2 Opinion PageMay 1 2023
2 Opinion PageMay 1 2023 | World and PresscommentBritish false modestyis worse than braggingSOCIETY If ever there was a time to project vigour and buryour abject trait of self-deprecation, it is now.By James Marriott1 “OH NO, it’s nowhere nearas clever as it’s cracked up to be;to be honest, it’s actually a bithit-or-miss … just plumbing really,plumbing with a microscope– except plumbing’s rather moreaccurate.” The speaker, quotedin Kate Fox’s bestselling study ofthe national character, ‘Watchingthe English’, is describing hiscareer in neurosurgery. And, oh,aren’t you just charmed?2 If you are not – sensiblereader! – it is because yougrimly foresee how the conversationmust now unfold. Onceyour interlocutor has modestly(“modestly”) confessed thatbrain surgery is a professionsuitable only for clowns and thementally deficient, it is not yourrole to sympathise or suggest acareer change (“I’m sorry it’s sounrewarding; have you consideredteaching?”) but to presshome his advantage for him(“Oh but it sounds marvellous!You must be so clever, really!”).He has successfully shifted theburden of self-congratulationonto you. It is a strange customfor a nation that preens itself ongood manners.3 ‘The Times’ reported onMonday that “psychologistsand self-help book authors”have urged the English to shunself-deprecation and brag morein order to “get ahead” at work.Well, I pause nervously at findingmyself in agreement with theauthors of self-help books, butI’d go further: self-deprecationis a worse gaucherie than manyspecies of bragging and bombast.Outside our mercifully repudiatedhabit of colonialism, it may bethe least appealing English trait.4 I accuse myself, naturally.“Oh God, wait until you see whatI’ve written,” I told my editorabout this column. Every honestEnglishman will admit to recognisingthe pleasurable half-secondconversational pause asyou wait for the praise you haveelaborately refused yourself tobe politely pressed back ontoyou. No wonder, as EM Forsteronce insisted, the English arechiefly despised abroad for theirhypocrisy.5 A related social phenomenonis the national habit of tellinglong stories about one’s incompetenceand failure. It is a genreof humour I appreciate and practise,and I am convinced that failureis almost always funnier thansuccess – all the sophisticationof the modern English comic tradition,from ‘Peep Show’ to ‘TheOffice’, derives from disappointment.But those for whom talesübungsmaterialzum download• Arbeitsblätter• Unterrichtsvorschläge• Kreuzworträtsel• Cartoon-Interpretationen• Audiodateienwww.sprachzeitungen.de0 – 1 TO BRAG;s.w.u. to boast prahlen — to projectzeigen — vigour Stärke — abject erbärmlich — trait Charakterzug— self-deprecation Selbstabwertung — as it’scracked up to be (fig) wie immer behauptet wird — hitor-miss(fig) aufs Geratewohl — plumbing Klempnern —neurosurgery Neurochirurgie — charmed entzückt2 grimly grimmig — to unfold ablaufen — interlocutorGesprächspartner(in) — the mentally deficientMenschen mit geistiger Behinderung — unrewarding unbefriedigend— to press home s.o.’s advantage (fig) jds.Überlegenheit herausstellen — to shift abwälzen — burdenLast — self-congratulation Selbstbeweihräucherung— to preen o.s. on s. brüsten mit3 – 4 to urge s.o. jdn. eindringlich auffordern — to shunvermeiden — gaucherie Geschmacklosigkeit — bombastSchwulst; s.w.u. bombastic angeberisch — outside abgesehenvon — mercifully glücklicherweise — to repudiateablehnen — elaborately mühsam; s.w.u. elaboration Ausgestaltung— to despise verachten — hypocrisy Heuchelei5 – 6 sophistication Raffinesse — to derive from s. ableitenvon — to constitute darstellen — habitual gewohnheitsmäßig— self-effacement Selbstverleugnung — unostentatiousschlicht; s.w.u. ostentatious demonstrativ— covert versteckt — sane normal — national anthemN.hymne7 sang-froid Selbstbeherrschung — aspiration Streben— tranquil ruhig — superiority Überlegenheit —narrator Erzähler(in) — ghastly grässlich — convictionÜberzeugung — to bask s. sonnen — balefully elend — tobully tyrannisieren — unspeakable unsäglich8 – 9 to neglect to do versäumen zu tun — refinementKultiviertheit — distantly vage — languor Trägheit — toundermine untergraben10 to trace s.th. back to etw. zurückführen auf — absorptionAufnahme — chary zurückhaltend — unpolishedungeschliffen — personage Person — to rest onberuhen auf — conspicuous auffällig — go-getting spirit(coll) Tatendrang — hence daher — to retain behalten11 plausibly glaubhaft — gracious kultiviert — depletederschöpft — bleak trostlos — glee Freude — evilsMissstände — the hardest done-by (coll) am stärkstenbenachteiligt — self-assertion Selbstbehauptungof personal disaster constitute ahabitual social tactic should notdeceive themselves. This is notself-effacement. People who tellstories against themselves havejust found another way to talkabout their favourite subject.6 English self-deprecation is apolitical as well as a personal badhabit. The unostentatious patriotismof queuing and nice cupsof tea so lengthily celebrated atthe Queen’s Platinum Jubileelast year contains a note of covertself-congratulation – how muchsaner we are than the Frenchwith their bloodthirsty nationalanthem and bombastic philosophyof national greatness.7 The trait, I think, derivesfrom the sang-froid of our upperclass, with its cult of the amateurand celebrated aspiration to the“tranquil consciousness of aneffortless superiority”. There’sa monstrous elaboration of thetheme in Edward St Aubyn’sPatrick Melrose novels: theyoung narrator’s ghastly aristocraticfather might have been abrilliant doctor or concert pianistbut refused those careers out ofthe “conviction that success wassomehow vulgar”. He prefers the“glamour … of lost promise andfailure”, a life basking balefullyin the Mediterranean heat,bullying his friends, and doingunspeakable things to his smallson.8 If boasting about one’sachievements is gauche, then neglectingto achieve counts as theultimate refinement. I believethe logic will be at least distantlyintuitive to English readers.I wonder how much sense itmakes to foreigners?9 Ostentatious languor, ofcourse, has been a feature of almostevery aristocracy in history.Worldly success undermines thefirst principle of a system whichmeasures prestige by birth, notby talent. And doesn’t drawingattention to your achievementsrather suggest that your familyisn’t quite magnificent enough tosupport you without them?10 An ambitious historical theorymight trace the survival of thistrait in the English character tothe uniquely successful absorptionof the rising class of industrialcapitalists into the Englisharistocracy in the 19th century.In other countries, which eitherlacked an aristocracy or in whichthe aristocracy was charier aboutadmitting such unpolished personagesas cotton millionairesto its ranks, a rival conventionof social status emerged, onethat rested on the conspicuousperformance of capitalist values:World and Press erscheint2 × monatlich (Juli und Dezemberals Doppelausgabe) in derCarl Ed. Schünemann kg· Die Sprachzeitung ·Schünemann-Haus28174 BremenTelefon: +49(0)421.36903-76Fax: +49(0)421.36903-48www.sprachzeitungen.deinfo@sprachzeitungen.deVerantwortliche RedakteurinKatrin GüntherRedaktionsleitung Sprach zeitungenMelanie HelmersRedaktionSiobhan BrunsSebastian StumpfFranziska LangeAletta RochauCarol RichardsJessica StuartGestalterische Konzeptionwww.bmalx.deLayout & UmbruchChristoph Lück, Britta LeuchtmannDruckDruckzentrum Nordsee GmbHhard work, openness, go-gettingspirit. Hence Americans. InEngland, where the wealthiestnew millionaires acquired titles,purchased country estates, andadopted the manners of the upperclass, the pose of aristocraticunderachievement retained itssocial value.11 It was at least a plausibly graciousattitude when we ruled theworld. In our depleted modernstate, self-deprecation seems notpolite but abject. At its worst,it has developed into the bleakglee some people take at all freshnews of British failure and evils –a glee that contains something ofthe narcissist’s conviction that ifhe is not to be a success, he mustbe the hardest done-by personin the world. It is a bad look. It isnot charming at all. If Britain hasever needed vigour and self-assertion,it is now.© The Times, London/News LicensingThis article originally appearedin The Times, London.Larry the Cat. | Cartoon: Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune, UTimpressum ISSN 0509-1632Die in World and Press veröffent lichtenArtikel bringen Meinungen der zitiertenZeitungen, aber nicht in jedem Fall die derRedaktion zum Ausdruck. Textkürzungenvorbehalten. | By special arrangement withproprietors of copyrights. Copyright strictlyreserved under the Berne Convention © 2023Kündigungs bedingungenNach Ablauf des ersten Bezugsjahres istdas Jahresabo monatlich kündbar. DasSchnupper abo geht über in ein Jahresabo,wenn es nicht spätestens einen Monat vorAblauf gekündigt wird. | Es gelten unsereaktuellen AGB.DatenschutzDie personenbezogenen Daten werden aufder Basis der geltenden Datenschutzgesetze,insbesondere der EU-Datenschutzgrundverordnung(DSGVO) sowie des Bundesdatenschutzgesetzes(BDSG), zweckgebundenerhoben und verarbeitet. Wir geben Ihre Datennur weiter, soweit ein Gesetz dies vorschreibtoder wir Ihre Einwilligung eingeholt haben.Die personenbezogenen Daten sind für dieLieferung Ihrer Sprachzeitung erforderlich.Unsere Informationen zum Datenschutz nachArt. 13 und Art. 14 der EU-DSGVO könnenSie über unsere Kontaktdaten einsehen oderanfordern.
World and Press | May 1 2023A cold war over fox hunting heats upin the countrysideIn Focus3ENGLAND Hunting groups are confronted by anti-hunt activists ina very British clash of class, tradition, and town versus country.mit Audiodatei undÜbungsmaterialWarwickshire Hunt members during a ride in Warwickshire,England. | Photos: Mary Turner/The New York TimesA member of the Warwickshire Hunt uses her cellphone to filmanti-hunt activists, whom she accuses of trespassing.By Euan Ward1 THE SUV trundled along thewinding English country road atdawn, its five masked occupantsdecked head to toe in black asthe hills of the Warwickshirecountryside rolled past. Squintingthrough the rain-flecked windows,they spotted their target inthe distance: hunters on horsebackon the grounds of a grand18th-century estate. The distanthowls of baying dogs soundedout, their cries drawing closer.2 Suddenly, a pack of about 20hounds appeared at the end of thenarrow road, followed by dozensof galloping horses, their riderssporting navy-blue jackets andcream jodhpurs. Cries of “Go, go,go!” rang from the vehicle as thedoors flung open and the maskedoccupants leaped out. The chasewas on: The hunters had becomethe hunted.3 On these muddy fields in England’srural heartland, a kind ofcold war rages. In simple terms,the conflict is between those whosupport fox hunting and thosewho are against it. But at a deeperlevel, the dispute reveals the classdivides, clash of traditions, andtown-versus-country argumentsthat still fracture British society.4 Although the hunting of foxes– or any wild mammals – usingdogs was outlawed in Britain in2004, “trail hunting,” where thehounds are supposed to be chasingan artificially laid scent, isallowed. Anti-hunt activists saythat the exemption is a smokescreen and that the dogs oftenwind up killing an actual fox.A killing can be prosecuted ifthere is evidence that the huntersshould have been aware that thehounds were pursuing a live animaland did nothing to stop them.Hundreds of such cases have beenbrought over the past decade.5 The hunters say that theyonly trail hunt on private landwith permission from farmersand that they do not kill live animals;they accuse the activists oftrespassing.6 The activists riding in theSUV that dawn are part of asmall group, commonly knownas “hunt saboteurs,” who ventureinto Warwickshire, a county inwestern England, intent on disruptingthe practice of fox hunting,a centuries-old blood sportin which the animals are tracked,chased, and then killed by trainedhounds. At least three times aweek, rain or shine, the activistspursue the galloping riders bySUV and on foot through forestsand fields, both to film evidenceof what the activists say are illegalactivities and to do whatever theycan to hinder the actual hunt.7 Turning the hunters’ toolsagainst them, the activists blowtheir own hunting horns andcrack whips in an attempt to confusethe hounds. They also wieldcanisters of citronella spray tomask the foxes’ scent and employsmall amplifiers that play thesound of crying hounds to unsettlethe pursuing pack further.Every activist has a walkie-talkie.“It’s a war that needswinning.”8 On this occasion, the activistswere targeting the WarwickshireHunt, founded in 1791 and consideredone of England’s mostprestigious hunting groups. Asshe trudged along in pursuit ofthe hunt, Cathy Scott, a 20-yearveteran of the group, said, “It’sa war, and it’s a war that needswinning.” The activists havespent years harrying the hunters.To confuse the pursuit of the fox,they master use of the huntinghorn and learn dozens of distinctiveshouts, including the “tallyho”that is yelled when the animalis spotted. “To fight your enemy,you have to think like them,” saidScott, 46.9 Saboteurs have been knownto risk serious injury by charginginto the path of sprinting horsesto get between them and a fox.Scott says she has been assaultedmultiple times by hunt supporters,at least once badly enoughto need hospitalization. Deaththreats, she adds, are commonplace.Activists in other saboteurgroups, which exist across England,say their vehicles have beenrammed off the road. Mutilatedfoxes have been dumped outsidehomes. Gasoline has been pouredthrough letter slots.To the hunters,the saboteurs are ruralterrorists10 The risks are worth it, the saboteurssay, if a fox can be sparedthe gruesome death that comes ifthe hounds catch up with it. “It’snot a quick kill,” Scott said. “It’sbrutal. They’re ripped to shreds.”11 To the hunters, the saboteursare “rural terrorists” threateningan age-old tradition in pursuit ofa class-driven vendetta. Sam Butler,65, the Warwickshire Hunt’schair, said, “They simply do notlike us.”12 “They don’t like what westand for,” he added. “It’s paybacktime for this, that, and theother. Knock the toffs. Knock theTories. Red-faced gentlemen inred coats riding horses, that sortof thing.” The saboteurs, he suggested,are not really motivatedby concern for the fox. “This wasalways about political prejudice,”he said.13 The hunt saboteurs – a termthe activists embrace – say theyare wildlife lovers, driven to vigilantismbecause of governmentapathy. Scott works in customerservice. Another member, DaveGraham, 37, works in online retail.The group’s driver, MartinaIrwin, 56, runs a small bakery.“We’re just ordinary people withordinary backgrounds,” Irwinsaid as she pushed her foggingglasses back up the bridge of hernose. “The state won’t stop them,so we have to.” …© 2023 The New York Times CompanyThis article originally appearedin The New York Times.0 – 1 TO TRUNDLEalong entlangrollen — winding kurvenreich— occupant Insasse(-in) — decked bekleidet — to squintthrough s.th. durch etw. hindurchspähen — flecked besprenkelt— howls Geheule — to bay bellen — to sound out ertönen2 – 3 pack Rudel — hound Jagdhund — jodhpurs Jodhpur hose(Reithose) — to fling open auffliegen — to leap out hinausspringen— to rage wüten — to fracture spalten4 mammal Säugetier — to outlaw verbieten — to lay auslegen— scent Fährte — exemption Ausnahme(regelung) —smoke screen (fig) Deckmantel; Vorwand — to wind up doings.th. letztlich etw. tun — to prosecute strafrechtlich verfolgen— to pursue; s.w.u. to track verfolgen — to bring a case e-n Fallvor Gericht bringen5 – 7 trespassing unbefugtes Betreten — to venture into … s.nach … wagen — intent on doing s.th. mit dem Vorsatz, etw. zutun — to hinder verhindern — to crack a whip mit der Peitscheschlagen — to wield schwingen — to employ einsetzen — amplifierVerstärker — to unsettle verwirren8 – 9 to trudge along voranstapfen — in pursuit of s.th. e-r S. aufden Fersen (p. Verfolgung) — to harry s.o. jdm. das Leben schwermachen — distinctive charakteristisch — to charge into hineinstürmen— to assault angreifen — to need hospitalization insKrankenhaus müssen — commonplace alltäglich — mutilatedverstümmelt — to dump abladen — letter slot (AE) Briefschlitz10 – 13 to be spared verschont bleiben — gruesome grausam —to rip to shreds zerfetzen — it is payback time for … das ist dieRache für … — this, that, and the other (coll) alles Mögliche —to knock (coll) fertigmachen — toff (BE, coll) feiner Pinkel — toembrace s. zu eigen machen — vigilantism Bürgerwehraktionen— fogging glasses beschlagene Brille
