These Englands : a conversation on national identity / edited by Arthur Aughey and Christine Berberich.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Aughey, Arthur.

Berberich, Christine, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National characteristics, English.

Physical Description:

xvi, 318 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2011.

Summary:

The term 'conversation' is now part of public discourse but little attempt has been made to examine its meaning. This book considers seriously what the notion of conversation entails when specifically applied to understanding nationality. The premise of the book is that to be English is to participate in a conversation about the country's history, politics, culture and society.

These Englands aims to be part of contemporary political and cultural education and it is the assumption that English nationality is a very live conversation. It is this live, contemporary conversation that the book wants to examine but it wants to understand it as more than a mere momentary product. Englishness has a history too-intellectual, literary, constitutional, political and emotional - and the contributors explore its distinctive character.

It brings together a group of distinguished academics in the fields of history, politics, sociology, social psychology and literature, including Julia Stapleton, John Curtice, Susan Condor, Christopher Bryant and Patrick Parrinder. With a Preface by Krishan Kumar, These Englands constitutes a unique perspective on the subject of English national identity.

This book will be essential reading for students of nationalism and those with an interest in the debates about the culture and politics of Englishness. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Englishness in discourse and opinion

1 Sense and sensibility: the conversational etiquette of English national self-identification / Susan Condor Condor, Susan 29

2 Is the English lion ready to roar? / John Curtice Curtice, John 56

3 All white? Englishness, 'race' and ethnic identities / Paul Thomas Thomas, Paul 75

4 Towards a cosmopolitan England? / Christopher G. A. Bryant Bryant, Christopher G. A. 94

Part II Englishness in politics and institutions

5 Conservatives and Englishness: a conversation between party and nation / Stephen Ingle Ingle, Stephen 115

6 The left and Englishness / Matt Beech Beech, Matt 137

7 Gordon Brown and the negation of England / Simon Lee Lee, Simon 155

8 The Englishness of Westminster / Philip Norton Norton, Philip 174

9 Englishness and local government: reflecting a nation s past or merely an administrative convenience? / Colin Copus Copus, Colin 193

Part III Englishness in history and imagination

10 Faith, people and place: the English union in the writings of Arthur Mee and G.K. Chesterton / Julia Stapleton Stapleton, Julia 217

11 The changing face of Englishness: history, culture and character / Gary Day Day, Gary 236

12 From Hardy to Larkin: poets and novelists in national conversation / Patrick Parrinder Parrinder, Patrick 255.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [280]-313) and index.

ISBN:

0719079608

9780719079603

0719079616

9780719079610

OCLC:

744523899