The Importance of Being English: European Perspectives on Englishness

Abstract

Englishness has been a popular topic for a long time, but it was never as controversially contested as it is now. When not only the Prime Minister but also writers such as Julian Barnes and pop singers like Billy Bragg feel that they have to get involved in the debates, then it comes as no surprise that scholars and journalists have adopted Englishness as one of their favourite topics, too. Long gone are declarations on the 'specific characteristics' of the English and the belief in the superiority of the race, and yet Englishness has remained a hot issue in our own days. The terms of the debate, however, have shifted considerably. First, the belief in Englishness as an essence, as 'a sort of collective "one true self"' that is 'naturally' shared by everyone belonging to that culture, has been discarded and substituted by a whole range of new concepts, approaches and models of explanation. There is a widespread consensus now that Englishness is a construct, and that 'no description of Britain is ideologically innocent, a mere representation of what is there, simply, positively, naturally'.^ Secondly, it is not possible any more to gloss over cultural differences and assume that there is an easily definable group of people whose characteristics can be subsumed under the umbrella term 'Englishness'. Instead, the question of who does and who does not belong to that group is hotly contested. Furthermore, the traditional, often unthinking mix-up of Englishness and Britishness ' Stuart Hall, 'Cultural Identity and Diaspora', in Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, ed. Jonathan Rutherford (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1990), p. 223. Hall draws attention to the fact that this conception of cultural identity resonates in the attempts of the black diaspora to discover 'the essence' of their unique experience. Manfred Pfister, 'Editorial', in The Discovery of Britain {Journal for the Study of Brit-

African and Caribbean adolescents in Britain: ethnic identity and Britishness

“…', adolescents were more likely to answer their city (London) than country (England or the UK). That England was the least popular and Britain the most popular from the national choices gives credence to the idea that Britishness offers a more inclusive construct in recent times (Nunning 2004). Still, the key finding that London was the most popular might mean that black adolescents have developed a stronger 'local' identity rather than a national identity (Reynolds 2006b).…”

“…This makes for the historical struggle by Africans and Caribbeans to embrace a black 'British' identity. On the other hand, more recent systematic attempts by New Labour to remodel Britain as an innovative, exemplary nation reflect a need to forge a new British self-image that every citizen can identify with versus a 'parochial' sense of traditional Englishness (Nunning 2004). This need is argued to be even greater for those whose families have lived in Britain for over a generation and who may not have visited the places of their ethnic origin, making the negotiation of their identities an issue of prime interest.…”

Englishness as class: A re-examination

“…This is a virtue that is often invisible to English critics and, from the vantage point of Northern Ireland, where such flexibility and openness are often absent, it looks rather different and more appealing. As the novelist Andrea Levy once put it, ‘If Englishness does not define me, then redefine Englishness’ (cited in Nünning, 2004: 150), and she could make this claim not as a fond hope but as a firm expectation. Similarly, though Bryant (2003: 409) accepted that recent constitutional changes would prompt more searches for Englishness, he believed that ‘the more sophisticated the searches the less likely they are to prompt claims for ethnic purity or cultural exclusiveness’.…”

Anglo-Saxon Others in the Spanish imagination

“…Suffice it to mention here Bourdieu, 1980, Anderson, 1991, Corbey et al eds. 1991, Delanty 2008Leary & Tangney 2003, Leersen 2006, van Dick 2008, Wodak et al eds., 2009 As for European views of Englishness, see Nünnig 2004, Tejada 2005 and Xenographies Conference Proceedings. 3 The contents in Torrente 1927 are organised into two volumes: in the first one, information concerning countries is topically ordered: physical geography, climate, natural curiosities, political relations, religion, primitive population, habits, literature and languages, etc.…”