Does the phrase "in the heart of a country " refer to a country’ s geographic center or to its rural/traditional heritage or both?
The reason I ask is that we are used to associating the Mid-West of the US with the heartland of the United States. Can the phrase “in the heart of” also apply to its traditional/rural culture? I think most people use it to refer to a central geographical location. Can’t heartland also refer to a location of a country’s traditional culture? I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
I would say to the areas that live more similarly to how it was traditional, but that’s an opinion. It’s hard to think of Madrid as “the heart of Spain”: the liver maybe, or the stomach, but the heart? (With partial apologies to madrileños and tongue firmly planted in cheek)
“There is a gaping hole in the heart of the country. The geographical centre of Poland, Warsaw city centre, lies empty.”
here in a traditional sense
Chengdu is not in Central China
http://www.gochengdu.cn/about/news/china-daily-chengdu-stepping-onto-world-stage
“Situated in the heart of China’s rapidly growing western region, Chengdu has become a dynamic magnet for multinational companies, a center for higher education, and a leader in a diverse range of industries, from automotive and logistics to technology and services.”
davidmich
“Heart of China” is 中国 的 中部 I just discovered. But it means “heart” rather than central. The financial／economic center (经济 中心） would be Shanghai. And the political center (政治 中心）would be Beijing.
But in articles I see about China Chengdu is referred to in English as the heartland. But China does’t seem to have what we call a “geographical center”. At least the Chinese say there isn’t. I find it very confusing to be honest
davidmich
Warsaw is not the in the geographical centre (whatever that means*) of Poland.
*There are at least two ways to decide the centre of a country or whatever: 1) Cut out a map of the area, preferably in cardboard, and see where it balances on a pin-point; 2) Draw one line between the Northernmost and the Southernmost points and one line between the Westernmost and the Easternmost points and see where the two lines cross.
The Heartland is where people do an honest day’s work, play country music and drive home in a pickup truck, e.g. Arkansas, Tennessee, West byGod Virginia, etc. Basically non-city folk.
To me, there’s a little bit of an idiomatic difference. If I heard:
“Madrid is in the heart of Spain,” without further context, it would mean that it’s located somewhere well inside Spain, i.e. not on the coast. It doesn’t have to be the exact geographical center, but somewhere reasonably inland (ETA: or reasonably inside the borders.)
Now, “Madrid is the heart of Spain” would imply to me a more metaphorical meaning. In that sense, you might say “Barcelona is the heart of Spain,” but I would never say “Barcelona is in the heart of Spain.”
I would personally say Kraków is the heart of Poland, but a reasonable argument can be made for other cities. I have no problem with referring to Warsaw as being “the heart of Poland” (metaphorically) or “in the heart of Poland” (geographically.)
For the United States, the heartland is Kansas & Nebraska. The geographic center is in north-central Kansas, pretty close to the Nebraska line. If you want a more expansive heartland region, then include the states surrounding them: Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota.
It’s very heart to separate the geographical and cultural in this usage. The Middle West and its inhabitants may have been held up at the ideal of what “real” America was, its metaphorical heart, but it became the heartland because of its physical centrality. The two senses of the word were mixed together from the start.