#west european culture

[overwatchfanskinarchive]

Chef's Kiss Widowmaker by Ethan Tadin (artstation)

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Johann Friedrich August Tischbein (German, 1750-1812) Amalie von Levetzow (1788-1868), 1803 The 15-year-old Amalie of Levetzow appears delicate, graceful and almost floating. The life-size portrait was created on the occasion of her wedding, whereupon the pigeon with the myrtle branch. Tischbein was a sought-after portraitist. He had trained with his uncle in Kassel as well as in Paris and Rome and gave his figures with great painting fineness and liveliness. Amalie became the mother of Ulrike von Levetzow, who fell in love with Marienbad, 72-year-old Goethe 17 years later.

[leroibobo]

venice's levantine synagogue was built in 1541 for use by wealthy sephardim coming from what's today palestine, lebanon, and syria. the synagogue is located in venice's jewish ghetto, where italian, sephardic, and ashkenazi jews were sequestered. all of venice's synagogues were forced to close in 1917 to avoid an austro-hungarian invasion and remain inactive today.

[storywestistrash]

i am actually so tired of the way westerners treat eastern europeans

[aeolianblues]

Every time I see someone qualify habits by saying something like 'especially Americans/North Americans' on here, I can't help but think 'ah but all that means is you haven't met as many of the rest of us, right'. Everything isn't America-exclusive behaviour, there are awesome people and assholes everywhere and it probably helps not to moralise nationality. I dunno.

[royalty-nobility]

Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) with Charlotte, Princess Royal (1766-1828)

Artist: Benjamin West (British-American, 1738-1820)

Date: 1776

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London

Description

In this double portrait the Queen and the Princess Royal are engaged in tatting a piece of material or embroidery between them; on the table beside the Queen is a bust of Minerva, a sheet of music and papers; in the distance are St James's Park and Westminster Abbey. As if all this were not improving enough there is a sheet of drawings by Raphael. West was paid 150 guineas for this painting which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1777.

[xtruss]

Who Were The Tarim Basin Mummies? Even Scientists Were Surprised. The Enigmatic, Extremely Well-preserved Mummies Still Defy Explanation—and Draw Controversy.

— By Erin Blakemore | September 15, 2023

Hundreds of bodies have been excavated from cemeteries like this one around the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, a region of Western China. Known as the Tarim Basin mummies, these people lived some 4,000 years ago—and their ancient DNA has yielded surprising insights. Photograph By Wenying LI, XinJiang Institute of Cultural Relics And Archaeology

Though they died thousands of years ago, hundreds of bodies excavated in East Asia’s Tarim Basin look remarkably alive. They retain the hairstyles, clothing, and accoutrements of a long-past culture—one that once seemed to suggest they were migrant Indo-Europeans who settled in what is now China thousands of years ago.

But the mummies’ seemingly perfect state of preservation wasn’t their only surprise. When modern DNA research revealed the preserved bodies were people indigenous to the Tarim Basin—yet genetically distinct from other nearby populations—the Tarim Basin mummies became even more enigmatic. Today, researchers still ask questions about their cultural practices, their daily lives, and their role in the spread of modern humanity across the globe.

How Were The Tarim Basin Mummies Found?

Buried in a variety of cemeteries around the basin as long as 4,000 years ago, the naturally mummified corpses were first unearthed by European explorers in the early 20th century. Over time, more and more of the Tarim bodies were unearthed, along with their spectacular cultural relics. To date, hundreds have been found. The earliest of the mummies are about 2,100 years old, while more recent mummies have been dated to about 500 B.C.

One of the most famous mummies found in the Tarim Basin is the Princess of Xiaohe, also known as the Beauty of Xiaohe. Named for the cemetery where her body was found, she is remarkably well-preserved even down to her eyelashes. Photograph By Wenying LI, XinJiang Institute of Cultural Relics And Archaeology

Who Really Were The Tarim Basin Mummies?

At first, the mummies’ Western-like attire and European-like appearance prompted hypotheses that they were the remains of an Indo-European group of migrant people with roots in Europe, perhaps related to Bronze-Age herders from Siberia or farmers in what is now Iran.

They had blond, brown, and red hair, large noses, and wore bright, sometimes elaborate clothing fashioned from wool, furs, or cowhide. Some wore pointed, witch-like hats and some of the clothing was made of felted or woven cloth, suggesting ties to Western European culture.

Still others wore plaid reminiscent of the Celts—perhaps most notably one of the mummies known as Chärchän Man, who stood over six feet tall, had red hair and a full beard, and was buried over a thousand years ago in a tartan skirt.

Another of the most famous of the bodies is that of the so-called “Princess” or “Beauty” of Xiaohe, a 3,800-year-old woman with light hair, high cheekbones, and long, still-preserved eyelashes who seems to be smiling in death. Though she wore a large felt hat and fine clothing and even jewelry in death, it is unclear what position she may have occupied in her society.

But the 2021 study of 13 of the mummies’ ancient DNA led to the current consensus that they belonged to an isolated group that lived throughout the now desert-like region during the Bronze Age, adopting their neighbors’ farming practices but remaining distinct in culture and genetics.

Scientists concluded that the mummies were descendants of Ancient North Eurasians, a relatively small group of ancient hunter-gatherers who migrated to Central Asia from West Asia and who have genetic links to modern Europeans and Native Americans.

How Were They Mummified?

These bodies were not mummified intentionally as part of any burial ritual. Rather, the dry, salty environment of the Tarim Basin—which contains the Taklimakan Desert, one of the world’s largest—allowed the bodies to decay slowly, and sometimes minimally. The extreme winter cold of the area is also thought to have helped along their preservation.

How Were They Buried?

Many bodies were interred in “boat-shaped wooden coffins covered with cattle hides and marked by timber poles or oars,” according to researchers. The discovery of the herb ephedra in the burial sites suggests it had either a medical or religious significance—but what that religion might have been, or why some burials involve concentric rings of wooden stakes, is still unclear.

Mummified corpses were first unearthed in the Tarim Basin by European explorers in the early 20th century. Their Western-like appearance and clothing originally led researchers to believe these ancient people were migrants from Europe—but DNA later debunked that theory. Photograph By Wenying LI, XinJiang Institute of Cultural Relics And Archaeology

What Did They Eat?

Masks, twigs, possibly phallic objects, and animal bones found at the mummies’ cemeteries provide a tantalizing view of their daily lives and rituals. Though most questions about their culture remain unanswered, the burials did point to their diets and the fact that they were farmers. The mummies were interred with barley, millet, and wheat, even necklaces featuring the oldest cheese ever found. This indicates that they not only farmed, but raised ruminant animals.

What Were Their Daily Lives Like?

The Tarim Basin dwellers were genetically distinct. But their practices, from burial to cheesemaking, and their clothing, which reflects techniques and artistry practiced in far-off places at the time, seem to show they mixed with, and learned from, other cultures, adopting their practices over time and incorporating them into a distinct civilization.

Researchers now believe their daily lives involved everything from farming ruminant animals to metalworking and basketmaking—helped along by the fact that the now-desolate desert of the Tarim Basin region was once much greener and had abundant freshwater.

Researchers also believe that the Tarim Basin residents traded and interacted with other people in what would eventually become a critical corridor on the Silk Road, linking East and West in the arid desert.

But archaeologists still have much to learn about what daily life was like for these ancient humans, including who they traded with, what religious beliefs they adopted, and whether their society was socially stratified.

Most of the bodies were found buried in boat-shaped coffins like this one, with the site typically marked by oars. This coffin is covered with a cattle hide, suggesting that the Tarim Basin people raised cattle and other ruminant animals. Photograph By Wenying LI, XinJiang Institute of Cultural Relics And Archaeology

Why Are The Tarim Basin Mummies Controversial?

The amazingly preserved mummies have long fascinated archaeologists. But the Tarim Basin mummies have also become political flashpoints. The Tarim Basin is located in the modern-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, land claimed by China’s Uyghur minority. Uyghur nationalists claim the mummies are their forbears, but the Chinese government refutes this and has been reluctant to allow scientists to study the mummies or look at their ancient DNA.

In 2011, China withdrew a group of the mummies from a traveling exhibition, claiming they were too fragile to transport. Some research about the mummies’ DNA has been criticized as downplaying the region’s distinctness in support of China’s attempts to assimilate Uyghur people. Just as more remains to be learned about the enigmatic mummies, their future as political and national symbols remains disputed too.

[urmomsstuntdouble]

not to be political but I've seen a lot of people saying that those who call Israel an apartheid don't know what they're talking about and um. As someone who has studied South African apartheid as well as grown up in a Jewish community. This claim has more merit than you think

[overwatchfanskinarchive]

Joan of Arc Venture by HannAHH

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA FRS (English, 1769-1830) Mary Anne, Lady Beaumont, n.d.

Lady Beaumont was the eldest daughter of Dr. William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, and married in 1825 Sir George Howland Willoughby Beaumont, eight baronet.

[rahleeyah]

Liv in a corset

[stickaflaginit]

I Can Show You the World...(of Orientalism)

Everyone loves Disney movies, but does anyone notice their exuding of cultural appropriation? Unfortunately, the company's roots in racism extend into the modern era. Let's explore the well-known, 1992 Disney's Aladdin through colonial interpretations of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The film's stereotyping of Persian culture runs more rampant than Aladdin after stealing dates from marketplace vendors.

Aladdin's western producers make their biases against the Middle East known immediately in the film's opening song, Arabian Nights:

"Where they cut off your ear / If they don't like your face/ It's barbaric, but hey, it's home"

European colonizers' tendency to label cultures different from their own as savage and unsophisticated derives from western need to justify exerting control over non-western cultures. Consequently, the Achaemenid Persian Empire's military skills and political administrations were defined by the west as forms of inhumane brutality and domineering, while Europeans labeled their own terrorizing and forceful conversion of non-western cultures as necessary to achieve a metaphorical "greater good". In actuality, the Persians used their skills and administrations to increase trade throughout their empire for the true "greater good" of their people.

Source: “Persian Empire.” UShistory.org, Independence Hall Association, 2022, https://www.ushistory.org/civ/4e.asp

Image Source: “The Original Lyrics of ‘Arabian Nights’ in 'Aladdin'.” Zimbio, Livingly Media, Inc, 2022, https://www.zimbio.com/The+Biggest+Disney+Movie+Controversies/articles/MjhJFTxyeuD/Original+Lyrics+Arabian+Nights+Aladdin

Despite all characters in the film being arguably Persian, Aladdin and Jasmine, identified as the protagonists of the film, possess European features and "white" accents, while Jafar, identified as the antagonist of the film, possesses features and an accent common among individuals who lived in the Achaemenid Persian Empire. European colonizers associated "good" with western and "bad" with non-western. Consequently, individuals living in the Achaemenid Persian Empire were labeled as threats and ostracized from the west's definitions of civilized. In actuality, the Persians were a diverse culture, and many of the individuals living in their empire belonged to conquered territories that didn't prioritize violence or cruelty, and were largely allowed to keep independence under Persian rule.

Source: Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.).” The Met, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/acha/hd_acha.htm

Image Source: Pantozzi, Jill. “Aladdin Finds Its Jafar Plus Adds Another Woman to the Disney Story.” The Nerdy Bird, The Nerdy Bird, 2017, http://thenerdybird.com/aladdin-finds-jafar-adds-another-woman-to-the-story/

Aladdin takes place in Agrabah, a fictional city representing western perceptions of the Middle East. Both the city itself and the people within it are heavily stereotyped. Depicted as an exotic fantasy of technicolor and greed, where women are objectified bellydancers and men are either poor merchants or sly thieves, Agrabah reeks of European idealism, highlighting colonizers' beliefs in the "mysteries" and "dangers" of foreign world powers, such as the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Consequently, Persians were viewed as enemies of Europeans, despite Europeans making assumptions of non-western cultures' inferiorities and shortcomings. In actuality, the Achaemenid Persian Empire cared little for European affairs, instead expanding into regions of modern-day Africa and Asia at the height of the empire's power under ruler Darius the Great.

Source: Beviano, Christina. “Orientalism in Film: Aladdin Over the Last Century.” Orientalism in Pop Culture, Orientalism in Pop Culture, 2023, https://wgst2013.domains.drew.edu/christina-bevianos-post/film-aladdin/

Image Source: “Agrabah.” Disney Wiki, Disney Wiki Francophone, 2019, https://disney.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Agrabah

In recent years, Disney has attempted to correct the film's orientalist overtones through producing a live-action remake; however, the original story of Aladdin is inherently stereotyped to fit colonialist, European views of the "exotic" East, meaning the company should leave adaptations of Aladdin in the past and focus on producing new films that won't be tainted by their racist counterparts.

Misconstrued interpretations of the ancient Achaemenid Persian Empire continue to exist due to modern, western biases towards non-western cultures, passed down from legacies of colonial ignorance. Bottom line? Western societies need to stop viewing themselves as magical genies destined to "save" non-western societies through preachings of racism and white supremacy.

[castilestateofmind]

“Rome would die of its conquests and the corrupting influence of the Semitic East. The warrior republic had turned into a brothel for exotic parvenus”.

- Dominique Venner.

[tanukifucker91]

Sorry but it annoys me when Americans on here get mad and yell about how the rise of fascism in the west is not uniquely an American problem but how it's not talked about. I'm sorry, where have you been? It has been talked about extensively for the past decade. Maybe just not in America. Because Americans famously don't care about the rest of the world. Sorry if this comes off as mean but it sounds like mad copium to me if your knee-jerk reaction after Trump getting re-elected is "ummm but it's not just us, why are you pointing fingers". Honestly the rise of fascism in the west is so obvious to me as a non American that I wouldn't even have thought of mentioning it.

[anewbrainjughead]

Google has a few different sources that say the US most recently has about 62,500 bars total

interesting! thanks for the extra info :)

[hussyknee]

Yeah the people in the notes going "obviously the government isn't the people" are missing the point, which is that being white and western and therefore a beneficiary of the colonial order consistently breeds racism and apathy towards the suffering of Black and brown and Global South people. Ireland maybe a little better than the rest of Europe but at the end of the day there's still no incentive to interrogate their privilege. Praising it inordinately for showing the bare minimum of decency allows them to cover up all the ways they're also complicit and uninvested. Give the privileged an inch and they take a mile.

anyway in the past week the irish government has voted down two motions which would have condemned the genocide in gaza.

i need everyone to stop lionising ireland as if its not also a european government with strong ties to the us. american weapons pass through shannon airport and will continue to, because yesterday the motion to stop that was voted down 83 to 50.

other governments have done much more but somehow people still act as though ireland is the ultimate palestinian ally and exempt from criticism on its handling of palestine bc it was once colonised, even though that past experience clearly isnt being taken into account by the irish government when creating policy.

i live here i know there’s a lot of public support and sympathy for palestine, which is great, but that isnt reflected in government, and i think ireland should be treated like other countries whose governments have done nothing.