Saturday, 12 October 2019
Crash Course covers the French Revolution in 15 minutes.
Well, crash course finally covered the "French Revolution" (9th October 2019) in its sequential series of documentaries "Crash Course European History" and managed to have an interesting take on it to provide coherence to a historical narrative covered in 15 minutes. And yes, watching it was special for me and I did drink a cappuccino while I watching it. I'm going to work on jokes about tennis courts for a while.
Michael Palin "North Korea Journal"
Currently reading Michael Palins "North Korea Journal" (September, 2019) published by Hutchinson, Penguin Random House. I was worried that Palin might end up writing a gumby tourist guide to North Korea circa 2018, such as "lovely people.. oh look at all the colorful kimchi! Delightful" but this is not quite the case. Of course there is a picture of Kimchi on page 28 but it's probably mandatory, in the same way as if I went to America it would be mandatory to take a picture of a Hamburger, or a picture of Scones & Tea if I went to Britain. That reminds me I should probably take a picture of a Meat Pie & Tomato sauce sometime.
Palin is suitably observant and sceptical about the various staged scenes/ tourist spots the group visits and the managed nature of the 15 day guided tour but also attempts to remain respectful, the locals refer to their country as the "Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea - the DPRK" (pg 7) and there is advice going in "Remember that you could place North Koreans and their families in a difficult situation if you attempt to initiate contact with ordinary citizens" (pg 15).
In the chapter titled "Day 11 Sunday 6th of May" there is an excerpt of a dialogue between Palin and the guide "Hyang", the books back cover quotes it and I suspect that this dialogue has the misfortune to be evidence of a rather central thesis of the book, which could be described thusly "mutual incomprehension and shared humanity are constantly intermingled" (inside cover).
The quoted dialogue, Palin speaking to Hyang (pg 123), goes like this,
"My hope is that if I'm open about the foibles of our leaders she will open up about her own.
'Our way of life is based on freedom of speech' I say.'People can be as rude as they like about their leaders. In my country we are able to criticise our leaders if they do something wrong, and like any human beings they frequently do make mistakes.'
So Hyang plays it straight back to me.
"That's what makes us so different,' she replies. 'Our leaders are very great. They are not individuals. They represent the masses, so we cannot criticise ourselves, can we?'
I don't really know where to go with this.
'Criticising our leaders is like criticising ourselves.' she persists.
We fence with each other in this sublime landscape. I'm trying to break down the barriers between us which, frustrating are not human but ideological. I know So Hyang to be bright and intelligent. She tells me she has read Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens, so she must know that other cultures do things differently and that Dickens of all people found much about his country to criticise. But it's no good, she won't be lead. It's as if the only thing she'll criticise is criticism itself. (pgs 123 to 124).
Well to be fair put yourself in Hyangs position, her function is to guide a foreign media team, there are consequences, and their all important star comes up to you and begins a conversation with "Our way of life is based on freedom of speech", am I wrong to point out that this is an ideological statement in itself? At least Palin shows her the "Fish Slapping Dance" sketch from Monty Python (pg 130). Her question "The fish, she asks with concern, 'is it alive?". Damn straight.
The greater context of this, guided tour is the understanding that tourism to the DPRK is a source of considerable revenue, North Korea has tourist zones, mostly catering to Chinese tourists (80% of DPRKs tourists) but would like to cater to South Koreans and also the British by the way (pg 107). So anyway, I am still reading this 170 pg book and looking at its pictures.
Michael Palins "North Korea Journal" (2019) is composed of 16 chapters with many accompanying pictures, and has Michael Palins voice with its wry humour on a 15 day journey, describing being mostly waken by "Where are you, Dear General?" a patriotic anthem, as a guided tour, through North Korea (DPRK).
Palin is suitably observant and sceptical about the various staged scenes/ tourist spots the group visits and the managed nature of the 15 day guided tour but also attempts to remain respectful, the locals refer to their country as the "Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea - the DPRK" (pg 7) and there is advice going in "Remember that you could place North Koreans and their families in a difficult situation if you attempt to initiate contact with ordinary citizens" (pg 15).
In the chapter titled "Day 11 Sunday 6th of May" there is an excerpt of a dialogue between Palin and the guide "Hyang", the books back cover quotes it and I suspect that this dialogue has the misfortune to be evidence of a rather central thesis of the book, which could be described thusly "mutual incomprehension and shared humanity are constantly intermingled" (inside cover).
The quoted dialogue, Palin speaking to Hyang (pg 123), goes like this,
"My hope is that if I'm open about the foibles of our leaders she will open up about her own.
'Our way of life is based on freedom of speech' I say.'People can be as rude as they like about their leaders. In my country we are able to criticise our leaders if they do something wrong, and like any human beings they frequently do make mistakes.'
So Hyang plays it straight back to me.
"That's what makes us so different,' she replies. 'Our leaders are very great. They are not individuals. They represent the masses, so we cannot criticise ourselves, can we?'
I don't really know where to go with this.
'Criticising our leaders is like criticising ourselves.' she persists.
We fence with each other in this sublime landscape. I'm trying to break down the barriers between us which, frustrating are not human but ideological. I know So Hyang to be bright and intelligent. She tells me she has read Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens, so she must know that other cultures do things differently and that Dickens of all people found much about his country to criticise. But it's no good, she won't be lead. It's as if the only thing she'll criticise is criticism itself. (pgs 123 to 124).
Well to be fair put yourself in Hyangs position, her function is to guide a foreign media team, there are consequences, and their all important star comes up to you and begins a conversation with "Our way of life is based on freedom of speech", am I wrong to point out that this is an ideological statement in itself? At least Palin shows her the "Fish Slapping Dance" sketch from Monty Python (pg 130). Her question "The fish, she asks with concern, 'is it alive?". Damn straight.
The greater context of this, guided tour is the understanding that tourism to the DPRK is a source of considerable revenue, North Korea has tourist zones, mostly catering to Chinese tourists (80% of DPRKs tourists) but would like to cater to South Koreans and also the British by the way (pg 107). So anyway, I am still reading this 170 pg book and looking at its pictures.
Michael Palins "North Korea Journal" (2019) is composed of 16 chapters with many accompanying pictures, and has Michael Palins voice with its wry humour on a 15 day journey, describing being mostly waken by "Where are you, Dear General?" a patriotic anthem, as a guided tour, through North Korea (DPRK).
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