kultur 11 - Burton

I thought the recurring theme in these texts was clearly the idea of perceived barriers, in the forms of stereotypes, held by the individuals of one region towards those of another. This is something that we as American's can also appreciate because we generally hold many regional stereotypes as well. the word "Southerner" generally brings to mind a hick or hillbilly, we think of people from the mid west as very hardy cheese-eating folks, and the jersey shore makes sane people weep for humanity. of course these stereotypes are going to fit some individuals that live in the areas they are about, and not fit others, and that must also be the case in Germany. However, I did find it interesting that the imagined (or unimagined) differences between the inhabitants of the north and south of Germany mirror those of the perceived differences between the north and south of the united states.