I'm not sure if this counts as discussion material but it was just too 'appropriate' for that to scare me off. (Also in a kind of extension of the post a while before about views on nation's stereotypes.)
Science gets the last laugh on ethnic jokesStudy shows that real personalities don’t match national stereotypeshttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9598717/Some snippets of the article for interest-piquing:
( Where would the stereotypes come from then? )( 'Perhaps in heaven, the therapists are Polish' )Yeah, that's a reference to the "In heaven...In hell" quote that's posted at the beginning of the article, and was also the topic of a scanslation if my memory serves me.
As further discussion prodding, I might bring this up -- do the Nations embody 1) the general feelings and mindset of their country's people at any particular time, 2) the stereotypes held about that country that, according to the above study, would not likely match an average citizen of said country? or of course the obvious 3) both in some fashion.
My two cents says that perhaps the 'personality' of the Nation ends up matching to the stereotype, and their actions end up matching history. Or perhaps the 'national stereotype' is merely how other Nations typify them, and how they may even typify themselves, when in reality they're all very complex and multifaceted? *is at risk of sounding literarily pretentious XP*
Thoughts anyone?