SaraSara said:Just in case someone is interested: middle class Args. see themselves as Europeans because many of them are, in fact, 100% ethnically European. The Spaniards, and later Roca, had a policy of exterminating the natives to make room for cattle, so there was much less crossbreeding here than in other SA countries. Uruguay is the same.
SaraSara, I'd bet that the majority of people posting here at BAExpats.org who come from countries once colonized by Europeans are, in fact, 100% "ethnically European." Big deal.
Only in Argentina have I seen so much European ass-kissing. And I'd bet that there are more than a few Argentines who imagine that going back to Spain or Italy will be like some warm homecoming and that they'll be welcomed as part of the European family as soon as they arrive.
When I was living in Spain a few years ago, I met plenty of Spaniards who weren't shy about blaming just about everything on Argentines. And a few years before that, I traveled through Italy for a while with an Argentine girl who, although I didn't realize it at the time, was probably pretty heartbroken about how Italians viewed her as a foreigner (even though she spoke Italian pretty well, as far as I could tell) and not as one of their own. And only after going to Argentina myself years later did I learn why there were these Italian girls sitting by us on an overnight train pointing and smirking at her while she poured us Fernet and Cokes.
A Dutch friend of mine once told me about how silly white Africans of Dutch descent appear when they visit the Netherlands and speak and act in ways that they believe to be Dutch but which are generations removed from the ways that modern Dutch people behave. This sort of thing happens everywhere. There are lots of young people who have identity crises and go storming off to where their parents or grandparents are from to "find themselves" only to learn pretty quickly how culturally removed they are from a country they weren't born or raised in.
For those of us from countries without silly identity problems, this really isn't that big a deal. Being American or Canadian or Brazilian or Australian or whatever else is awesome. We're able to simply acknowledge that the cultural umbilical cord has been cut and move on with our lives.
But for Argentines, who are so deeply invested in the idea that they are "European" (and even live amongst copies of European buildings), I'd bet that this realization is a bit more difficult. After growing up convinced of their European-ness, being regarded as a nuisance by Spaniards and Italians must come as a bit of a shock. Because it means having to accept that they are merely Argentine and, well, Argentina is a mess that, beyond tango, hasn't contributed much to the world. Certainly more satisfying to think of one's self as "Spanish" or "Italian."
For Argentina's sake, young Argentines should start building an Argentine culture that isn't so subservient to Europe. Grow a pair, Argentines! Need some encouragement? Take a trip to Brazil. Brazilians aren't whiny douches pretending to be Portuguese. They're Brazilian! They've got all their own awesome Brazilian stuff. You can, too, Argentines! You just need to cut the damn cord already.