Anglomania: A European Love Affair (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Ian Buruma has been one of my favorite contemporary public intellectuals with the likes of Christopher Hitchens, and Milan Kundera. He has a vast array of knowledge from Asia (he has lived in Japan and China and speaks both languages fluently), he is of Dutch and English ancestry (essentially he has two native tongues), and has an interest in contemporary politics and religion. He has written books on Japan, China, other Asian countries, Germany and Japan’s post war guilt, Muslims in Holland, and the rift between eastern religions and the west. So it should come as know surprise that he has written a book about Europe’s fascination with English culture, Anglomania: A European Love Affair (1998), which is a combination memoir/history book.The first chapter, “Churchill’s Cigar” is about Buruma’s personal history as an Anglomane due to his lineage as the son of an English mother of German heritage and a Dutch father. He also goes onto explain his Dutch associations with Anglomania. The next section is “Voltaire’s Coconuts” which is a discussion of England’s image to Voltaire as a land of freedom and tolerance. For many in Europe it was a model of liberal and religious tolerance, which Voltaire likens to coconuts that will thrive if planted anywhere after a period. “Goethe’s Shakespeare” in Chapter three looks at the great German writer’s appreciation and influence from Shakespeare. Chapter five, “Fingal’s Cave,” Buruma explores the intellectual differences between Great Britain (Scotland in particular-David Hume, Adam Smith, James Boswell, and James Macpherson). The Scottophila tradition is that of romance of pre-civilization of an apolitical community of natural men or noble savages. This is in contrast to the Anglo tradition of idealization of political institutions, social arrangements of a civilized society. Then there’s the whole romantic tradition of Sir Walter Scott to consider as well. Buruma then looks at German Prince Hermann von Pucker in chapter five, “The Parkomane,” which was one of his monikers along with Musakau, Prince Pickle (in England), and Lord Smorttork (in Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers). This name is related to his reputation as “the Goethe of landscape gardening”-which corresponds to gardening as a symbol of England and a metaphor for their culture. It seems that this figure and several other throughout the book have mixed feelings about England and prefer their idealized versions of the country to the true state. This is a motif that is discussed throughout the book. Chapter six, “The Graveyard of Revolution,” discusses all the dissents like Marx and the all the others from the failed revolutions of 1848 who found freedom to voice their opinions and plot their next step in England. This includes dissidents form Hungary, France, Russia, and Italy. In “School Days,” chapter seven, Buruma and many Anglophile’s fascination with English public schools are discussed. In particular a series of books called Tom Brown’s School Days. “A Sporting Man” (Chapter eight) deals in particular the idea put forth by Wellington that Napoleon was defeatd on Eaton’s playing fields is discussed. British games have always been an important aspect of the culture. In chapter eight, the importing of British games (cricket, rugby, and the establishment of the modern Olympics) to Europe is discussed. Buruma’s mixed German/English background is the focus of chapter nine, “Wagnerians.” This chapter also begins a discussion about Jews in England since it seems most Germans who emigrated there were of Jewish ancestry. Thus, Chapter 10 follows with “Jewish Cricket” and the influence of English Jews like Theodor Herzl and Benjamin Disraeli. The concept of Zionism in particular came from these quarters and is one of the major the subjects of this section. “The Anglomane Who Hated England” (Chapter 11) continues to discuss Germanic concepts of Englishness via the impressions of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who obviously had mixed feelings about the English. The actor Leslie Howard is the subject of Chapter 12, who is known to embody the idea of a true Englishman in spite of the fact that he was a Hungarian. Architecture is the subject of Chapter 13, “Dr. Pevsner.” He was another European obsessed with English architecture and the study and recording of the many examples. Buruma follows this chapter with a discussion of his time as a writer for The Spectator in Chapter 14, “ The Man In The Tweed Coat.” It shows his ambivalence about being an Anglomane. The last chapter, Chapter 15, “The Las Englishman” is a sort of postscript or coda about the separation of England from mainland Europe and what the future might hold.As usual Burma has written a book that is well researched and a compelling read for anyone interested in England and its relationship with Europe. I like how Bururma drew on his own experiences growing up in Holland with an English mother as well as making observations from his life living in places like Japan, Hong Kong, and England. It is probably only of interest to those who have an interest in British culture and the history of ideas.
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