When i hear the word barbarians i think of cave men. The men who are very uncivilized, have no manners, and are doing everything for the first time. I also think of a man discovering fire and learning how to cook food. Barbarians could also just be people who are very uncivil and live and act like people did long ago, with no innovations or knowledge of what to do.
I think my ideas about empire and barbarians came from the media and social networking. People try and make you think of a word how they think you should see it. I am sure many companies try and use specific terms such as empire to make you think about how much power they have. Words come with a background and the first thing you think of is the last thing you remember to do with that word. I recently watched one of my favorite movies, Encino Man, which made me think of cavemen when it came to the term barbarians. It's all up to the persons perspective and what kind of media has influenced them the most.
why do you think that when you hear the word, "barbarians," you think of cavemen? Most cultures describe any external society as barbaric, even to this day. Is it possible to be a barbarian in the 21st century? In fact, in any century? Also, you're thoughts about social networking and how it has helped to mold your definition of barbarians is very interesting to me. Social media plays a bigger role in our lives everyday.
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ReplyDeleteThe word "barbaric" also makes me think of a primitive style of living. I've actually never heard about present-day cultures describing any external society as barbaric, unless it was an "uncivilized" society. For example, an external society to me could be on any other continent. The only way I associate "barbaric" to a culture is if it seems like a primitive hunter/gatherer society. I honestly don't know where this association came from, and my interpretation could very well have stemmed from the media also.
ReplyDeleteI noticed while commenting that the word "barbarian" seemed much more negative to me than the word "barbaric," I wonder why that is? The use of the word as a noun made me feel as if I were being mean, yet the use of it as an adjective felt like a normal descriptive word. Interesting?
The strangest thing, I actually just commented on Callie's blog saying that the word empire makes me think of a corporation, or someone who owns an abundance of huge businesses. I think that this may be because in a way, a business is our modernization of the word "empire". No one really builds civilizations anymore, so I guess a business is the next best thing. If you really think about it, the term is an appropriate one. Building an empire in terms of civilization makes you extremely powerful, and building an empire in terms of modern day business also makes you powerful--and rich.
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