Earlier this week, I stumbled upon this article from Paolo Coelho’s blog. http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/01/19/30-sec-reading-the-black-boy/
The intro suggested that this was something to be read in 30 seconds. It took me longer, as several questions arose. A 30 second reading exercise turned into several minutes of reflection… I found myself asking:
1 – Did Paolo himself write this article? If so, why? Or was he simply responsible for the footnote, which is not overly instructive…
2 – Why did the author choose to narrate the actions and thoughts of the woman, and not those of the man? How would it have changed the feeling of the story for us as readers if the man’s perspective had been shared instead?
3 – What is “undeniably German”?
It was this last question that really took the time. What each of us thinks of as “undeniably German” when it pertains to people probably differs. For some, German may be someone long since dead, such as Goethe, Albert Einstein, or Beethoven; for others it might be a living day icon, like Angela Merkel, Heidi Klum or Franz Beckenbauer. I’m not sure I know what makes them German, aside from citizenship. I think I have an aversion to such emphatic language when talking about people. Putting labels on people appears to be exactly what leads to the scenario that played out in that German restaurant. In this vignette, it appears to bolster assumptions.
My frustration with the phrase “undeniably German” aside, I wonder what situations you have been in when we assumed one thing, only to have our assumptions cast aside once more information is at hand. Anyone care to provide me a 30 second read?
