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Tag(s): American Foreign Policy; Americans-Things American; Books; Culture; Early; Empire; Florence; Florence; France; History; (more...) History; Law; Memory; Other; Story; Success; Travel; Travel; WalMart; Work; Writing; Writing (less...)
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December 25, 2007 at 11:02:00

Americans Discovering Themselves in Europe

by Len Hart Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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The only way to truly know your own country is to travel to some other country. The only way to understand or find yourself is to abandon your "self" and realize that the "self" is an invention and an illusion.
--Robert Dente - 10:14pm Jun 15, 2002 EDT (#15047 of 38607)

It is an American tradition to leave America. In the famous movie and the most recent remake, Sabrina said "I found myself in Paris". Appropriately, La Vie en Rose was playing in the background. Fiction, perhaps! Nevertheless many Americans have found and continue to find "themselves" abroad: James Whistler, John Singer Sergeant, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and Mark Twain. For many it is a Jungian journey of self-discovery as is life itself.

I had been to Europe five times now; each time I had come with delight, with maddening eagerness to return, and each time how, where, and in what way I did not know, I had felt the bitter ache of homelessness, a desperate longing for America, an overwhelming desire to return.

During this summer in Paris, I think I felt this great homesickness more than ever before, and I really believe that from this emotion, this constant and almost intolerable effort of memory and desire, the material and the structure of the books I now began to write were derived.
--Thomas Wolfe, The Story of a Novel quoted in The Creative Process

The great American exodus may have begun with the "expulsion" of Tories during the Revolutionary war. Most went to the Canadian provinces, but between seven thousand and eight thousand went to England --notably Thomas Danforth who had practiced law in the colonies.

Later, Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of War and Secretary of State, fled to England and became a successful lawyer. Other "confederates" fled to Canada, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, and Central and South America.

The most famous expatriates were the "lost generation": Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Julian Green, William Seabrook, E. E. Cummings, Harry Crosby, Sidney Howard, Louis Bromfield, Robert Hillyer, and Dashiell Hammett. They shared with the Dadists and the Surrealists an almost universal disillusionment following the "Great War".

Most of the expatriates congregated in Paris, France where they lived for several weeks, months, years, or even for the rest of their lives. During the 1920s, Paris was a bustling cosmopolitan hub where a rich history converged with a blossoming artistic community.
It was considered to be the cultural capital of the early twentieth century. Attracted by this atmosphere, the expatriates settled in Paris hoping to establish their literary identities and find a market for their work. Nevertheless, each author found a varying degree of success while living and writing in Paris. F. Scott Fitzgerald, as compared to his friend and fellow author Ernest Hemingway, was much less productive in the mid-1920s.
--American Expatriates in Europe: The Lost Generation

John Singer Sargent was of another type, born of American parents in Florence. He grew up speaking several languages, most certainly English, French and Italian.

His 1884 portrait of New Orleans born Virginie Avegno Gautreau --better known as Madame X --became his most famous portrait. It's hard to imagine how one succeeds in scandalizing a society in which men were expected to have mistresses. Nevertheless, a single strap off the bare shoulder was too much for polite society. The hubbub persuaded the artist to quit Paris for London. He would not see America until 1887.

Many expatriates returned to US but --in the early 1920s --many returned to Europe. Their complaints about postwar American culture --standardized and vulgar --reverberate today in contemporary criticisms of FOX, football, and Limbaugh. For them --as well as contemporary American critics --Europe represented ancient wisdom, a sense of history lost amid post-modern Americana and suburban sprawl, mass media, Walmarts, and super-sized fries.

Though not an expatriate, William Wordsworth wrote of London:

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

My first such impressions of London were not from Westminster Bridge looking east but Blackfriars looking west in the damp gray cold --London weather at its worst. That the Thames looked like gray slate did not deter the intrepid racers rowing quickly upstream.

Later, of course, I would find Wordsworth's "London" from Westminster, just below the statue of Boudicca, a symbol of every people's revolt against tyranny and empire.

Indeed, what American, longing to find what had been lost in him/herself, could pass the piazzas of Florence, the cafés of Paris, the coffeehouses of Vienna, the cabarets of Berlin, the pubs of London and not be inspired to rediscover those parts not nurtured back home in Indiana or perhaps deliberately scorned in Texas? The tradition is not passive flight; it is the active embrace of life itself.

And now, we mark a significant passage, a loss not merely to jazz but American culture.

http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/

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8 comments

A native Californian, Jan Baumgartner is a freelance writer currently living in Maine. Her background includes scriptwriting, comedy writing for the Northern California Emmy Awards, and travel writing for The New York Times. She has worked as a grant writer for the non-profit sector in the fields of academia, AIDS, and wildlife conservation and anti-poaching for NGO's in the U.S. and Africa. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous online and print publications in the U.S. and internat...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Jan BaumgartnerA native Californian, Jan Baumgartner is a freelance writer currently living in Maine. Her background includes scriptwriting, comedy writing for the Northern California Emmy Awards, and travel writing for The New York Times. She has worked as a grant writer for the non-profit sector in the fields of academia, AIDS, and wildlife conservation and anti-poaching for NGO's in the U.S. and Africa. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous online and print publications in the U.S. and internat...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Embracing life.

Wonderful article! Traveling is indeed embracing life. I leave for Mexico in two days and where I will live for the next few months. Travel, for me, is not so much an escape, but rather, a means of exploration, communication, a common dialogue between people, which ultimately, shows us that no matter where our feet may be planted, we are much the same. That common bond melts away borders and misconceptions. It also opens us up, hopefully, to new ideas and better understanding. Your descriptions reminded me of past travels to Europe, and Africa as well. It is a gift to wander, a cherished education, and one I never take for granted.

by Jan Baumgartner (52 articles, 136 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 249 comments) on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 1:49:50 PM

Len Hart is a Houston based film/video producer specializing in shorts and full-length documentaries. He is a former major market and network correspondent; credits include CBS, ABC-TV and UPI. He maintains the progressive blog: The Existentialist Cowboy
Len HartLen Hart is a Houston based film/video producer specializing in shorts and full-length documentaries. He is a former major market and network correspondent; credits include CBS, ABC-TV and UPI. He maintains the progressive blog: The Existentialist Cowboy

Re: "Embracing life."

Thank you for your astute comments. Being originally from Texas, I have fond memories of Mexico. Texas, once a part of Mexico, continues to be enriched by its proximity to Mexico. I am quite at home in San Antonio and lived in El Paso for several years. I agree completely with your assessment of travel as education. I was always fascinated with European history but no lecture can replace the actual locations and the people I've met in Scotland, England and the Continent. One of my most vivid memories is a lovely village just north of Geneva ---Romainmotier. And, in Florence, I will always remember the hospitality of Puccio Pucci (brother of the designer). Puccio graciously gave us what is perhaps the best view of the Duomo to be had in Florence --the view from his rooftop garden on the Palazzo. Breakthtaking.

I currently co-host a syndicated radio show "The Travel Hour" with author, Matthew Stevenson.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 173 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 549 comments) on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 3:06:42 PM

The author lives in a small village in central Europe and has been active in the local workers movement for nearly 3 decades.

Globalism knows no borders, why should we ?
Tony ForestThe author lives in a small village in central Europe and has been active in the local workers movement for nearly 3 decades.

Globalism knows no borders, why should we ?

ex-pats rule, sort of

American Expats In The UK

TheAmericanHour.com

http://american.meetup.com/

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/

http://www.expatplanner.com/

http://www.escapeartist.com/

and many many more. I personally try to avoid fellow Americans as far as possible. If by chance I do cross paths with one or more...I will engage in conversation but for the most part such conversations are trying on my nerves. One exception lingers on in my memory; a fellow expat and I literally bumped into each other at a train station. A friendly conversation in the local language ensued and after a few minutes we came to learn we were both american expats. That was worth a laugh for both of us. The gentleman was at least two decades older than I. We discussed the question of citizenship. Unlike me, he had become a citizen of our host country and much like me, he had no desire to return to the USA until one day, his mother passed away and he had to make plans to fly back to sell off the farm and all. It was then that his troubles began...for the first time in his life as an expat he felt homesick....and very angry ; the US Consulate would not approve his visa BECAUSE he had "turned his back on America" and become a citizen of a foreign country.

You never know !

by Tony Forest (6 articles, 15 quicklinks, 155 diaries, 1358 comments) on Monday, December 31, 2007 at 4:47:26 AM

good comments

Thanks for sharing your experiences and also your links. The "homesickness" you describe sounds very much like that experienced by Thomas Wolfe. In his case, it triggered his creative imagination to give form to a myriad of memories. There is a common thread that seems to run through "expatriate" experiences. Many expats have in common numerous experiences stemming from the move, the cultures, the language et al. I find Europeans'--on the whole --to be more down to earth and less snobby. I've had no trouble "getting on" with all types. I once had a very interesting conversation with Princess Diana's father --Lord Spencer. He had a good sense of humor and was very "down to earth". Thanks for posting.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 173 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 549 comments) on Monday, December 31, 2007 at 5:37:51 AM

k
Matthew Dickinsonk

Genes

Isn't it just a matter of genes? People tend to yearn for their old home. You're not going to find many black americans or Chinese americans going to italy and discovering themselves . and most white americans won't want to go to Norway or Sweden much.

it takes too long to fill out the form to sign up for this place.

I think Alex Jones is stupider than Rush Limbaugh.

by Matthew Dickinson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, January 4, 2008 at 8:37:46 AM

Rev. José M. Tirado is a poet, priest, and writer finishing a PhD in psychology while living in Iceland. His writings have appeared in CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, and The Endless Search, among others. He can be reached via his website: http://www.thepathofmyexperience.com/
José TiradoRev. José M. Tirado is a poet, priest, and writer finishing a PhD in psychology while living in Iceland. His writings have appeared in CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, and The Endless Search, among others. He can be reached via his website: http://www.thepathofmyexperience.com/

Genes?

I´m a Puertorican-American living in Iceland. I have traveled alot here in Europe and saw many African-Americans in Italy, some speaking Italian. I have seen many other expats in quite unlikely places. I lived almost 5 years in Japan, and now 6 years in Iceland and I hate travelling back to the States. The violence, the nastiness, the arrogance, the ignorance...I could go on. No, I think people go look for themselves and often encounter in the "other" a better refelction of themselves than when surrounded by teh "sames".

by José Tirado (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments) on Saturday, January 5, 2008 at 3:01:19 PM

I do not miss the arrogance either

You're right, Jose. Like any normal person, I have good and positive memories. But I cannot deny that arrogance and rudeness seemed to have been at a peak during the early days of Bus's war on Iraq. If you were sporting a flag, you were treated like a pariah. Absurd! The TRUE patriots were opposing that bloody war crime and were shunned because they dared to tell the truth. The treatment given the Dixie Chicks is symptomatic of it.

by Len Hart (131 articles, 173 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 549 comments) on Saturday, January 5, 2008 at 4:13:52 PM