The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures

Asian and European cultures have not been able to deny the global influence of the increasing power of the economic, industrial, scientific, commercial and military might of the USA as it has developed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, with their histories going back over thousands of years, there has always been a deep‐seated prejudice against that nation's culture in general and “high” culture in particular. This ranges from the ridiculous – Talleyrand's supercilious taunt “I found there a country with thirty‐two religions and only one sauce” – to the insane – Georges Clemenceau's statement that “America is the...