Don’t mention the wars!
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Are the French really the best lovers, the Germans the best mechanics and the Italians the best chefs? All this week Euranet will be diving head first into the bubbling cauldron of European stereotypes to find out what is really behind them and how they influence our perceptions of each other.
It is not easy to avoid stereotypes and even harder to work out where they come from, yet they can have a major influence on how we interact with others.
We are kicking off this series with a debate between an Irishman, a German and an Italian over the Germans’ lack of sense of humour and Italian machismo.
In the debate, Irish reporter Tony Connelly talks about his new book “Don’t mention the wars”, which is about his journey through Europe to find out about the origins of stereotypes.
“We reach out for stereotypes with milliseconds of meeting someone. They help us identify and pigeon-hole someone quickly, it’s a mental process,” says Connelly. “But the question is whether it’s true that French waiters are rude and, if so, to find out why?”
He's joined by Stephanie Bolzen, correspondent for Germany's Die Welt newspaper, who seeks to defend her nation from claims they have no sense of humour, and Marco Zatterin from La Stampa newspaper who enjoys defying Italian stereotypes by turning up for everything 10 minutes ahead of time!
To find out more about what Europeans really think of each other see:
When in Rome... Italians' views on their less stylish neighbours
