Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Brit Muscovite

We find it very important to know what do other people think about us. Do you agree? With this purpose I’d like to start today a new theme in this blog - attitude of russian people to different countries and nations. Before you go to Moscow, let you inform about.

Article by Bavin P. www.fom.ru

Great Britain

The poll results show that Great Britain is not something remote and unknown to Russians. Sixty percent of the respondents had some associations with this country. In response to the question, "When you hear the words 'Great Britain,' what do they bring to mind?", the respondents did not limit themselves to banal concepts like "a country, a state," but demonstrated a familiarity with British culture, history, and climate. In the Russian consciousness, there is no dominating sphere of associations connected with Great Britain. Many respondents recalled cultural factors (12% of responses), historical events and personalities (11%), and also the weather which, in Russian opinion, is characteristic of Great Britain (11%).

As far as British literature and art, the respondents named mostly the Beatles and Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Conan Doyle and his characters were mentioned more frequently than were Shakespeare or Agatha Christie. We believe this once again confirms that the leader of the world proletariat was right in saying: "The most important art for us is the cinema." Soviet movies based on the Sherlock Holmes stories help these works stand out in the Russian consciousness.

Among architectural monuments, the respondents point to the Tower of London and Big Ben, i.e., those sights that, figuratively speaking, have "grown" to the rank of architecture and have become state symbols. The Beatles, too, have become more than a music band, and they are now a national symbol (However, it is possible that the frequent mentioning of the Beatles is relatively situational. Not long before this poll was conducted George Harrison, one of the Beatles, passed away, and his death resonated in the world.) .(not without help from the British authorities)

One of the key national symbols of Great Britain is the monarchy. To 8% of the respondents, this country is first of all associated with the British queen, and also with the Queen Mother. It should be noted that Russians do not always name the monarchy as a distinctive feature of a country. For example, in a poll about , monarchy was practically not mentioned at all, and when the respondents were asked to name famous Dutch people, more named painters and football players than the queen. Thus, in order to become a meaningful country-related association, a specific monarchy needs to stand out. It is obvious that the British monarchy is the most famous of all monarchies, and is to a certain extent a prime example of monarchy in general; however, in this case we see that a considerable part of statements devoted to the British monarchy are not related to the ruling queen, but to the 101-year-old Queen Mother. Such longevity attracts attention.

Practically no respondents mentioned English painting or cinema. Probably this is because, in Russian opinions, in these spheres of culture the British did not create anything significant that goes beyond the national scales and has no similarities in other cultures.

Eleven percent of respondents named mainly historical associations. The respondents recalled not only those events of world history that involve Britain and Russia – the Second World War, the Entente, the Cold War – but also representatives of the distant past (Richard the Lion Heart, Mary Stuart, Admiral Nelson). To some Russians, the image of Great Britain is still connected to the position that Great Britain once had in the world: "It was once a big colonial power"; "It used to be ruler of the seas."

Russians appear to have a fairly definite idea of the "typical" Englishman. However, the attitudes to this "typical" Englishman are different. Many believe that the British are characterized by "neatness, efficiency," "English strictness," that they are "noble, well-bred people"; others name such characteristics as "stiffness, snobbishness" and "conceit." These characteristics do not contradict each other, but show that the respondents have different attitudes towards the predominant image of a typical Englishman.

A broad and deep knowledge of a country's history and culture normally indicate a good attitude towards this country, and the presence of many standard words like "country" and "state" among stable associations is indicative of a higher degree of tension. In the case of Germany, the most frequent association is the Second World War, and the second most frequently named personality is Adolph Hitler. However, this does not prevent 61% of Russians from considering Germany a country friendly to Russia (only 20% reported the opposite attitude. This scheme does not work for Great Britain for some reason.

Although Russians are well-familiar with British culture and their associations are mainly positive, they seem to be more watchful of Great Britain than of other countries. Less than half of respondents (48%) consider Great Britain to be a country friendly to Russia, and 28% consider it a hostile country. The latter figure is the highest among all European nations the Public Opinion Foundation has done similar polls on in the last year. Most of those on their guard against Great Britain are supporters of Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, people with university degrees and residents of large cities. Among the supporters of Zyuganov, the number considering Great Britain a hostile country is 15% higher than those who have the opposite opinion. It is highly probable that Communist Party supporters are driven by ideological motives of non-acceptance of the foreign policies of Great Britain and the U.S. However, even for this category, this idea is not the main one in the structure of perception of England. In responses to the question "When you hear the words 'Great Britain,' what comes into your mind?", there are practically no associations related to England's foreign policy.

The structure of the other two groups' motives – respondents with university degrees and residents of large cities – who said they were on their guard about Great Britain, is even less clear now.

Similar contradictions between the general evaluation and specific, mainly positive remarks can be observed in Russian attitudes towards British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It is difficult to say how stable this attitude is. Currently, 24% of respondents say they like him, and 10% do not like him. However, "the qualified majority" (two-thirds of those polled) – could not state any definite attitude on this politician.

Ten percent of those polled said they dislike Tony Blair. However, only 3% of these people could give specific reasons for their negative attitude. One percent of the respondents said Blair is just unpleasant: "a sly fox," "a slimy guy," "illiterate." The same percentage of people said they do not like that Blair backs U.S. policy; "the Americans' footman"; "the Americans' marionette"; "he confirms what Bush says." In the opinion of another 1% of Russians, Tony Blair is a much smaller personality than the famous Margaret Thatcher: "he does not have Thatcher's class"; "I liked Thatcher more." However, some compare Blair with Thatcher in a positive way: "He is like Thatcher – a very strong politician."

Two-thirds (16%) of the 24% of the respondents who like Tony Blair managed to give reasons for their attitude. In response to the question, "What can you say about British Prime Minister Tony Blair?", the respondents characterize him as a business-like, fun, punctual, pleasant, although not very mature looking person ("he looks like Tom Sawyer"; "he is lop-eared") who is a good family man. Another 4% of those polled said the British prime minister is willing to cooperate with Russia.

Thus, we see that the percentage of those who find something negative in Tony Blair's image or policy is three times less than the percentage of those who say they do not like Blair at all, and two-thirds of those who like Tony Blair can give reasons for their view.

So, why is it that Russians, who are well-familiar with British culture and history, are more watchful of Great Britain than other countries? Why is it that Russians are far from completely liking the British prime minister, although they name many of his professional and personal qualities, while naming almost no negative qualities?

The poll results do not provide an answer to this question, if we do not take the impression made by the notorious English climate as such an answer. To 11% of Russians, the first thing that comes to mind when England is mentioned is the weather, and this weather is bad: "constant rains"; "it's dull, foggy, and wet."

The tension towards Britain, the unwillingness to consider it a friendly nation, either does not have any clear reason in the Russian consciousness, or these motives exist at a deeper level than the initial associations, and revealing these motives requires additional research.

IS GREAT BRITAIN FRIENDLY OR UNFRIENDLY TOWARDS RUSSIA?

WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF GREAT BRITAIN?

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: WHAT COMES FIRST TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORDS "GREAT BRITAIN"?

Russian assosiations for the followiing words about Great Britain:
Culture
• "The country with interesting architecture and other sights"; "a center of European culture"; "the clock Big Ben, the Tower of London"; "ancient castles"; "Westminster Abbey"; "Stonehendge"; "Shakespeare, art"; "historical novels by English writers"; "Jane Eyre"; "Doctor Watson, Sherlok Holmes"; "S. Maughm, the writer"; "Jack London, literature heroes, poets; Agatha Christi,» "Paul McCartney"; "the Beatles.»
History
• "History, the Lion-Heart King, Marian Stuart, Nelson, Churchill"; "it used to be a great colonial state, the owner of the seas"; "was a member of the Allies"; "the English Revolution"; "the Second World War, our allies – they fought against Hitler, the second front"; "the Cold War, «'iron lady' Margaret Thatcher.»
Climate, nature, geographical situation
• "Always raining"; "cold"; "fog"; "drafts, dampness"; "a dull, grey weather like in Leningrad"; "the islands, bad weather"; "an island separated from the continent.»
The Queen
• "Elizabeth and the Queen-mother, who is already 101, her period of rule; I very much like how she goes around in her carriage."
A rich country
• "I envy people who live there"; "a developed country"; "we'd like to live the way they do"; "England is a rich country, they live well"; "high living standards"; "welfare"; "a great country"; "theirs life is better than ours.»
Population, national character
• "Standoffishness, snobbery of Englishmen"; "English primness, accuracy, ability to work"; "noble, well-educated and highbred, intelligent people"; "conservatism, they are closed.»
Princess Diana
• "Lady Diana"; "the princess Diana.»
Parliament
• "Traditional parliamentary system"; "the House of Lords.»
Football
• "In England, football was born"; "Manchester United football team»; "good football teams – the team of England and the club Liverpool; "sports, football.»
Customs, traditions
• "English Tea"; "a country with rich traditions"; "porridge in the morning.»
London
• "The capital - London.»
English goods
• "Meat, stew"; "I have English boots"; "wool"; "Rolls"; "pincheck English dresses"; "nice goods, clothes, footwear; knitwear.»
General positive appraisals
• "I'd like to go there and live a little"; "a good country, positive emotions"; "I like England, I have good respect for England.»
Other
• "Good army"; "the English pound"; "English lessons"; "an English psychic mentally repaired a clock"; "America's tail"; "in a hundred years, it will be drowned in the ocean"; "one English lady drove around Great Britain by car.»
Article by Bavin P. www.fom.ru

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