Losing our Innocence -- How often can it be done?

Question

Recently, in one of the endless reviews of the Anna Lindt murder, someone eventually got around to deploying the now almost compulsory "loss of innocence" cliche.
In so far as it typically refers to whole nations, I wonder what it really means (both explicitly and implicitly).
It seems almost de rigeur after some horrible crime for some journalist to claim that (fill in name of nation) has "lost its innocence".
I want to know if it's possible for a nation to be innocent in the first place (which is surely a precondition to losing it). Isn't this an example of reification the attribution of human qualities to abstractions?
What would such innocence entail? And who decides when it is definitively lost? Kennedy's murder? Vietnam and My Lai and Watergate? 9/11. Surely serial loss of innocence is as plausible as serial loss of virginity?
Isn't this just a lot of flatulent, arrogant, self-serving cant? (Hmm, I could probably have stayed with cant. Must cut down on those adjectives.)
Chrissy

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Recently, in one of the endless reviews of the Anna Lindt murder, someone eventually got around to deploying the now ... In so far as it typically refers to whole nations, I wonder what it really means (both explicitly and implicitly).[/nq]
Any chance of supplying the relevant paragraph? We don't know what the writer/speaker was trying to say, either.
[nq:1]It seems almost de rigeur after some horrible crime for some journalist to claim that (fill in name of nation) ... lot of flatulent, arrogant, self-serving cant? (Hmm, I could probably have stayed with cant. Must cut down on those adjectives.)[/nq]
So you believe that "innocence" is an all-or-nothing quality? Either one is totally, 100% naive or one is a suave, skeptical sophisticate?

I don't think "innocence" as it applies to a single person is identical to "innocence" as it applies to a society. There are similarities, obviously.
I think innocence could be lost by degrees, in serial steps, some steps being steeper than others. It has to do with acquiring unpleasant knowledge, really. It's filling a glass, not smashing it.

Perhaps you have missed some important point that someone from an alien, more innocent world was trying to convey to you. I don't know if you've spent much time in western Europe, but people don't go around as wary of the prospect of violent crime as in the US. Or are you the one in Australia?

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

Thus spake chrissy:
[nq:1]Recently, in one of the endless reviews of the Anna Lindt murder, someone eventually got around to deploying the now ... lot of flatulent, arrogant, self-serving cant? (Hmm, I could probably have stayed with cant. Must cut down on those adjectives.)[/nq]
In Sweden's case, they should have lost their innocence after the murder of Olof Palme, back in 1986. For some reason, they refused to lose it then.
Is it a national phenomena? I would say yes. I lived there for a year, and was struck by how trusting Swedes apparently are. Or perhaps naive.
Swedes have enjoyed the privilege of being able to hitchhike, not having to lock their front doors, and not warn their children about talking to strangers. I recent years, however, the incidence of crime has shot up. Swedish cities should be avoided late at night. (Even when I was there, eleven years ago, I was attacked in the middle of Uppsala. (I wasn't so scary-looking (read: fat) back then.))
Medel-Svensson (Swedish Average Joe) has apparently not been able to keep abreast of the development.
Hopefully, Swedes have now lost their innocence; they don't deserve to have it taken advantage of any longer.

Simon R. Hughes

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Recently, in one of the endless reviews of the Anna Lindt murder, someone eventually got around to deploying the now ... lot of flatulent, arrogant, self-serving cant? (Hmm, I could probably have stayed with cant. Must cut down on those adjectives.)[/nq]
You sure nailed it there, sister!

John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]In Sweden's case, they should have lost their innocence after the murder of Olof Palme, back in 1986. For some ... the development. Hopefully, Swedes have now lost their innocence; they don't deserve to have it taken advantage of any longer.[/nq]
Yes, but the headline "The day (fill in your favourite nation to get maudlin about)lost its self-delusion/naivety" doesn't have quite the jingoistic virtue, does it?
Chrissy

Losing our Innocence -- How often can it be done?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions