Yi-Fu Tuan - Dear Colleague

November 30, 2004

Dear Colleague,

The pace of change is very fast, not only in technology, but in values. That's common knowledge. Yet if we take a broader view, we may well be struck by how little the world has changed. What am I talking about? I am talking about the remarkable persistence of the Apollonian and Mercurian world views, terms coined by the historian Yuri Slezkine. (See interview in California Monthly, November 2004). Apollonian stands for peasant/warrior/priest. Mercurian stands for merchant/tinker/traveler. The earliest civilizations were all Apollonian, which is to say that they were based on agriculture. Peasant farmers constituted the bulk of the population; they were ruled by an elite that owed its power to military prowess and divine favor. What held them all together was that they lived under the same harmonious cosmos, the harmony being guaranteed by the predictable swing of the seasons on which agriculture and all sources of wealth ultimately depended. By contrast, the Mercurians were rootless and lived by their wits. Having no place in an agricultural cosmos, they were relegated to its margins--to special quarters or ghettos.

Each people interpreted the other negatively. Apollonians saw themselves as "soulful" and "courageous," but were seen by the Mercurians as "stupid" and "belligerent." Mercurians saw themselves as "intelligent" and "committed to a life of the mind," but were seen by the Apollonians as "cunning" and "devious." Historically, the outstanding Mercurians were the Jews. Rooted society shunned and denigrated them. We now call this anti-Semitism. But rooted people have always looked down on those who had no land of their own, and feared them if they became prosperous and powerful. Thus the Chinese were hated and feared in Southeast Asia, and the Indians were hated and feared in East Africa: both immigrant groups were called "Jews" by the native population.

What about Americans? Are they Apollonian or Mercurian? They were and are both. A land of immigrants is necessarily Mercurian: Americans are famously mobile; they also have a reputation for tinkering (Thomas Edison). To the landed gentry of Europe, Americans are gypsies at the outposts of civilization. But, from the start, Americans also held on to an Apollonian ideal of owning land, of being able to defend it with a gun, and of fearing God. In the general election of 2004, clearly the Apollonian side of American society triumphed. The combination of small farmer, Pentagon, and Pat Robertson proves to be irresistible.

What if the Mercurians acquire land of their own? Why, they turn into Apollonians, the most striking example of this process being the transformation of Jews once they have acquired land and established the state of Israel. Israelis are now among the world's most dedicated Apollonians. Their icons are the small farmer, the brave soldier, and the wrathful God. No wonder America under Bush and Israel under Sharon are such buddies, sometimes voting together (with an assist from the Marshall Islands), against the rest of the world. And, by the way, China, famously Apollonian throughout its history, is rapidly becoming Mercurian! As a consequence, it opts to conquer the world by commerce rather than war.

Best wishes,

Yi-Fu