LL-L "Culture" 2003.05.16 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 16.May.2003 (07) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * sassisch at yahoo.com
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "Ben J. Bloomgren" <godsquad at cox.net>
Subject: LL-L "Culture" 2003.05.16 (01) [E]

I assure you, Ron, that it is nothing of the sort. I am blind. I do not
see
anything but light. It is people's words that give me that image. It is
the
very serious expressions on the faces of the few German-speaking people
that
we have here in the Arizona desert.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Culture

Ben,

Thanks for explaining.  I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate
experiences.  The Arizona desert is a well-known haven for retirees.
Perhaps you have more than your fair share of German relics from a
bygone era.

At any rate, whatever one's mental images may be, it is important to
remember that "Germanic" and "German" are two different (though not
mutually exclusive) things.  What we here call "the Lowlands" includes
the larger part of the Low Countries (the Netherlands, Belgium and a
part of Northern France), the British Isles, their cultural transplants
(North America, Australia, South Africa, etc.), and only approximately
the northern third of what is now Germany.  Traditional culture in those
parts of Germany has more in common with the cultures of the rest of the
Lowlands and with those of Denmark than with those of "Germany proper,"
the type of Germany that is being "sold" abroad.  On Lowlands-L we care
less about national identity than with linguistic and cultural
identity.  We care about the things we have in common across national
boundaries, and we celebrate the relatively small differences we have
between us, only some of which belong to the thin, recently added layer
of national conditioning.

I am very happy to know that the blind are able to enjoy (?) and
participate in Lowlands-L.  I assume our postings reach you in audio
form, and I wonder how this technology deals with the non-English bits.
Perhaps you care to explain this to us sometime and to let us know if
there is anything we can do to facilitate it.  But perhaps your ability
to distinguish betwen light and dark allows you to read vastly enlarged
type on the computer screen.

Friendly regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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