Ryoga
King
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 993
You may be familiar with the sentence: "Our people are now buying your blue jeans and listening to your pop music. I worry the rest of the world will also succumb to the influence of your culture."
That's what every Civ will tell you once you become culturally influential with them. However, that "Blue Jeans" really screams "America". Of course someone might imagine that any culture reaching modern times and being a superpower could have invented blue jeans in an alternative storyline, and after all this is a game where any Civ can build any kind of wonder.
However let's try to imagine what else could be said for any Civ in the game. In other words, what are the various cultures of the world in any given time mostly be known for by the average man of other countries?
Before starting I invite your to consider a few points:
1) It must be something mundane: As Blue Jeans and Pop music are. We are talking about culture that influences the masses in their everyday life or something that is particularly ingrained in the common image of a specific culture, or something that is frequently used or consumed by them (even if most have forgotten its origin).
2) Avoid Religion and Mythology: Culture and Religion are two separate thing in Civ, so I'm looking for things that are religiously neutral.
3) It must be sufficiently known by other cultures: Every culture has its own books, music, poetry and so on, but only a few successfully exported them in the rest of the world and are known for those.
4) Must be as much as modern as possible: Which of course in many cases is simply not possible. But since the original line refers to Blue Jeans, well, try to think about modern times if you can.
Now this is the list that I came up with, but it is clearly quite lacking, probably wrong in a few places, and, sure, even biased by my own peculiar perspective.
I, of course, apologize for my lack of knowledge about many cultures of this world, and I beg your pardon for any kind of mistakes that I may have made that may offend you.
And so this is where I need your help. I'm looking for ideas and your perspective to feel the gaps and to make this list more complete. And when I say "complete" I mean mentioning something for any of the Civilizations listed. Just a good amount of examples or the most important ones is good enough. The list could become too huge.
I am debating whether to consider "Italy" as the modern version of "Rome" or to stick with "Rome" as its ancient self only.
I am also debating whether to consider the Rastafari movement (which in itself is a religious movement) as something proper of Ethiopia or not. It is actually Jamaican even if it refers to Ethiopia.
Some things have very dubious origin. "Caviar" for example is very hard to attribute to a specific culture. The word itself is Turkish, but it is unclear who was the first civilization that started the practice of eating it.
I wanted to include "Folk Tales" from "Arabian Nights", but then I found out that it is mishmash of stories from a plethora of different places and some of them are of dubious origin. It turns out that Aladdin is actually supposed to be Chinese (!) and that the story is probably Persian or even Turkish.
Both Egypt and Babylon are suspected of having invented beer, which is why I put them in the list, although with a question marker.
That's what every Civ will tell you once you become culturally influential with them. However, that "Blue Jeans" really screams "America". Of course someone might imagine that any culture reaching modern times and being a superpower could have invented blue jeans in an alternative storyline, and after all this is a game where any Civ can build any kind of wonder.
However let's try to imagine what else could be said for any Civ in the game. In other words, what are the various cultures of the world in any given time mostly be known for by the average man of other countries?
Before starting I invite your to consider a few points:
1) It must be something mundane: As Blue Jeans and Pop music are. We are talking about culture that influences the masses in their everyday life or something that is particularly ingrained in the common image of a specific culture, or something that is frequently used or consumed by them (even if most have forgotten its origin).
2) Avoid Religion and Mythology: Culture and Religion are two separate thing in Civ, so I'm looking for things that are religiously neutral.
3) It must be sufficiently known by other cultures: Every culture has its own books, music, poetry and so on, but only a few successfully exported them in the rest of the world and are known for those.
4) Must be as much as modern as possible: Which of course in many cases is simply not possible. But since the original line refers to Blue Jeans, well, try to think about modern times if you can.
Now this is the list that I came up with, but it is clearly quite lacking, probably wrong in a few places, and, sure, even biased by my own peculiar perspective.
Code:
AMERICA: Movies, TV Series, Cartoons, Comic Books, Video Games, Blue Jeans, Soft Drinks, Fast Food, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Hip Hop, Computers, Novels, Basket, Rugby, Baseball
ARABIA: Keffiyeh, Arabesques
AZTEC: Xocolatl, Ollamaliztli, Guacamole, Tacos
CHINA: Kung Fu, Wuxia, Tai Chi, Feng Shui, Tea, Noodles, Firecrackers, Cheongsam, Football?, Ping Pong, Manhua, Go, Mahjong, Porcelain
EGYPT: Cosmetics?, Beer?
ENGLAND: Pop music, Drama, Novels, Cricket
FRANCE: Nouvelle Cuisine, Wine, Champagne, Clothes, Cosmetics, Perfumes, Cartoons, Classical Music, Tennis, Books, Minuet
GERMANY: Cars, Beer, Classic Music, Fairy Tales (Grimm Brothers)
GREECE: Epic, Drama, Gyros, Sirtaki, Pankration, Wine
INDIA: Bollywood Movies, Yoga, Curry, Chess, Turban
IROQUOIS: Lacrosse, Tobacco?
JAPAN: Sushi, Anime, Manga, Video Games, Karate, Kimono, Cars, Electronics, Sumo, Judo
OTTOMAN: Doner Kebab, Belly Dance?
PERSIA: Rugs
ROME (Ancient): Gladiatoral Games, Epic, Drama
ROME (Italy): Opera, Pizza, Pasta, Wine, Clothes, Shoes, Tarantella
RUSSIA: Vodka, Books, Matrioska, Ushanka
SIAM: Muay Thai
SONGHAI: Kora
BABYLON: Epic, Beer?
MONGOL: Morin Khur, Yurt
INCA: Coca Leaves, Nazca Lines
SPAIN: Bull Fight, Flamenco, Pop\Dance Music, Fandango
POLYNESIA: Surfing, Bungee Jumping, Haka, Hula
DENMARK: Fairy Tales (Andersen), Skiing
KOREA: MMORPGs, Cars, Electronics, Manhwa, Tae Kwon Do, Gangnam Style? Kimchi
AUSTRIA: Wiener, Classic Music
BYZANTIUM: Backgammon
CARTHAGE: Tyrian Purple (Canaan)
CELTS: Haggis, Stout, Jig, Reel, Kilt, bagpipes
ETHIOPIA: Coffee, Dreadlocks?
HUNS: (this is a hard one)
MAYA: Calendar
NETHERLANDS: Tulips, Windmills
SWEDEN: Death Metal, Furniture (Ikea)
ASSYRIA:
BRAZIL: Samba, Bossa Nova, Capoeira, Pop\Dance Music, Capirinha, Picadinho
INDONESIA: Spices
MOROCCO: Couscous
POLAND: Classic Music, Mazurka, Polka
PORTUGAL: Fado
SHOSHONE: Feathered war bonnet
VENICE: Masques, Venetian Glass, Gondolas
ZULU: VuvuzelaI, of course, apologize for my lack of knowledge about many cultures of this world, and I beg your pardon for any kind of mistakes that I may have made that may offend you.
And so this is where I need your help. I'm looking for ideas and your perspective to feel the gaps and to make this list more complete. And when I say "complete" I mean mentioning something for any of the Civilizations listed. Just a good amount of examples or the most important ones is good enough. The list could become too huge.
I am debating whether to consider "Italy" as the modern version of "Rome" or to stick with "Rome" as its ancient self only.
I am also debating whether to consider the Rastafari movement (which in itself is a religious movement) as something proper of Ethiopia or not. It is actually Jamaican even if it refers to Ethiopia.
Some things have very dubious origin. "Caviar" for example is very hard to attribute to a specific culture. The word itself is Turkish, but it is unclear who was the first civilization that started the practice of eating it.
I wanted to include "Folk Tales" from "Arabian Nights", but then I found out that it is mishmash of stories from a plethora of different places and some of them are of dubious origin. It turns out that Aladdin is actually supposed to be Chinese (!) and that the story is probably Persian or even Turkish.
Both Egypt and Babylon are suspected of having invented beer, which is why I put them in the list, although with a question marker.
)
