DOCSLIB.ORG

1 HI 2101: Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: the Making of England, C.400-1000 AD. Possible Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo Helmet

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 HI 2101: Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: the Making of England, C.400-1000 AD. Possible Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo Helmet HI 2101: Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: the making of England, c.400-1000 AD. Possible reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet. Welcome to this course in Senior Freshmen (2nd) year. There will be two lectures throughout the Semester, and one tutorial per week for seven weeks from Week 3. There will be no lectures or tutorials in ‘Reading Week’ 25th February-1st March 2013. Lectures are WED 11-12 Room 5082. FRI 2-3 pm Room 4047. Course Aims: This course aims to give you an outline understanding of the major developments in politics and society in Britain between the end of Roman Rule and the start of the new millennium. Outcomes: • Allow you to understand the broad chronology of the period. • Allow you to analyse the relevant literature. • Allow you also to realise the importance of key contemporary texts in translation. • Allow you to chart the main developments in early medieval society in Britain. Lectures: 1 1. General introduction to the course (TBB) 2. The governmental structure of Roman Britain (TBB) 3. The end of Roman Britain (TBB) 4. Background to the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain (TBB) 5. Anglo-Saxon Settlements (TBB) 6. The conversion of Anglo-Saxon England: The Augustinian Mission (TBB) 7. The conversion of England: Paulinus and Northumbria (TBB) 8. Anglo-Saxon society and the Law Codes (TBB) 9. Introduction to Anglo-Saxon art and archaeology (TBB) 10. The politics of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (TBB) 11. The politics of the middle Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (TBB) 12. The “Golden Age” of Northumbria (TBB) 13. Bede and Northumbria (TBB) 14. Anglo-Saxon England during the Mercian hegemony (TBB) 15. The Rise of Wessex (TBB) 16. Viking expansion in Western Europe (TBB) 17. The Viking invasions of England (TBB) 18. The Viking settlement of England (TBB) 19. The Viking impact on Ireland (TBB) 20. Society and Government in late Anglo-Saxon England (TBB) 21. The theory and practise of Anglo-Saxon kingship (TBB) 22. Monastic reform in 10th century England (TBB) ESSAY QUESTIONS 1. What is understood by the term ‘Sub-Roman’ Britain? 2. Assess the importance of Paulinus in bringing Christianity to Northern England. 3. How has archaeology contributed to our understanding of the 7th-8th century kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England? 4. What is understood by the ‘Golden Age’ of Northumbria? 5. Discuss the major reasons behind the successful establishment of the Danelaw? 2 6. Critically analyse the main components of Anglo-Saxon kingship. Select Bibliography General Books P. H. Blair, An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England (1962). James Campbell, The Anglo-Saxon State (2000). D. J. V. Fisher, The Anglo-Saxon Age c. 400-1042 (1978). K. Harrison, The Framework of Anglo-Saxon History to A.D. 900 (1976). E. James, Britain in the First Millennium (2001). E. James, Europe’s Barbarian’s AD 200-600 (2009). H. R. Loyn, Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest (1991). P. H. Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England (1978). F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (1971). L. Webster and J. Backhouse (ed) The Making of England (1991). D. Whitelock, Beginnings of English Society D. Whitelock (ed.), English Historical Documents vol. I (500-1042) Ann Williams, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c.500- 1066 (1999). Specific Topics L. Alcock, Arthur's Britain (2001) Maurice Barley and R.W. C. Hanson (eds.), Christianity in Britain, 300-700 (1968). 3 Stephen Bassett (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (1989). Wendy Davies (ed.), From the Vikings to the Normans, 800-1100 (2009) R. Bruce-Mitford, The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial , 3 vols (1976-83). R. Bruce-Mitford, The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial: A Handbook (1968). J. B. Bury, A History of the later Roman Empire (1958). Martin Carver, Sutton Hoo Burial Ground of Kings? (1998). http://www.suttonhoo.org/archaeology.htm Thomas Charles-Edwards, ‘The Arthur of History’, in R. Bromwich et al, eds., The Arthur of the Welsh (1991), pp. 15-33. R. Collingwood and J. F. L. Myres, Roman Britain and the English settlements (1949). P. Clemoes and K. Hughes (eds), England before the Conquest (1971). S. S. Frere, Britannia: a history of Roman Britain (1987). Edward Gibbons,The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire (1776–81). Seamus Heaney (trans), Beowulf (1999). Nicholas Higham, The English Conquest: Gildas and Britain in the Fifth Century (1994). N.J. Higham, An English Empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon Kings (1995). D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991). Joan Liversidge, Britain in the Roman Empire (1973). H.R. Loyn, Alfred the Great (1996). J. Morris (ed.), Gildas (1978). 4 J. Morris (ed.), Nennius (1980). J. Morris, The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650 (1973). A. Reynolds, Later Anglo-Saxon England: Life and Landscape (1999). P. Sims-Williams, "Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons", Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 6 (1983), 1-30. P. Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in Western England, 600-800 (1991). Leo Sherley-Price (trans.), Bede: A History of the English Church and People (1965). Ann Williams, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, 500- 1066 (1999). D. M. Wilson, The Anglo-Saxons (1971). Specific Topics II P. H. Blair (ed), Northumbria in the Days of Bede (1976). M. Brown & C.A. Farr, Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe (2001). P. Brandon (ed.), The South Saxons (1978). T.A. Bredehoft, Textual Histories: Readings in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (2001). James Campbell, The Anglo-Saxon State (2000). A. Dornier (ed.), Mercian Studies (1977). Dawn Hadley, The Northern Danelaw: Its social structure, c.800-1100 (2000). D. Hinton, Alfred's Kingdom (1977). 5 K. Leahy & R. Bland, The Staffordshire Hoard (2009). H. R. Loyn, The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England, 500-1087 (1984). A. P. Smyth, King Alfred the Great (1995). Tutorials: 1. The end of Roman rule: Gildas. 2. The coming of Christianity: Bede and the Letters of Gregory the Great. 3. Beowulf. 4. Asser and Alfred. 5. The Viking Invasion: Battle of Maldon, 6. The Burghal Hidage. 7. Wulfstan’s Institutes of Polity. [email protected] Professor Terry Barry Room 3148. 6 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Beowulf and the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
    Beowulf and The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial The value of Beowulf as a window on Iron Age society in the North Atlantic was dramatically confirmed by the discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial in 1939. Ne hÿrde ic cymlīcor cēol gegyrwan This is identified as the tomb of Raedwold, the Christian King of Anglia who died in hilde-wæpnum ond heaðo-wædum, 475 a.d. – about the time when it is thought that Beowulf was composed. The billum ond byrnum; [...] discovery of so much martial equipment and so many personal adornments I never yet heard of a comelier ship proved that Anglo-Saxon society was much more complex and advanced than better supplied with battle-weapons, previously imagined. Clearly its leaders had considerable wealth at their disposal – body-armour, swords and spears … both economic and cultural. And don’t you just love his natty little moustache? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(Beowulf, ll.38-40.) Beowulf at the movies - 2007 Part of the treasure discovered in a ship-burial of c.500 at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia – excavated in 1939. th The Sutton Hoo ship and a modern reconstruction Ornate 5 -century head-casque of King Raedwold of Anglia Caedmon’s Creation Hymn (c.658-680 a.d.) Caedmon’s poem was transcribed in Latin by the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiatical History of the English People, the chief prose work of the age of King Alfred and completed in 731, Bede relates that Caedmon was an illiterate shepherd who composed his hymns after he received a command to do so from a mysterious ‘man’ (or angel) who appeared to him in his sleep.
    [Show full text]
  • Redeeming Beowulf and Byrhtnoth
    Redeeming Beowulf: The Heroic Idiom as Marker of Quality in Old English Poetry Abstract: Although it has been fashionable lately to read Old English poetry as being critical of the values of heroic culture, the heroic idiom is the main, and perhaps the only, marker of quality in Old English poetry. Considering in turn the ‘sacred heroic’ in Genesis A and Andreas, the ‘mock heroic’ in Judith and Riddle 51, and the fiercely debated status of Byrhtnoth and Beowulf in The Battle of Maldon and Beowulf, this discussion suggests that modern scholarship has confused the measure with the measured. Although an uncritical heroic idiom may not be to modern critical tastes, it is suggested here that the variety of ways in which the heroic idiom is used to evaluate and mark value demonstrates the flexibility and depth of insight achieved by Old English poets through their apparently limited subject matter. A hero can only be defined by a narrative in which he or she meets or exceeds measures set by society—in which he or she demonstrates his or her quality. In that sense, all heroic narratives are narratives about quality. In Old English poetry, the heroic idiom stands as the marker of quality for a wide range of things: people, artefacts, actions, and events that are good, respected, desirable, and valued are marked by being presented with the characteristic language and ethic of an idealised, archaic warrior-culture.1 This is not, of course, a new point; it is traditional in Old English scholarship to associate quality with the elite, military world of generous war-lords, loyal thegns, gorgeous equipment, great acts of courage, and 1 The characteristic subject matter and style of Old English poetry is referred to in varying ways by critics.
    [Show full text]
  • English Society 1660±1832
    ENGLISH SOCIETY 1660±1832 Religion, ideology and politics during the ancien regime J. C. D. CLARK published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011±4211, USA www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Ruiz de AlarcoÂn 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain # Cambridge University Press 2000 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published as English Society 1688±1832,1985. Second edition, published as English Society 1660±1832 ®rst published 2000. Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeface Baskerville 11/12.5 pt. System 3b2[ce] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Clark, J. C. D. English society, 1660±1832 : religion, ideology, and politics during the ancien regime/J.C.D.Clark. p. cm. Rev. edn of: English society, 1688±1832. 1985. Includes index. isbn 0 521 66180 3 (hbk) ± isbn 0 521 66627 9 (pbk) 1. Great Britain ± Politics and government ± 1660±1714. 2. Great Britain ± Politics and government ± 18th century. 3. Great Britain ± Politics and government ± 1800±1837. 4. Great Britain ± Social conditions. i.Title. ii.Clark,J.C.D.Englishsociety,1688±1832.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Kingdom
    PRESS RELEASE THE LAST KINGDOM A CARNIVAL FILMS & BBC AMERICA co-production for BBC TWO An adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling series of books by BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning writer Stephen Butchard The Last Kingdom, a new historical 8x60 drama series launches on BBC Two and BBC America in October. Made by Carnival Films, the Golden Globe® and Emmy® award- winning producers of Downton Abbey, the show airs on BBC America on 10 October, 2015 and later the same month on BBC Two. BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning writer Stephen Butchard, (Good Cop, Five Daughters, House of Saddam), has adapted Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling franchise “The Saxon Stories” for the screen. Cornwell is also known for his much-loved “Sharpe” novels that became the long- running TV series of the same name starring Sean Bean. The series cast is headed up by Alexander Dreymon (American Horror Story, Blood Ransom), playing Uhtred of Bebbanburg, with Emily Cox (Homeland) as Brida, Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Galavant) as Ravn, Matthew Macfadyen (The Enfield Haunting, Ripper Street) as Lord Uhtred, David Dawson (Peaky Blinders) as Alfred, Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle) as Ubba, Ian Hart (Boardwalk Empire) as Beocca and Adrian Bower (Mount Pleasant) as Leofic. Set in the year 872, when many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, the great kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred the Great. Against this turbulent backdrop lives our hero, Uhtred.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to British History I
    HIST 2403 Introduction to British History I: POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND, FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST (1066) TO THE RESTORATION (1660) Fall 2009, Room 2082,Tuesday & Thursday, 4:00--5:40 p.m. Instructor: Prof. Ian Gentles Office: Room 1111 Phone: 416-226-6620 ext. 6718 E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Tues. 2:30-3:45, Thurs. 2:30- 3:45, OR by appointment Commuter Hotline: 416-226-6620 ext. 2187 Class cancellations due to inclement weather or illness will be announced/posted on the commuter hotline. Mailboxes: Every student is responsible for information communicated through the student mailboxes. A mailbox directory is posted beside the mailboxes. I. COURSE DESCRIPTION An outline of British history from the Norman conquest to the mid-seventeenth century revolution, this course pays particular attention to the history of monarchy, parliament and the church. Specific topics include the conflict between crown and aristocracy, the rise of parliament, the Reformation and the factors that led to the turbulence of the seventeenth century. II. REQUIRED TEXTS 1. Lehmberg, Stanford E. and Samantha Meigs. The Peoples of the British Isles from Prehistoric Times to 1688 . Chicago: Lyceum, 2009 2. Course Pack: Documents, readings and maps for use in tutorial discussion. (available in the bookstore) III. COURSE EVALUATION Examination : Test - Thursday, 22nd October (in class) 10% Essay - 2,000-2500 words, Thursday, 26 November 30% Examination (during December exam period) 40% Class participation 20% (total) 100% Term work : a. You are expected to attend the tutorials, preparing for them through the lectures and through assigned reading.
    [Show full text]
  • Thevikingblitzkriegad789-1098.Pdf
    2 In memory of Jeffrey Martin Whittock (1927–2013), much-loved and respected father and papa. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people provided valuable advice which assisted in the preparation of this book; without them, of course, carrying any responsibility for the interpretations offered by the book. We are particularly indebted to our agent Robert Dudley who, as always, offered guidance and support, as did Simon Hamlet and Mark Beynon at The History Press. In addition, Bradford-on-Avon library, and the Wiltshire and the Somerset Library services, provided access to resources through the inter-library loans service. For their help and for this service we are very grateful. Through Hannah’s undergraduate BA studies and then MPhil studies in the department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC) at Cambridge University (2008–12), the invaluable input of many brilliant academics has shaped our understanding of this exciting and complex period of history, and its challenging sources of evidence. The resulting familiarity with Old English, Old Norse and Insular Latin has greatly assisted in critical reflection on the written sources. As always, the support and interest provided by close family and friends cannot be measured but is much appreciated. And they have been patient as meal-time conversations have given way to discussions of the achievements of Alfred and Athelstan, the impact of Eric Bloodaxe and the agendas of the compilers of the 4 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 5 CONTENTS Title Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The Gathering
    [Show full text]
  • NICHOLAS BROOKS Nicholas Peter Brooks 1941–2014
    NICHOLAS BROOKS Nicholas Peter Brooks 1941–2014 NICHOLAS PETER BROOKS WAS born in Virginia Water, Surrey, on 14 January 1941. His father, W. D. W. Brooks, CBE, served during the Second World War as a naval doctor, based in Chatham, Kent, and later became a con- sultant physician at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. Nicholas’s mother Phyllis Juler, was a physician’s daughter, an accomplished figure-skater and also a talented cellist. Nicholas, the third of their four children, recalled his mother’s piano-playing: ‘music was always part of our home’. Though born in Surrey, Nicholas considered himself ‘a man of Kent’, because during his childhood his family spent summer holidays in a small cottage near Elham, a few miles south of Canterbury. After prep school, Nicholas attended Winchester College from 1954 to 1958. There his housemaster was Harold Elliot Walker, an inspirational historian and amateur archaeologist. Harold, a bachelor, often spent summer holidays with the Brooks family. Harold’s advice to his pupils was: ‘Take up your hobby!’ Nicholas duly went up to Magdalen College Oxford in 1959 already a keen and accomplished historian. He won a prestigious Oxford History Prize in 1960 for his dissertation, ‘The Normans in Sicily’. But by the time he graduated, in 1962, his heart was in Anglo-Saxon England, and specifically Kent and Canterbury. His Oxford D.Phil. on Canterbury’s Anglo-Saxon charters was supervised by the incomparable Professor Dorothy Whitelock at Cambridge (the ancient universities’ regulations yielded to the combined assault of two determined characters). While still working on the D.Phil., Nicholas in 1964 was appointed to his first academic post, at the University of St Andrews.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pattern of Social Transformation in England Perkin, Harold
    www.ssoar.info The pattern of social transformation in England Perkin, Harold Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Sammelwerksbeitrag / collection article Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Perkin, H. (1982). The pattern of social transformation in England. In K. H. Jarausch (Ed.), The transformation of higher learning 1860-1930 : expansion, diversification, social opening and professionalization in England, Germany, Russia and the United States (pp. 207-218). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-339634 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of English Literature MICHAEL ALEXANDER
    A History of English Literature MICHAEL ALEXANDER [p. iv] © Michael Alexander 2000 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W 1 P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 0-333-91397-3 hardcover ISBN 0-333-67226-7 paperback A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 O1 00 Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wilts Printed in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wilts [p. v] Contents Acknowledgements The harvest of literacy Preface Further reading Abbreviations 2 Middle English Literature: 1066-1500 Introduction The new writing Literary history Handwriting
    [Show full text]
  • England and the Process of Commercialization ?
    Introduction ENGLAND AND THE PROCESS OF COMMERCIALIZATION ? As the core country of the British Isles, England is regarded as a pioneer of mod- ern industrial capitalism and as a model of an open society with a viable public sphere. Th erefore, an examination of English history can be expected to yield fundamental insights into the preconditions for Western ways of living and doing business. It furthermore seems legitimate to reformulate a central question of historical social science, originally posed by Max Weber: ‘to what combination of circumstances should the fact be attributed that precisely on English soil cultural phenomena appeared which (as we like to think) lie in a line of development hav- ing universal signifi cance and value?’1 With reference to this question, English – and more broadly British – history has already been the subject of numerous comprehensive research initiatives. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, it served U.S.-based modernization theorists as a preferred model and benchmark of Western development and inspired a large number of empirically rich comparative studies that juxtaposed it with the history of other European countries, the United States and Latin America.2 Th e current debate about the ‘Great Divergence’ between Europe and Asia has rekindled this discussion. To determine when and for what reasons Asia diverged from the path of Western development, the protagonists viewed England and subregions of China as proxies for Europe and Asia, respectively. In this discus- sion, the stagnation of the Qing dynasty with its highly developed commercial economy is explained in terms of the absence of the structural preconditions that are presumed to have been present and eff ectively utilized in medieval and Early Modern England.3 Notes from this chapter begin on page 15.
    [Show full text]
  • Anglo-Saxons
    Anglo-Saxons Plated disc brooch Kent, England Late 6th or early 7th century AD Visit resource for teachers Key Stage 2 Anglo-Saxons Contents Before your visit Background information Resources Gallery information Preliminary activities During your visit Gallery activities: introduction for teachers Gallery activities: briefings for adult helpers Gallery activity: The Franks Casket Gallery activity: Personal adornment Gallery activity: Design and decoration Gallery activity: Anglo-Saxon jobs Gallery activity: Material matters After your visit Follow-up activities Anglo-Saxons Before your visit Anglo-Saxons Before your visit Background information The end of Roman Britain The Roman legions began to be withdrawn from Britain to protect other areas of the empire from invasion by peoples living on the edge of the empire at the end of the fourth century AD. Around AD 407 Constantine III, a claimant for the imperial throne based in Britain, led the troops from Britain to Gaul in an attempt to secure control of the Western Roman Empire. He failed and was killed in Gaul in AD 411. This left the Saxon Shore forts, which had been built by the Romans to protect the coast from attacks by raiding Saxons, virtually empty and the coast of Britain open to attack. In AD 410 there was a devastating raid on the undefended coasts of Britain and Gaul by Saxons raiders. Imperial governance in Britain collapsed and although aspects of Roman Britain continued after AD 410, Britain was no longer part of the Roman empire and saw increased settlement by Germanic people, particularly in the northern and eastern regions of England.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]