Anglosphere:Why I'm not an Anglophile
By James C. Bennett
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- I am amused when fromtime to time I read reactions to my Anglosphere writings, andfind myself described as an "Anglophile." I do not thinkof myself as such a creature at all. Of course, Anglophilia comesin any number of manifestations, and I'm sure one could be foundwith which I would be comfortable.
However, there are several Anglophile speciesof which I am not a member. One is the sort of American Anglophilefor whom anything English is a pretext for criticism of America;in other words, one who automatically finds English institutionsand customs superior to American ones. I find such people intenselyirritating, as is anybody who bears an automatic prejudice againstone people or country in favor of another, especially when itis their own native land.
Another is the sort who dotes over everythingquaint or eccentric about England, or who hangs on every doingof the Royal Family. This variety was once described as the typewho knew the names of all the Queen's corgis. Now, I hold nothingparticular against Her Majesty or her dogs. But just as De Gaulleonce described himself as "Christian by history and geography,"I am a republican (for my own country) for the same reasons, andwould not attempt to assume the mental habits of a monarchist.
What I am is something quite different.There is no precise name for it, but if I were to coin one onthe spot, it would be something like "Anglospherophile."What I most like are those things the Anglosphere countries havein common with each other. I also enjoy the way the various English-speakingnations form a continuum, with some things common to all, somethings shared by some, but not all nations, and other things uniqueto each country, or even a region of a country. It is as it isan endlessly fascinating set of variations on a theme.
I sometimes think of it as the "Anglospherekaleidoscope" -- a set of characteristics, always shifting,that never quite fall together the same way in two different places.Thus Sydney to me recalls something of California, something ofEngland and something of Canada, in addition to its particularAustralian-ness and unique Sydney-ness. Other people see it differently,according to their own experiences and exposures.
Anglospherophilia has rarely been practicedconsciously. There is a natural tendency for journalists, authors,and other observers to play up the differences and ignore thesimilarities. This is partly for dramatic effect. Contrasts andconflicts make good stories, while similarities are usually takenentirely for granted, and are hardly ever good copy.
The first-time traveler between Englandand America will usually focus on the differences; it is not untilone has spent time in the non-English-speaking lands that onereally begins to understand the similarities. With apologies toKipling, there is some truth in "What do they know of theAnglosphere, that only the Anglosphere know?"
Nor is Anglospherophilia centered on dislikeof or contempt for non-English-speakers, particularly when oneof the defining characteristics of the Anglosphere seems to bethe large number of non-English-speaking people who have cometo join it. In its own way this immigrant mix has become partof Anglosphereness, so that a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup canbe for me a taste of home in Australia.
For me each step of more intimate associationwith other Anglosphere nations added to my Anglospherophilia.As a tourist in England, one spends as much time as possible tryingto experience what is uniquely English, and shuns whatever mightseem familiar. Traveling on business, one still experiences theEngland (or Australia, or wherever) of hotels, airports, and offices.To some extent there is a global level of abstraction to businesstravel, where even very foreign lands can be experienced as ablur of bland office buildings and hotel lobbies, all speakingsome form of International Business English. (Once one attemptsa real project, then the differences begin to emerge.)
It was not until I married an Englishwomanand started a family that I really began to experience a differentEngland, one experienced very much like the America I experiencein daily life. I inhabit two different worlds, but they are notEngland and America; they are travel-on-business and travel-with-family.The England I see from a car with family, spending time in thekitchens of my son's grandparents, aunts and uncles is far differentfrom the England I saw as a tourist or even business visitor."Which service area on the M1 is best for children?"replaces "Which play in the West End to take in on that freeevening?" as the subject of speculation in idle moments.
Of course there are anti-American idiotswherever one goes. However, this is true of America as well. Theonly difference is that anti-Americans in the rest of the Anglospherecan disguise themselves as nationalists; but they are pretty muchthe same types of people, and for the most part have the samethings to say. Anti-Americanism has itself been globalized, witha sort of McChomsky franchise in every city.
To say I am not an Anglophile is not tosay that I dislike England or things English. With enough experiencewith the various English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries,what I have found is that there are many specific things aboutEngland, or Ireland, or Canada, or Australia that I like, andsome things about America I don't like.
Likewise, there are many things about AmericaI like, and some things about other Anglosphere countries I don'tlike. Each has some things the others could learn from and possiblycopy at home.
Nor have I become any less appreciativeof America. On the contrary, understanding what America does anddoes not have in common with other parts of the English-speakingworld has made me more of an American patriot in the simple senseof loving the land and the people. Understanding the roots ofmany American things in various parts of the British Isles makesme more of an Anglospherophile but no less an American.
Anglospherophilia is quite distinct fromclassic Anglophilia; it does not place one Anglosphere nationabove another, and builds naturally on basic, innate patriotism.Rather, it expands on that patriotism, and enjoys the sense ofa larger arena that is no longer merely national, not really foreign,but not yet global or universal.
The more instantaneous flat-rate communicationand cheap intercontinental travel make it easier to share thisuniverse, and the more that our common Anglosphere values becomecontrasted to truly alien mentalities like radical Islamism, themore this sense will emerge from a vague cultural sensibilityto be a real factor in determining the shape of the world to come.