"IN 1492..." by Bergotte (book club reads TXT) 📕

“You probably remember the rhyme,” said the tutor, as a means of introducing his seminar topic to the eight postgraduate students sitting in a circle in his study, “in 1492…”
“Columbus sailed the blue,” some of them chanted back to him.
“And this serves to remind us that…”
“Christopher Columbus discovered America,” said Lucy, a bright-eyed twenty-two year old, who had recently graduated with first class honours from a prestigious university in the south of England.
“And this year is…” continued the tutor.
“1992,” interjected Mark, another highly gifted philosophy student, who hoped to complete his PhD thesis in a few months time.
“So, it is five hundred years since America was discovered,” observed Lucy.
“We are probably going to have a big celebration,” said Mike, enthusiastically.
“Not as big as in New York,” replied the tutor, Dr John Denham.
“I’ve seen it advertised in the Radio Times,” said Mark, “and they’re going to show quite a few documentaries on TV. It’s a big event.”

“Don’t you wish, Tanis, that you were back in the States and joining in the five hundredth anniversary celebrations over there?” asked Denham, looking at the young lady sitting opposite him.
“I won’t be celebrating anything in this country or in America,” replied the girl.
“Why not?” asked Mike. His mouth dropped open. His eyebrows rose. An embarrassing silence ensued, as the students and their tutor waited for a response from Tanis. Her cheeks flushed. She did not know how to answer this seemingly innocent question. She had recognised immediately that Mike’s question was not prompted by malice but sheer ignorance.
“After all,” said Lucy, trying to give the girl some friendly encouragement, “you are American, aren’t you?”
“I’m American Indian. My name, Tanis, comes from a Cree word for daughter,” responded the girl, slowly and patiently.
“That’s still American. You have a perfect right to join in the celebrations, don’t you?” asked Lucy. The other members of the group nodded. They wanted to affirm their friend’s rights.
“Columbus did not discover America,” replied Tanis, “and therefore we have nothing to celebrate.”
“But, it is an historical fact,” rejoined Mike, “which every school child knows.”
“Columbus did not discover America,” explained Tanis, “because we Indians, Sioux, Navajo, Cree and many other tribes knew it was there long before Columbus ever showed up.”
“I don’t see what you’re getting so churned up about,” said Mark. “What does it matter who knew what?”
“Listen,” said Tanis. “My father wrote me a letter, which arrived here two days ago. He told me that in New York, a drinks company had produced a wine to celebrate Columbus. They have called it ‘Conquistador’,” said Tanis.
Mark laughed. “What’s wrong with that?” he asked.
“It means, ‘conqueror’,” said Tanis, drily.
“Well,” Mark continued, “what’s in a name? A rose by any other name…”
“Columbus didn’t just discover America,” cried Tanis. “He started a process, which culminated in most of my people being wiped out. Those of us who were left were made to live on reservations if we wanted to preserve our cultural identity.”
“So this is an argument against racism?” suggested Samira.
“No,” answered the tutor. “That is superficial in comparison with what Tanis is trying to argue. There is a much deeper philosophical point, which is why I introduced the subject in the first place.”

The students looked at each other. They knew Dr Denham well enough to realise that he would want them to tease out the answer to this implied question, rather than expect him to give them an answer.
“Well,” said Denham, “have any of you got any ideas what the much deeper philosophical point, actually is?”
“It’s to do with language,” suggested Samira.
“It always is, in these seminars,” said Mark.
“Yes,” agreed Denham. “It’s to do with language.”

Martin, a shy student, who had made no contribution to the class so far, indicated by raising his hand, that he wished to speak. Dr Denham smiled at him and motioned to him to take the floor.
“I think,” said Martin, taking his time over his answer, “that the claim that Columbus discovered America purports to be a simple historical fact, when it isn’t,” he said.
“Go on,” said Denham.
“It is a claim to universal truth, when in fact it applies to a much smaller section of society, those who have a written history.”
“I agree with Oscar Wilde, when he said that the pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple,” observed Denham.

“The statement, ‘Columbus discovered America’ is a meta-narrative that needs deconstructing,” went on Martin.
“Well, deconstruct it,” said Denham.
“It results in cultural imperialism, such that America and Americans take with them everywhere they go the trappings of modern American culture, which they assume, will be welcomed everywhere on the planet. So, here in England as well in the cities of Europe you find a Macdonald’s on every street corner.”
“It shouldn’t have an apostrophe in the name,” commented Lucy.
“You find a Starbucks coffee house on every other European city street, as well as in England, Scotland and Wales,” said Mike.
“I thought you might mention that,” said Denham, “I’ve found out that Starbucks is the largest coffee house company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 50 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, and over 700 in the United Kingdom.”
“So, what started out as a discovery is now a takeover by multinational companies,” said Mark.
“Not only that,” said Lucy, “it is cultural activities such as sport and entertainment that have been taken over by commercial enterprise and adversely affected the lives of millions of people.”
“The UK is also to blame,” suggested Samira. “For example, following the Industrial Revolution, British people tended to define themselves in terms of the job they do, as seen in the old card game Happy Families, where you have Mr Bun, the baker, and Mrs Bun, the baker’s wife.”
“So,” said Martin, “Mrs Bun actually takes her identity from the job that her husband has; she is not a person in her own right.”
“I think we will leave it there for now,” said Dr Denham, “and take a break. We can pick up the discussion at the next seminar.”

Publication Date: 06-09-2011

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