• 6 Posts
  • 12 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 8th, 2023

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  • The reason why English, French and Spanish are among the world’s most widespread languages has its roots in the imperial past of the nations where they originate

    Must be a hot day in Hong Kong for them to be throwing shade like that. It’s true of course but it’s true for all of the biggest languages that conquest played a significant part in their dispersal. Chinese, Arabic, etc are left out of the statement for some reason.




  • That but it was also just a depiction closer to reality: for instance famine and starvation were a common theme in Grimm’s collection of tales (Hänsel & Gretel, the star money, etc). But in the modern world [industrialized west] we know longer have a direct cultural experience of it.

    Similarly gone down have:

    • corporal punishment, mutilation (the girl without hands, Cinderella)
    • indentured servitude, slavery (Rumpelstilzchen)
    • cannibalism (Hänsel & Gretel); note that this in the context of a famine
    • austerity at old age (the Bremen town musicians)
    • despots abusing their power (Snow White)
    • maternal death, parental absence (Cinderella, Snow White)
    • child labor (Cinderella, Mother Hulda)