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Steak48 t1_j07r9q1 wrote

In the US I would say that you could look at our most famous monuments to see what we mythologize. The Jefferson and Lincoln memorials and the Washington Monument in DC and Mt Rushmore in SD are devoted to the founding fathers, the national mall has multiple monuments dedicated to veterans of various wars, and what is probably our most famous monument, the statue of liberty, is devoted to the ideals of freedom and opportunity.

There is no singular national epic of literature here but writers like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner and many others I'm not remembering occupy that place in the culture, in my opinion. I would even go so far as to say there are some classic films that fit here as well.

I don't think that most Americans lament not having an age of antiquity to look back on.

But I guess to answer your question, you use what you have.

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Co0lie5ter t1_j0a87wm wrote

I'm from the west (Nevada). Everyone is pretty into the local indigenous tribes' stories. More so than our own European ones. Usually the spooky ones like skin walkers and water babies. But little of the European ones except the popularized ones.

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Steak48 t1_j0afj8f wrote

East coast here. It's not surprising at all that things would be so varied here

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The_Evanator2 t1_j0fob0o wrote

Ya I'm from northern California. Native history is fascinating and really interesting to learn about. California had the highest concentration of native Americans. Chico state was built basically on the ground of the of where the mechoopda village was located. To be specific, I played for the rugby club there.

My coach for a couple years worked on the reservation outside chico and apparently the rugby and athletic fields are exactly where the tribes main location was. The club now has a piece mechoopda art on the back of their jerseys. Super awesome

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torgoboi t1_j0i65lv wrote

I was thinking this as well. Our historical memory is super embedded into our culture in the US.

I think a lot of Americans also tend to look back to or identify with a mythologized version of the countries their families immigrated from, if they have that knowledge, because we don't have such a long history of being in one place and having the long origin story there. So they can look back at that cultural group and borrow material from there too.

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Annomaander_Rake t1_j16sqr4 wrote

I think you’re essentially correct. Being that we are a mongrel nation that has no clear ancestry beyond the 1600s, our long term mythology has to be borrow from the old world. I’m sure there are villiges in Romania with stories that go back millennia. Since people have been living there so damn long lol

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FixingandDrinking t1_j09auem wrote

We are a country of immigrants who took land and lives under the banner of we need it more then you and now scream about letting immigrants in. We have proud moments but I bet you didn't know there is a good chance America would not be what it is today if not for surrounding a neutral town and demanding the women and children of king Phillips tribe causing him to rush in to an ambush. We were losing and knew it.

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ammonium_bot t1_j0ia449 wrote

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