English
Perhaps few things describe very well, the main features that make up the image of what is essentially to be an American, as the rodeo activities, often qualified by its followers as the world´s toughest sport.
The cowboy image symbolize, supported on advertising, television and films, the archetype of an independent American, tough, mysterious and taciturn, a being of border that embodies the spirit of the pioneer capable of making his way in hostile and unknown lands, dominated by nature.
In his book Lila, An Inquiry Into Morals, the author Robert M Pirsig U.S. reflected on the way the most characteristic features which often identifies the American cowboy, seem almost as an identical mirror that evokes the figure of the American Indians, true natives of a land that was taken away from them in a singularly cruel by the bloody and genocidal hands of the European settlers.
Traits such as generosity and confidence in himself, an enigmatic silence, only broken by a surprisingly accurate measurement and choice of words (never spoken just to fill or kill time), a state of permanent alert, a developed sense of ritual, decent behavior, modest, reserved and dignified, as well as a certain willingness to sudden outbursts of extreme violence, would be just some of the features of the cultural values of the Native Americans that may be reflected in the figure of the white American cowboy, which appeals to the heart of the nation identified as the historical cultural system of American values , source of all that is considered good unconsciously by most of the inhabitants of the country.
Pirsig argues that the reading of a hypothetical list of features, which European observers traditionally attributed to white Americans, would be sufficient to detect the correlation between these observers and those that the white Americans traditionally assigned to the Indians, just as a careful reading of the characteristics that the white American observers describe Europeans traditionally, make us realize that they are not essentially different from those the Indian associate to belong to white Americans.
Although American Indians would not be sufficiently recognized in their crucial contribution to the values that shape the personality of the American border, to Pirsig is an incontrovertible fact, evident even in his preference for independent living, detached and free .
In any event, the Festival of Professional Bull Riding to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City from 7 to 9 January (http://www.pbr.com/) is one of the most spectacular and dramatic manifestations of this alleged contemporary mythic spirit of man from the west.
During three days, forty of the best American bull compete in a unique show that you shouldn’t miss if you feel like renting apartments in New York at that time.
During three days, forty of the best American bull compete in a unique show that you shouldn’t miss if you feel like renting apartments in New york at that time.
Translated by: Hans
