Values and Culture of Nations and Game of Thrones (No spoilers)

Been bucking the trend recently and started watching Game of Thrones from the beginning. It’s been quite exhilarating binge-watching something that has captured plenty of people’s imaginations and Monday evenings. Before now, Monday evenings were for Monday Night Football deciphering what Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville were talking about.

Game of Thrones has unleashed a new wave of entertainment (I’m only on Season 5 as of writing this – no spoilers please) and TV-viewing, and its reaction has been intriguing. It provides some excellent context.

The fascinating part of Game of Thrones has been the transition and development of certain characters and certain kingdoms.

By no coincidence, just finished reading ‘Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged’ and seeing the rapidly eco- and social- development of nations of across the world has been quite staggering.

Quite similarly to the seven kingdoms of Game of Thrones: Stark of Winterfell, Tully of Riverrun, Arryn of the Eyrie, Lannister of Casterly Rock, Baratheon of Storm’s End, Tyrell of Highgarden and Martell of Sunspear, they have all seen their ups and downs, been through mad transformation, seen leaders stand tall and crumble, and witnessed vast amounts of life and death.

It was a book purchased on special offer rather than an essential buy. It’s surprising how relevant and how it ran in parallel with my current TV habits (binge watching GoT).

Whilst reading through this collection of historians’ accounts of how identities were forged, it becomes obvious this was an entirely different read, account and, in some ways, theories of how countries are seen.

National history is a vital part of national self-definition; the people of Meereen wanted the ‘Fighting Pits’ back. Where the Fighting Pits saw slaves fighting slaves, it now encompasses free men fighting free men. A historical, nostalgic tradition meaning a lot to the people of Meereen.

Most books on the history of the world try to impose a uniform narrative, written usually from a single writer’s point of view. Think school text books and often the pre-judgement of people, cultures and values we build into young people’s knowledge from an early age, the ‘Histories of Nations’ is quite different.

It presents 28 essays written by a leading historian as a self-portrait of her or his native country. Having been through the pre-judgement learnings from school, they were able to articulate and create their own theories on the identity their own country, defining characteristics that embody its sense of nationhood.

As an example, the essay on Argentina only mentions Juan Peron in passing (and Evita not at all), yet he is absolutely central to their problems. At the outset of WWII, Argentina was one of the most prosperous countries in the world - but after Peron appropriated foreign-owned businesses (mostly British) and distributed the proceeds to friends and family in the military, it went wrong. Although the fascists have now been deposed, the economic problems remain. The Argentinian myths remain, and the author emphasises that.

The essay on Britain was something else. In effect, it resuscitated the Whig narrative of our history. A very different viewpoint. The author enjoined us to understand our past in its own terms, rather than judging it in terms of modern sensibilities. When freebooters were creating the British Empire, such things were normal: the world was a tough old place, and it was to conquer or be conquered.

Sounds familiar to the Game of Thrones narrative?

There was nothing uniquely British or even European about imperialism: the Ottomans, Mughals, Aztecs, Incas, and Tatars were all in on the game at one point or the other. Arguably – maybe factually - Britain did create a model of representative government which its empire spread around the world, and which has provided a framework in which nations have prospered.

And of course, slavery was accepted as normal all over the globe at one point, especially until Britain outlawed the slave trade, and actually enforced the ban. A story like Deanerys Targaryen’s goal of liberating the enslaved populace of Slaver’s Bay, maybe?

In order to get to grips with the national and cultural differences that both enliven and endanger our world, we need above all to understand different national viewpoints. This is not an encyclopaedic effort to find history and detailed dates, more of a thought-provoking insight, in which enabled further reading. 

Nevertheless, lessons about values and culture were real and how different viewpoints and understanding of words, situations and leaders can come across in very different ways. Those who live or breath different values and cultures, may not experience the same ones you have learnt about or know.

If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, and like the intrinsic nature of the jingoism, a few essays in this book will spark your interest. If not, it was a read that provided better context on the history of some nations, being told by those who experience it day by day.

If you would like to understand about the nations (or kingdoms) in Game of Thrones, this was quite a revelation: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/secrets-game-thrones-opening-credits-179656.

Which is your favourite Kingdom and why? This could cause much debate.