Summary/Notes for English: Study of the Cultural Area (Part UK)
40 views 2 purchases
Course
Engels: Studie van het cultuurgebied
Institution
Universiteit Antwerpen (UA)
Everything from the UK part of the course 'English: Study of the Cultural Area': Powerpoints, own notes, summary articles, sample exam questions - UAntwerpen - Line Magnus - Semester 1 - Master in translation
2021–2022 Master Vertalen L. Magnus
English: Area Studies – UK part
Anything before 1800: you need to know the century
1800–1900: you need to be able to situate things in the correct decade
From 1900: you need to know specific years
ENG = England | W = Wales | SC = Scotland | GB = Great Britain | IR = Ireland | N-IR = Northern Ireland | gvt(s). =
government(s) | c. = century/centuries
British identity & Brexit
British (or English?) nationalism: What does Brexit tell us about the state of nationalism in the
UK?
Reading: ‘Tea, Biscuits, and Empire: The Long Con of Britishness’
- Border war between Britain and “Britain!”: Real Britain is in deep trouble Fantasy Britain
is having a boomtime
o Every nation-state is 90% fictional: project how they want others to see them UK
does this through its media: casts a vision of itself that does not hold true to reality,
both about its present and history
- American Anglophilia: UK has a unique hold on American imagination Big entertainment
industry
o “[Britain] would be far less adorable if we still owned you”
- Young Britons are demanding a reckoning with a history of colonial conquest, slave-
trading, industrial savagery, and utter refusal to examine its own legacy
o Britain wrote and rewrote itself as the protagonist of its own legends, making its
barbarism bearable and its cultural dominance natural
o Real history of UK is problematic: be conscious of this; UK is constructed from the
outside
- A nation in decline on the international stage
o Present-day UK is struggling; under austerity: gvt. is trying to save money on social
programmes & health care Mostly impacts poorer sides of society
NHS: one of the only things that most Britons agree on Austerity (& covid)
negatively impact NHS
Terminology
British Isles British Islands + Ireland
British Islands UK + Channel Islands + Isle of
Man
United Kingdom Great Britain + Northern Ireland
(Island of) Great Scotland + Wales + England
Britain
Ireland (Island) Ireland (State; Republic of
Ireland = country) + Northern
Ireland
Channel Islands Guernsey + Jersey + Sark +
(Islands in the North Alderney
Sea)
1
, 2021–2022 Master Vertalen L. Magnus
Great Britain: SC + W + ENG but they consider themselves separate nations.
So what is Britishness if they consider themselves separate nations?
British national identity
- Definition identity
o Your place within a culture
o How you see yourself or how others see you
- Definition nationality
o Allegiance & cultural affiliation (~ own perception/feeling), but: UK consists of
different countries/nations who have their own cultures and different local identities
They feel culturally affiliated with only part of the UK and not with Britain as a
whole
- Does British national identity even exist?
o GB has no national identity because it’s too diverse: there’s only Englishness,
Welshness, Irishness, Scottishness see ‘A ‘divided’ Britain?’
A ‘divided’ Britain?
- GB = a constructed nation; not natural
SC, W & (N-)IR:
- ENG colonised and annexed the others
- Different histories
- Separate ‘national’ identities
o Slow merging of identities
- An ‘invented’ nation? Yes! Britain is a political union. The formation of this nation did not
occur
- naturally. The different nations did not want to belong together (no sense of belonging).
- People have got to want to identify & have a reason to
o Forced together geographically by having to form a nation: no affiliation/identification
with ‘Britishness’. British identity is a political identity.
°1066: establishment of ENG as a nation after the Battle of Hastings
1283 (1536): annexation of W (unofficially after Edwardian Conquest of W, officially after
the Act of Union)
1707: SC officially united with ENG & W (Acts of Union approved by both sides)
1600s: colonisation of IR by ENG (IR was really seen as a colony)
1801: annexation of IR (protest)
1921: secession of IR Creation of the Irish Free State (separate country) & N-IR (part
of the UK)
Devolution
Definition: process in which power is shifted from the national parliament in Westminster
towards the subnational parliaments
1999: °Scottish Parliament
1999: °National Assembly for W
2000: °N-IR Assembly (but intermittently suspended because weapons were found with members of the
IRA or because of internal political problems)
Clear example that the UK isn’t one nation
Who feels British?
- Choose ‘British’ first: ENG: 52% W: 30% SC: 19%
- The Welsh: 16% (↗) the Scottish: 8% (↗) the Northern Irish: 39% (↘)
- The Guardian: Ethnic minorities in UK feel most British
Study: “Ethnic minorities in UK feel most British”
2
, 2021–2022 Master Vertalen L. Magnus
Immigration and the fear of a lack of integration from immigrants was one of the major
driving forces for Brexit. Many people wanted to have a Brexit to gain more control over
immigration because they feared that migrants would destroy the British identity. This study
proves that cultural identity as a concept is more important to people with migrant
backgrounds and their descendants compared to people who are white.
Proposed British National Day
The UK does not have a national day because it has no founding date; the country was
created over a longer period of time. People’s priorities in choosing a date: issues of civil
liberties, military might and political significance.
Historical periods of Britain
- Rural
- Industrial: first European country to industrialise; Industrial Revolution
- Imperial: English economy driven by colonial conquest & exploitation of large parts of the
world
- Suburban (1950s): people leave towns for suburbs
- Tourist
- Multi-cultural
Historical identities of Britain
- An island people unconquered for centuries
o Last time they were conquered was in 1066
o Geographically separate from Europe: the British do not really identify with the
mainland
- A largely rural community, but the first industrial nation Contrasting identity: idyllic
industrial
- They identified as an imperial leader
- Dichotomy: a land divided between north and south, or between London and the rest of
the country
o North (industrialised; poorer) & south (rural) of ENG: culturally different
o Gvt. in London out of touch with the rest of the country + different culture, e.g. voting
for or against Brexit (London ‘no’ the rest ‘yes’)
- Class-based society (now more fragmented but still present)
British identity… disintegrating?
British identity until +/- 50 years ago:
- Close relationship with Parliament: UK was one of the first nations to have a Parliament
and become a republic Very proud of their Parliament; good relationship with politicians
- British imperialism: the idea of a superior Britain, a world power, strong armed forces
- Protestantism & Church of ENG (independent)
- Manufacturing: the world’s oldest industrial nation
- Relatively homogenous population (mostly white ethnicity)
Last 50 years: deconstruction of these building blocks above
- Increase in partisanship (= strong identification with one political party)
o Parties drift further apart on political spectrum Two-party system: Labour &
Conservative Party
o Parties find it harder to compromise + animosity This also divided the population
Decreased trust in politicians/politics
- Decline of Empire: Colonies gained independence Shift in perception: from a paternalist,
benevolent attitude to attitude of greed, exploitation
o Remnants of Empire: GB still feels important but it is just a small European country
Misplaced feeling of megalomania/grandeur/arrogance
- Decline of religion
3
, 2021–2022 Master Vertalen L. Magnus
- Declining importance of industry: shift towards service & tech industry
- Multiculturalism & diversity: migration from previous colonies See ‘Multiculturalism in the UK’
Plurality of British identities
- Decreasing importance of nationality in identifying identity
- Increasing importance of local (Scottish, Welsh, Londoner…) & transnational (European)
identities
- Intersectionality of identity: nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, age,
occupation…
No unified identity: people have multiple
identities
Identity no longer seen as a construction
based on nationality but as an intersection
of many identifying factors
British presence abroad
- Since 1964: more people left Britain than they
have entered; more emigration than
immigration
- British presence: remains of imperialism
o E.g. Hong Kong was a British crown colony until 1997
- British presence: overseas territories (island nations across the globe)
Brexit: recap & update
- Revealed a lot about British identity: a lot of people in UK do not identify as European
British nationalism on the rise; want independence;
xenophobia & anti-immigration rhetoric
How Britain voted in the referendum
- Result: narrow win for ‘Leave’
o 51.9% Leave 48.1% Remain Turnout: 72.2%
- ENG & W overwhelmingly voted to leave SC, N-IR &
London voted to remain
o Friction: SC thinks of seceding from the UK and
joining the EU as independent nation
o This is an effect of London’s multiculturalism: more
open to transnational identities; less opposed to
immigration
Britain and the EU
- 1973: member of the EEC (European Economic Community)
- 1992: UK became part of the EU with the Maastricht Treaty – Founding of the European
Union
- 2009: Lisbon Treaty
o Contained article 50: “Members have the right to quit the EU”
- Fall 2014: UK pledged £ 1.7 bn extra contribution to EU People unsatisfied: Money
should have been spent on improving things in the UK. But people did not realise that the
benefits outweigh the monetary contribution.
- June 2016: Brexit referendum under David Cameron
o Britons feel negatively against the EU: a lot of people felt that a lot of money went to
the EU
o Cameron resigned afterwards
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller studywithme789. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.97. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
