Nomothetic...no, man, that's pathetic!

Please excuse my extremely dorky play on the word of the day...I couldn't resist!

nomothetic (adj.) - relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws

In reflecting on the word nomothetic and its relation to French culture, I considered that 1) such "abstract, general, or universal statements" are so often posited in regard to the French, and that 2) the definition itself is rather vague, which seems only fitting for this discussion.

Every culture is subject to broad generalizations, stereotypes, preconceived (and incorrect) notions, and so on and so forth. It seems to be an unfortunate tendency of human nature that we sometimes place a generic stamp of some definition on the unknown or unfamiliar to make ourselves feel better. Too often we like to categorize and label things, even if those categories and labels aren't necessary true. The thing is, there is not one culture, country, province, state, town, or even family that conforms to the same generalizations they're given (and yes, I realize I've just made a somewhat nomothetic statement - deal with it and roll with me here).

There is any number of nomothetic statements about the French, both positive and negative. They smoke. They're romantic. They don't shower. They're skinny and healthy. They drink a lot. I could go on. I've yet to meet a French person who embodies all these stereotypes. I'll pick one and discuss it: we've all probably heard that all French people are rude and snobby. I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Having spent some time studying abroad in France, I found the French (my teachers, host family, store employees, random people on the street) to be anything but rude and snobby. They were helpful and kind. This is not to say that rude and snobby French people don't exist. But I believe that this preconceived notion comes from the root of all inaccurate nomothetic statements: misunderstanding and a lack of cultural knowledge. Perhaps the people I met were nice and helpful to me because I was polite and spoke their language. Perhaps those who say all French people are rude and snobby are in fact rude and snobby themselves, and lack the cultural knowledge that is necessary to "speak" another culture. The bottom line is these overarching generalizations don't fit everyone.

As I mentioned before, the very definition of nomothetic is so fittingly vague to me. That's just it -- these generalized statements that attempt to encompass an entire society are similarly vague, and they don't work. One can't sum up the entire body of a culture with something as trivial and inaccurate as a generalized statement. Nomothetic statements and cultural awareness don't mix.