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Changing Englishness: in Search of National Identity*

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Changing Englishness: in Search of National Identity* ISSN 1392-0561. INFORMACIJOS MOKSLAI. 2008 45 Changing Englishness: In search of national identity* Elke Schuch Cologne University of Applied Sciences Institute of Translation and Multilingual Communication Mainzer Str. 5, D-50678 Köln, Germany Ph. +49-221/8275-3302 E-mail: [email protected] The subsumation of Englishness into Britishness to the extent that they were often indistinguishable has contributed to the fact that at present an English identity is struggling to emerge as a distinct category. While devolved Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been able to construct a strong sense of local identity for themselves in opposition to the dominant English, England, without an e�uivalent Other, has never had to explain herself in the way Scotland or Wales have had to. But now, faced with the af- ter-effects of globalisation, devolution and an increasingly cosmopolitan and multicultural society as a conse�uence of de-colonisation and migration, the English find it difficult to invent a postimperial identity for themselves. This paper argues that there are chances and possibilities to be derived from the alleged crisis of Englishness: Britain as a nation-state has always accommodated large numbers of non-English at all levels of society. If England manages to re-invent itself along the lines of a civic, non- ethnic Britishness with which it has been identified for so long, the crisis might turn into the beginning of a more inclusive and cosmopolitan society which acknowledges not just the diversification of the people, particularly the legacy of the Empire, but also realises that the diversity of cultures has to be accommo- dated within a common culture. Such a common culture can be developed and nurtured by teaching a critically re-assessed history syllabus which would enable citizens to emotionally engage with and share in the social and cultural heritage of Britain. Key words: national identity, Englishness, multiculturalism, ethnicity, immigration It has been common in the past for the Eng- No less than Shakespeare himself, Eng- lish – and others – to say “English” when land’s national bard, conflated England they should really have said “British”. 80% and Britain when he had the dying John of of all British citizens live in England as the Gaunt describe England as “this sceptred political and economic centre of the UK, isle …. bound in with the triumphant sea” and England and English has frequently (Richard II, 2.1.40, 61). This confusion is been taken to mean the whole of Britain1. under PM Asquith on whose gravestone it says: “Prime * Paper presented at the 14th NIC Symposium on In- Minister of England, 1908–1916”. But, as a matter of tercultural Communication, 29th November – 1st Decem- fact, there has never been a Prime Minister of England ber 2007, Vilnius University, Faculty of Communication only (Cf. Taylor, 2004: 130). For further examples of 1 For instance, on 14 August 1914, newspapers re- the pervasive confusion of England with Britain see also ported: “England declares war on Germany”. This was Kumar 2003: 1–12. 52 a peculiarly English one and goes back to Scots and the Welsh to unite around a com- history: Britain as a political entity is the mon flag – and against Catholic enemies, in result of “internal colonialism” (Kumar, particular France and Spain (Colley, 1992). 2001: 42) with England being the aggres- The Empire – which was always the British, sor and an imperialist nation which invad- not the English Empire – was also a unify- ed and annexed the neighbouring countries ing force, drawing heavily on the expertise and subjugated the populations of Wales, of the Scots and Welsh as doctors, traders, Scotland and Ireland. Because England explorers, engineers and administrators. In has dominated the British Isles for so long, the 19th century then, Queen Victoria be- an attachment to Britain has always been came the imperialist flagship and first mon- easier for England than for Scotland or arch to all of Britain and the Empire. But Wales (Starkey, quoted in Brooks, 2006). Protestant belief no longer binds people in The development of British culture has a society which has become increasingly never clashed with English sensibilities as secular and multi-religious, the monarchy is it did with the Welsh when threatened with troubled, Britain has experienced a reduced the loss of their language, and the British world role since 1945, and – the Empire has government has never offended majority now gone. political opinion in England, as it did in England was the driving force behind Scotland and Wales where they never gave the British Empire, but with the Empire majority support to Margaret Thatcher, but gone, the English, more than their Celtic nevertheless found themselves governed neighbours, find it difficult to discover between 1979 and 1997 by the Conserva- a postimperial identity for themselves tive party they massively rejected. It is (Weight, 1999)2. After the decline of the therefore not surprising that many English Empire, post-war migration to Britain and share a construction of national identity multiculturalism as a consequence of de- that is British. colonization posed the biggest challenge to The subsumation of Englishness into an English identity. England has absorbed Britishness to the extent that they were of- large numbers of people from the former ten indistinguishable has contributed to the colonies – in particular from the Carib- fact that at present an English identity is bean, India and Africa – to the extent that struggling to emerge as a distinct category. today people from ethnic minority groups The reason for this is that many elements make up 9% of the population of England, of this British identity, with which the Eng- lish have identified, have long lost their 2 Cf. Krishan Kumar (2001: 46): “England’s na- validity. According to the historian Linda tional identity was willingly buried in the service of a Colley, the concept of Britishness largely missionary cause that was in the fullest sense global.” began to emerge in the 18th century and See also Jeremy Paxman (1999: vii): “The imperial English may have carried British passports – as did the was promoted by the common religion of Scots, Welsh, and some of the Irish – but they really Protestantism, which was used as a propa- didn’t need to think too hard about whether being ‘Eng- lish’ was the same as being ‘British’: the terms were ganda weapon to encourage the English, the virtually interchangeable.” 53 compared to only 2% of the population of of the West Midlands are from what are both Wales and Scotland. England, there- loosely called ethnic minorities. fore, is ethnically more diverse in terms of This was the context in which Scottish the recent origins and current cultures of its and Welsh nationalism has grown. The end people than Scotland and Wales3. English of the Empire and the relative decline of cities and towns, in particular, consist of Britain in the post-war world have made very varied multicultural, multilingual and many Scots question the importance of the cosmopolitan communities. About 20% of Union. Over the last few decades, Eng- the population of London, and nearly 15% land has had to face nationalist challenges from Scotland and Wales as regional dif- ferences have become more and more pro- 3 Cf. Alibhai-Brown (2007): “England is a cul- tural and biological crossbred… This is why millions nounced. As a consequence of these sepa- of migrants seek to come here and why, way back in ratist movements, devolved parliaments in the times of Elizabeth I, the influx from elsewhere was unstoppable. You do not have anything like the same Scotland and Wales have been introduced energetic heterogeneity or magnetism in Scotland, with the curious result that in the new Wales or Northern Ireland.” English society has indeed “multi-national state” only the English become more and more culturally mixed. Chinese and Indian food, the cuisine of the Empire, has become are without a parliament or assembly of standard British fare. There is an abundance of Asian their own4. Devolved Scotland, Wales and grocery stores and snack bars in England’s cities and a survey has shown that chicken tikka massala is the nation’s favourite dish, more popular even than fish 4 The Scottish and Welsh MPs in Westminster can and chips (Johnston, 1997). Cultural events like the vote on many English matters where English MPs can- Notting Hill Carnival, staged by the Caribbean popula- not decide issues in Scotland and Wales because power tion of Britain every year in London, are part of a com- has moved to Edinburgh and Cardiff respectively. The mon culture. Many non-white Britons have excelled in fact that the British Parliament at Westminster decides sport and show business: Black or Asian newsreaders on English affairs is just a case in point that the English like Trevor McDonald and Moira Stuart are house- – by identifying with Britishness – have denied them- hold faces. Currently, 30% of all professional football selves many of the overt signs of Englishness one might players in the UK are black and cricket, the archetypal otherwise have expected. For example, the National sport of the white English middle and upper classes and Trust does not operate in Scotland, there being instead a epitome of ‘Englishness’, has been assimilated by the separate National Trust for Scotland. There is also a Na- Indians. School populations show similar signs of mix tional Library of Wales, but no English national library, and change. Classrooms now draw upon Caribbean- just the British Library. Similarly, there is a Scottish British and Indo-Pakistani-British catchments, each National Gallery, but not an English national gallery, with a youth culture, both mainstream and ethnic.
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