The British have been for centuries the arch-enemies of Catholicism. In their wars, intellectual and otherwise, against the Catholic Church they have developed in their thought and language a most effective tradition to ridicule Catholicism and Catholic peoples.
.
If there is a language particularly effective to ridicule the Portuguese people that is English. Indeed, nobody can be as effective at it as the British - and without us noticing it. Their sense of humour is sarcastic and sober, they just hit at the point and then let people take their own conclusions and laugh. One of their preferred targets is our propensity for words (rather than actions) which I have been discussing as a main feature of Catholic culture. It is estimated that the Portuguese use as much as 40% more words than the British to express the same idea.
.
For example, last December the Portuguese prime-minister delivered the closing speech of the EU presidency in Lisbon before the heads of government of the EU member-countries. The following day there were several pieces in the British press glosing the speech for its extension, the big words, the facial contortions, the grandiose gestures accompanying it (v.g., here with translation).
.
Obviously, the British do not know that we have much better than that and I believe we should hide the best representatives of our tradition from them, otherwise they would laugh to death. What makes it funny in their eyes is our capacity to talk for hours and hours with difficult words and grandiose gestures often to say nothing, if not outright lies. Take this example: look at the assertiveness, the confidence in the words and the determination in the gestures. But, in the end, do you really believe that Brandão is the aldrabão?
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário