From: Michael M. Butler (butler@comp-lib.org)
Date: Tue Nov 27 2001 - 06:25:54 MST
The term "Anglosphere" has been batted around for a bit.
I don't have an OED subscription so I don't know its
provenance. It seems likely to be less than two centuries
old--it feels like a post-Empire coining to me.
Like many such memes, it can be mythic (inspirational)
or mythical (foolish). It can be taken as meaning something
akin to "the heirs of 'The English Civilization'". Grand.
Stipulating the idea for the moment, it's a good idea to be clear
that "the Anglosphere" is not entirely conveniently geopolitical,
e.g. "<India> is part of the Anglosphere"; recall Neal Stephenson's
fictional far-flung "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong" enclaves/franchises.
If you hit the technowhirl in Bangalore, I gather it sure seems
like it's a part of the Anglosphere--but I hear there are still
little girls making fresh red handprints in Rajasthan.
<<SIDEBAR: That reference can be decoded with the aid of the following:
--navigate to http://www.ping.be/~evdleene/raj/india_glossar.htm
--search the page for suttee.>>
MarkM (Mark S. Miller) is quoted as having said "cultures don't have
rights; people do." Untangling these things can be truly tricky.
Dwayne wrote:
>
> > North America (and the rest of the Anglosphere)
>
> Is this your phrase? it's very clever, and apt :-)
>
> Dwayne
-- My moronic mnemonic for smart behavior: "DICKS" == diplomacy, integrity, courage, kindness, skepticism.
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