Posted on 06/29/2006 11:36:36 AM PDT by lizol
German stereotypes of Poles
29.06.2006
They are car thieving, backward and unemployed who can’t play football, apparently.
Report by Slawek Szefs
Although their image has been changing for the better, Poles are still negatively perceived by most Germans and are not fully accepted in the country of their Western neighbors. Those are the conclusions of a six-year study published in a report by the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw.
In the eyes of an average German, Poles are mostly associated with car theft, cultural backwardness and unemployment. What's worse, they can't even play football! The latter opinion is fully justified, given the shameful performance of the Polish team in the first round of the World Cup tournament. However, it could be easily upgraded with a few wins of the national eleven, for instance, in the nearest European Championship qualifiers.
What remains disturbing are the stereotypes of Poles deeply imbedded in German minds, something that cannot be changed overnight thanks to some flashy performance. But an interesting aspect of the negative opinions is that they are shared by a majority of Germans who have never visited Poland, or had such opportunity a long, long time ago.
Konrad Schuller, Warsaw correspondent of Frankfurter Allgemeine, says this is a quite common exaggeration of an early Nineties memory when certain strata of Eastern societies spilled into what they perceived then as Western paradise.
' From among my friends in Berlin, very few have ever been to Poland. Though it is only a hundred kilometers away, if you ask people in Berlin how many of them have been to Poland, you might think it was a thousand kilometers! What you see of Poles is the black laborer on the German market, invited by a German to do black labor for mutual profit. So we have this stereotype, as this is what we see of our neighboring nation. Since few of us travel to Poland that is how our direct contacts with Poles tend to be in Germany.'
Doctor Kazimierz Woycicki, a Polish historian, considers the negative image of Poles being their own fault, because Poland does not show enough interest in promoting a different perception among Germans, especially the young generation, for instance in school curricula.
' In such a country, only a long-term program incorporated into the education system can change these stereotype views. More attention should be devoted to what information is being presented in German schools on the countries of Central Europe, on Poland and to enter into a serious discussion on the matter.'
Konrad Schuller agrees that little knowledge of Polish affairs is a contributing factor to forging false opinions. But as always, there are two sides to the coin.
' Germans are much less interested in Poland than Poles are interested in Germany, which has a negative and positive aspect. The negative one is that this kind of stereotype may develop. The positive aspect is that the German view of Poland is far less dominated by the past than the Polish view of Germany.'
However, growing two way unrestricted travel and common engagement of Poland and Germany in political and economic ventures will positively influence German perception of Poles, hopes Konrad Schuller.
' When border controls pass away between our countries, the relationship might get more relaxed. And, of course, Poland's economy is growing much more quickly than the German economy, so the stereotype of the Pole as a poor neighbor will vanish one day. Just as the stereotype of the Italian as a poor neighbor has vanished.'
And the sooner, the better. For all sides concerned.
That pic is just too funny!
Do you speak Arabic? :)
LOL! I have to send that to friends. Maybe they should write in in script. :-)
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