I was somewhat shocked when I read about a recent poll conducted in by UKTV Gold Television that showed 23% of Briton’s surveyed thought that Winston Churchill was a myth. The sample size was only 3000, but its still unexpected. 58% believed that Sherlock Holmes was real. What are these people learning in school? Or does this have something to do with people’s preference to talk about the latest reality show then history, politics, law, etc? Maybe the schools are getting the information across, but without any external reinforcement it just washes right out of their heads.
Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll
If it surprised you to find out that Winston Churchill was a real, live person, please follow this up with some reading on the man:
Well, it depends on your understanding of “myth”, if you understand to mean “unreal” than clearly Churchhill existed and it seems odd.
However, if you understand “myth” as cultural narrative, than the man we speak of, idealize, and so MYTHOLOGIZE as Winston Churchill is an after the fact creation of history.
The “real” Churchill vs the “mythic” Churchill are two very different characters indeed.
Comment by Ninja Man: With Ninja Powers! — February 7, 2008 @ 2:20 pm