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kaberettI am delighted to present to you today this account of our investigations on the subject of precipitation. The research team comprised myself, noldo and mustela_nivalis; I acted as primary fieldworker due to my ability to pass unsuspected among the natives, of both Angle and Saxon origin (though we note that our conviction that the custom of intermarriage has been carried out so assiduously that no real distinction between these groups can be made). In experimental design we took great care to avoid unduly biasing the result: our population surveys used such innocuous techniques as striking up conversations about the weather, making sure to employ only culturally-neutral terms such as "hot", "dry", "wet" and "pissing it down".
The Britisch institution of the "Met Office" (previously Meteorological Office, established in 1854) and the quasi-religious ritual of the "Shipping Forecast" form the focus of a cultural obsession. Indeed the Poet Laureate, one Carol Ann Duffy, was appointed to the post following publication of her poem Prayer: the final couplet references the aforementioned Shipping Forecast, reflecting a conservative and totalitarian attitude to religious praxis within this nation-state.
These observations indicate that the cultural pastimes of "discussing the weather" and "listening to the forecast", while superficially innocuous or secular, betray a deep and abiding preoccupation with the prevailing atmospheric conditions, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of "rain". We draw this conclusion in part due to the wide range of biological terms used to describe liquid precipitation: ranging in intensity from "spitting" to "pissing", accompanied by a variety of descriptors less intensely focussed on bodily functions, we estimate that Britischers have in common currency as many as forty-two distinct words describing precipitation in its liquid form.
The verdant and misty island inhabited by these curious peoples possesses a maritime climate; ergo, runs the widely-accepted causal relationship, the unhealthy cultural focus on rain to be found among these natives. Naturally we do not seek to pass value judgments on the local customs; this notwithstanding, medical literature is filled with descriptions of the negative effects on childhood growth and lung development resulting from damp environments. We wish to highlight the famous case study of the man who was "not depressed, just British [sic]" (Utne Reader, 2005).
We propose a new sociological model in which rain plays a more nuanced role. In particular, we note that the prevailing mythology of the natives, Christianity (Anglicanism), contains a pivotal event in which a deluge floods the entire world; the receding of the flood waters is accompanied by a rainbow, which in other areas where this religion is practised is interpreted as a promise of hope for the future. Field work suggests that the common exegesis within the Britisch Islets differs significantly: in that it is not the rainbow that is the sign of hope, but the rain itself, delivered to wash away the sins of the world, in congruence with later imagery associated with baptism.
We here suggest that the Britischers have developed folk mythology that enables them to interpret local climate as an indication that they are "blessed by God" (c.f. Jerusalem, William Blake, 1804). We believe that this long-standing belief was in fact the driving force behind "missionary zeal" and "colonialism": the primary concern was clearly not Christianity per se, nor even natural resources (for many countries inconvenienced by the expeditions of these primitive folk are in fact arid), but rather the fervent commitment of the Britischers to spreading the Word regarding the power of rain.
This brief letter represents a significant step forward in understanding the feedbacks between behaviour, culture and climate within the Britisch Islets: we welcome further discussion on this burning issue.
noldo and mustela_nivalis; I acted as primary fieldworker due to my ability to pass unsuspected among the natives, of both Angle and Saxon origin (though we note that our conviction that the custom of intermarriage has been carried out so assiduously that no real distinction between these groups can be made). In experimental design we took great care to avoid unduly biasing the result: our population surveys used such innocuous techniques as striking up conversations about the weather, making sure to employ only culturally-neutral terms such as "hot", "dry", "wet" and "pissing it down".The Britisch institution of the "Met Office" (previously Meteorological Office, established in 1854) and the quasi-religious ritual of the "Shipping Forecast" form the focus of a cultural obsession. Indeed the Poet Laureate, one Carol Ann Duffy, was appointed to the post following publication of her poem Prayer: the final couplet references the aforementioned Shipping Forecast, reflecting a conservative and totalitarian attitude to religious praxis within this nation-state.
These observations indicate that the cultural pastimes of "discussing the weather" and "listening to the forecast", while superficially innocuous or secular, betray a deep and abiding preoccupation with the prevailing atmospheric conditions, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of "rain". We draw this conclusion in part due to the wide range of biological terms used to describe liquid precipitation: ranging in intensity from "spitting" to "pissing", accompanied by a variety of descriptors less intensely focussed on bodily functions, we estimate that Britischers have in common currency as many as forty-two distinct words describing precipitation in its liquid form.
The verdant and misty island inhabited by these curious peoples possesses a maritime climate; ergo, runs the widely-accepted causal relationship, the unhealthy cultural focus on rain to be found among these natives. Naturally we do not seek to pass value judgments on the local customs; this notwithstanding, medical literature is filled with descriptions of the negative effects on childhood growth and lung development resulting from damp environments. We wish to highlight the famous case study of the man who was "not depressed, just British [sic]" (Utne Reader, 2005).
We propose a new sociological model in which rain plays a more nuanced role. In particular, we note that the prevailing mythology of the natives, Christianity (Anglicanism), contains a pivotal event in which a deluge floods the entire world; the receding of the flood waters is accompanied by a rainbow, which in other areas where this religion is practised is interpreted as a promise of hope for the future. Field work suggests that the common exegesis within the Britisch Islets differs significantly: in that it is not the rainbow that is the sign of hope, but the rain itself, delivered to wash away the sins of the world, in congruence with later imagery associated with baptism.
We here suggest that the Britischers have developed folk mythology that enables them to interpret local climate as an indication that they are "blessed by God" (c.f. Jerusalem, William Blake, 1804). We believe that this long-standing belief was in fact the driving force behind "missionary zeal" and "colonialism": the primary concern was clearly not Christianity per se, nor even natural resources (for many countries inconvenienced by the expeditions of these primitive folk are in fact arid), but rather the fervent commitment of the Britischers to spreading the Word regarding the power of rain.
This brief letter represents a significant step forward in understanding the feedbacks between behaviour, culture and climate within the Britisch Islets: we welcome further discussion on this burning issue.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 05:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 06:08 pm (UTC)Weather Forecast Master Singers Slideshow with subs
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 06:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 06:53 pm (UTC)Erm. No idea whether that pile of BUT INTENT THOOOOO will help any?
(&& for what it's worth? Actually, I tend to enjoy that kind of post, though admittedly mainly when I go looking it out - but there is very much a culture within geology of referring to horrible metamorphic outcrops as "fubarite", and of watching shitty geology movies on field trips & using them as drinking games, & so on - so that is some more of my context.)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 07:26 pm (UTC)I wouldn't mind sketchy representations of anthropology as humorous devices so much if the most popular people claiming the title 'anthropologist' *cough JaredDiamondcough* didn't themselves present sketchy, essentialising, self-aggrandising, content-denuded versions of anthropology. I do heartily wish for a more up-to-date public understanding of what anthropologists do, and some people like Danny Miller (@DannyAnth on the twitter) are good at providing it but many are not. This is our fault, not yours. There is also the fact that anthropology is 'a comparative study of common sense' to quote Eriksen, and so the thing about problematising, contextualising and comparing everyday occurences and using them to talk about bigger, wider ideas is that people see the first part of this but not the second, and obviously seeing someone take as their topic something you think is totally mundane and obvious seems kind of silly until you are shown that this is a basis for important and thought-provoking extrapolations. From your nice and reassuring comment I now get that you don't actually think anthropology or other social sciences are silly, so that's good.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 06:52 pm (UTC)Given your specific mention of fieldwork being done among the Angle and Saxon natives, I suspect you did not collect data on the Norman ruling class for comparison? My understanding is that they are relatively recent immigrants from less damp climes, and so it would be important to understand how they have reacted to the native folk-mythology of rain that you have discovered, and whether they have integrated it into their theology.
I note from my (limited) study of their literature that there seems to be a common practice among high-status families (either Normen or natives trying to integrate themselves as such) sending ill children to sunnier climes to recuperate from various illnesses. In particular, this seems to be a folk-remedy for certain diseases, such as tuberculosis, which might be more properly be treated with antibiotics.
From this anecdote, I speculate that the folk-mythology of rain is limited to the lower-status native groups, and that the Normen of the ruling class do not fully share it.
This does complicate, however, your interpretation of the Britisch colonial depredations as an attempt to spread a gospel of wetness. It seems plausible that such motives were used to encourage the Angle and Saxon families to contribute their children to the armies needed for these wars, and to make the traditional offerings to the chief that funded them, but I think we must look elsewhere for an explanation of the motives of the chiefs and their councils (parliaments) in expending resources to attack their neighbors.
Perhaps for that, we can look to the violent cultural background of the Normen. Besides the obvious example of their conquering the primitive-but-peaceful rain-worshipers of these islets, they also warred with the more civilized states in the Mediterranean early in their history, even participating in a famous sack of the great citadel of al-Quds after which they triumphantly claimed to have filled the streets waist-high with the blood of the citizens.
Given this history, I find it hardly surprising that they would have corrupted the native Angles' and Saxons' peaceful Earth-centric rain worship into an ideology that the gospel of rain ought to be carried at spearpoint. I suggest further work in the more distant reaches of the islets to see if you can find evidence of the uncorrupted original form of the natives' culture, though it may be that only archaeology will uncover it.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-01 09:38 pm (UTC)