Small American towns read religious and ethnic difference as constant curiosity.

Evidence

It seems possible that much of the personal knowing in small settlements is of this character. That is, not all residents who claim to “know everyone in town” may actually have such inclusive acquaintanceships. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1071 (#complicates, via linked claim)

A homosexual male is a man in a homosexual bar and not necessarily a man in a pink ruffled shirt. A prostitute is a woman standing alone in the “Tenderloin,” and not necessarily a woman in a revealing costume. Elites are persons who can be found in the stores and restaurants which cater to their incredible buying power and not necessarily the persons who wear silk. The poor are persons who live in a certain section of town and not necessarily the people who wear the most tattered clothes. A “middle American” is someone who goes to the Elk’s Club, and don’t let that moustache fool you. A sales clerk is someone who is to be found behind the counter, never mind that he is indistinguishable from his customers. A university professor is someone who stands facing the students in a university classroom. And the fact that he may look like his students, like a Wall Street lawyer, or like a skid row bum should not be allowed to obscure this simple truth. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 460 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Every interpreter is a reader, and there is no such thing as a neutral or value-free reader. Every reader, in other words, is both a private ego and a member of a society, with affiliations of every sort linking him or her to that society. Working through national feelings like patriotism or chauvinism to private emotions like fear or despair, the interpreter must seek in a disciplined way to employ reason and the information he or she has gained through formal education (itself a long interpretative process) so that understanding may be achieved. … It is precisely this conscious willed effort of overcoming distances and cultural barriers that makes knowledge of other societies and cultures possible — and at the same time limits that knowledge. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 351 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Urban status is inferred from symbols while small-town status is enacted — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 148; Each religious community experience is unique and resists generalization — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 558; City dwellers read each stranger’s identity from their location — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 460 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Claims of knowing everyone in small towns often overstate actual acquaintance. #complicates (0.85) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1071
• City dwellers read each stranger’s identity from their location #complicates (0.78) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 460
• Each religious community experience is unique and resists generalization #complicates (0.76) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 558
• Knowledge of other cultures requires conscious effort crossing distance. #complicates (0.76) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 351
• Rural evangelical communities fused Christian and American identity as one #complicates (0.75) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 53