"Stanly cannily sprinkled his tale with picturesque chiefs, exotic sultans, and faithful servants, and he introduced it with the sweeping generalizations that allowed his readers to feel at home in an uncivilized world: "The Arab never changes"; "The Banyan is a born trader"; "For the half-castes I have great contempt"" (30).
I found this interesting not only because it shows the extreme lengths Stanley went to to protect his alter ego, but because of the striking similarities to the sort of touristic stereotypes that are considered very common now: "The French are snobs"; "Americans are fat, rich, and lazy"; "Muslims are dangerous." These are obviously the more offensive ones, but generalizations like this still exist today. Even the perhaps not so offensive ones -- the Canadian "Eh", the British sense of humor, the Texan drawl -- can still be very harmful and insulting. Even though today we probably have the best understanding of the other cultures on our globe -- and the best access to information -- many people still rely on these generalizations to "feel at home." Xenophobia is still common. I think it is shocking, considering how far we have come, that people today can still be just as unaware of other cultures as those at the end of the 19th century.
- What parallels can you see between tourism today and Stanley's stab at touristic literature here? What differences?
- Do you think that people still make these sorts of generalizations? Why or why not? What purpose would these generalizations have?
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