Seminar: Constructing Britishness:
Fiction, Film, Press.
Vorgelegt von:
Birgit Lonnemann
Magister
Romanistik/Anglistik
06. Semester
Universität Osnabrück
Wintersemester 1998/99
2
Map 1: The British Isles
1
1
Oakland, John. British Civilization. London: Routledge, 1995, page 14.
3
Table of Contents
I. Introduction...4
II. First and Early Settlement up to 1066 AD ...5
III. Growth and Immigration up to the Twentieth
Century...11
IV. Immigration and Population Movements in the
Twentieth Century ...14
V. Attitudes towards National Identities and Bri-tishness ..17
VI. Conclusion...20
VII. Bibliography ...22
4
I. Introduction
"We call our islands by no less than six different names,
England, Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles, the
United Kingdom and, in very exalted moments, Albion."
2
This quotation taken from George Orwell's essay
England, Your England (1941) clearly shows that the names
quoted above are often used as synonyms, although they
patently are not. So it is no surprise that some people define
themselves as being "Englishsorrybritish" a term which
occurred in the newspapers several times over the last few
months. A lot of people seem to be quite confused about their
identity, about who they are and where they belong. But using
the words "English" and "British" interchangeably is, in my
opinion, not very fair especially with regard to the inhabitants
of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In fact, the so-called United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland comprises four different indigenous
nations: English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish. And
considering the fact that the British Isles (cf. map 1, page 2) of
which the United Kingdom
3
is a part have attracted settlers
and immigrants for several centuries, it is not surprising that the
contemporary British are a very diverse people, or as is stated
in the title of my paper people from worldwide origins. The
question arises whether the majority of people in the United
Kingdom consider themselves to be British or rather to be
English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or part of any other
community often referred to as a so-called ethnic minority
group.
2
Orwell, George. Selected Essays. London: Penguin Books, 1957, page 72.
3
I will use the term United Kingdom throughout this paper to describe the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
5
However, I will first outline the historical development
that led to the creation of a multicultural, multinational and
multiracial Britain.
4
I divided this historical overview into three
parts: The first part will deal with the early settlement up to
1066 AD (cf. chapter II). As Britain's last invasion from
overseas took place in 1066 AD, I thought it would be good to
make an incision there. In the second section I am going to talk
about immigration movements up to the twentieth century (cf.
chapter III) and later I will go on with immigration and
population movements in the twentieth century (cf. chapter IV).
As the multinational and multicultural characteristics of
contemporary British society raise questions about national
identities, on the one hand, and about the meaning of
Britishness, on the other, I will also talk about visions of and
attitudes toward these two notions (cf. chapter V). My thoughts
on Britishness and national identities will be followed by some
summarising final remarks on "The British: People from
Worldwide Origins"
5
(cf. chapter VI).
II. First and Early Settlement up to 1066 AD
There is of course no distinctive information about what
the early settlement of Britain was like, but the oldest human
bones found were about 500,000 years in age. Old Stone Age
nomads from mainland Europe the so-called Palaeolithic
people who came to Britain when the country was joined to
the European land mass, are said to be the first settlers in
Britain. In contrast to the later settlers who were skilled in the
4
I will use the term Britain throughout my paper to describe the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.
5
Compare the paper's title.
6
Map 2: The Celts in Britain by 50 BC
6
6
Gilbert, Martin. The Dent Atlas of British History. London: JM Dent Ltd, 1993, page 1.
0 comments