Yanko Tsvetkov is a graphic designer who has an ingenious way of poking fun at transcultural prejudices. Take a look at this map of Europe as seen through the eyes of an American (click on the map to see a larger version):

To be honest, I’m getting a little tired of the traditional stereotypes about French people. I can live with the jokes about berets, baguettes, and horizontally striped shirts, but classifying us as a nation of smelly people is going a bit too far (I’m not blaming Yanko Tsvetkov, though, because he’s simply illustrating a misconception that is dismayingly prevalent).

The French are certainly prone to their own biases, of course, so why don’t we get some small measure of revenge by posting Tsvetkov’s map of French stereotypes regarding her European neighbors (click on the map to see a larger version):

Yanko Tsvetkov has created a number of entertaining and informative maps that you can visit here. If you find something you like, you can even order it as a poster for a remarkably low price, just make sure to hide it if any Europeans are going to be stopping by.

Bernard Dauphin