not american but i'm sooo fascinated by how deeply entrenched american culture is everywhere. when i was in europe, i saw tons of people wearing that ralph lauren sweater with the american flag, and plenty of people in australia wear it too! i think everyone is so unfazed by how american western society (and even in non-western cultures) that we don't even question their presence or authority anymore. and that's quite possibly what they want.
The bit about manifest destiny was brilliant. A top tier oop 👀 moment
this is such a wonderfully threaded read. i think about this a lot in the context of Blackness. what does it mean for to be America so culturally ubiquitousness but a section of its population is so devastatingly marginalised domestically? I believe it makes Black America (and its culture) susceptible to the same pillaging they've experienced on the US continent writ large to the entire world. I suppose I touch upon it in a piece I wrote about the breakdancer Racheal Gunn, who is a small part of a bigger phenomena of Black American cultural productions (breakdancing) being zombified beyond their conceived environments – the literal environment of the NY streets but also its sociopolitical environment of Black resistant joy.
Thank you, Inigo, & yes, it’s as internally insidious a myth as it is externally
This is a brilliant essay. Thank you and well done.
I loved this. Great piece! I've always been fascinated by Americana, and as an American I was glad to read someone else's perspective.
Loved this! I'm an American and so I can't see it from outide, no matter how far I travel. Weird how nominally international spaces like the internet (outside China, etc.) take on national identities, in their corners...then there's the big one national idenity over 'em all. On Substack I write for Americans and Kiwis both, but in Substack's larger conversation, I feel an immense push/draw to writing about America & Being American, even (especially!) as an expat. Even the haters who left love to trade on our native soft power, no? I will be thinking about this piece for awhile, and will definitely go check out more Eggleston. Thanks!
Great writing, it was interesting to read this as an American who desperately searched for any culture that wasn’t the USA as a kid. I had access to one Canadian and one British TV channel and made it my job to watch and learn as much as I could.
thank you! my parents never allowed me US tv channels so I was incredibly jealous of friends who could watch Disney channel and Nickelodeon aha
Same!! Disney channel and Nickeloden were banned in my household lol
Excellent piece :) every now and then I feel an overwhelming pang of sadness at never having been able to live an all American teenhood — mind you, I didn’t come to the US till I was 18 anyway, but growing up with that idea never goes away
thank you!
What a fascinating exploration of America's cultural dominance! Your observations about the Americanization of internet culture are spot-on. It's so interesting to think about that brief moment when Brits dominated Internet culture—sometimes I look back on that era and feel very nostalgic. Thank you for this great reminder to an American to seek out and appreciate non-American voices and perspectives online. Looking forward to reading more of your insightful writing!
thank you so so so so much for writing this, especially from an outside perspective. so many of my friends and family abroad are deeply swayed by promises of americana, and flinch at even the slightest questioning of its “better”ness and goodness in comparison to their home countries—usually entirely based on economic opportunity and relative wealth in the U.S. it’s genuinely nice to hear someone challenging and articulating this soft power so pointedly—thank you!
i am curious whether this protection reflex is the case in the UK, somewhere with more economic opportunity, as opposed to my folks in italy + greece + more agrarian countries with high unemployment rates? obviously the countries have a more complicated past with each other, but curious to hear what brits are thinking these days!