|
![](/i/fill.gif) |
On 20/12/2010 11:22 PM, andrel wrote:
>
>> Maybe it is just Hollanders that do not have a sense of
>> history. ;-)
>>
>
> I think it is much broader them just the main cities in the west. Ask a
> Dutchman to cite a bit of Joost van den Vondel and you probably have to
> explain that he is for Dutch literature what Shakespeare is for the
> English. Ask to name the Dutch Nobel prize winner at the beginning of
> the 20th century 'were there any?'.
I'm sure that the same goes, here.
> In short: I am Dutch, I can't cite any Dutch poems or other literature,
> I don't know any influential Dutch people from before I was born outside
> my own field, I assume that the industrial revolution started in
> England,
We think so but prefer to say it started in Britian. :-P
> I cannot date when William of Orange lived to within one or two
> centuries, Napoleon wasn't that a French general? etc.
>
They both had a profound influence on British culture and history so we
know a bit about them.
> In my experience English people often know more from Dutch history than
> we do.
That could be that the Brits you have met took the trouble to find out
about the country they were visiting. I did when I worked for Philips in
Eindhoven and did the same in other countries. The only exception was
when I was working in Zagreb, I thought it best not to know :-)
> I know other countries are also in the process of loosing
> historical knowledge in the young generation.
True. :-(
> Yet I think are still
> better than the others because we have a much longer experience with it.
> (Or have we?)
Do you?
--
Regards
Stephen
Post a reply to this message
|
![](/i/fill.gif) |