Englishness, Britishness, and A Time-wasting Device For People Like Me.
Okay, I'm setting my faithful readership a task. I want to know what your identities are. Do you identify with being English, with being Scottish, with being British, or European, or with a local identity? You may, of course, choose as many as you want.
But I also want to know what you think each identity consists of. What function does the identity have for you? e.g. is Britishness a political/state identity, while English is more of a cultural one? Don't take what I've given as an example to be a rigid template - I want to know what your views are. How important are your different (country, state, etc) identities, and how are they important?
It seems to me that most of the commentators in this field spend most of their time disagreeing with each other. So I'm interested in your responses. And background details of relelvance are, of course, welcomed. (If you don't feel comfortable posting all that on here, you can email it to me at scrybe_84@hotmail.co.uk )
Then, tomorrow (or maybe later today if I get your responses quickly enough) I shall post something intelligent for once. Don't consider this a punishment though - you needn't read it if you don't want to.
I know a lot of you are at work right now, so I'm expecting something.
Thanks. :)
But I also want to know what you think each identity consists of. What function does the identity have for you? e.g. is Britishness a political/state identity, while English is more of a cultural one? Don't take what I've given as an example to be a rigid template - I want to know what your views are. How important are your different (country, state, etc) identities, and how are they important?
It seems to me that most of the commentators in this field spend most of their time disagreeing with each other. So I'm interested in your responses. And background details of relelvance are, of course, welcomed. (If you don't feel comfortable posting all that on here, you can email it to me at scrybe_84@hotmail.co.uk )
Then, tomorrow (or maybe later today if I get your responses quickly enough) I shall post something intelligent for once. Don't consider this a punishment though - you needn't read it if you don't want to.
I know a lot of you are at work right now, so I'm expecting something.
Thanks. :)
Labels: britishness, englishness, identities, serious
posted by Scrybe at 11/22/2006 02:35:00 PM
8 Comments:
I am definetly British. I think I owe this to my life-long residency in England, but I have blood relatives in both Wales and Ireland. Strangely, enough, I consider myself Northern after British, then English. I don't know why, I just feel somewhat distant from the stereotypical Englishman.
I'd consider myself a Londoner first and foremost, then British by virtue of having English and Scottish parents. I don't find myself identifying much with England outside of London and some other cities.
I'd consider myself a Londoner first and foremost, then British by virtue of having grandparents from other regions of England and from Scotland. I don't identify much with England outside of London and some other cities.
Sorry - somehow posted my preview.
I'd say (although I can't speak for everyone) that I was British.
Lot's of people I know have different ethnic or geographic identities and would probably feel uncomfortable with describing themselves as "English" (myself included) but British strikes me as a nice, inclusive catch-all
aww, how cuddly and nice.
@ Gregg - no problem, glad you dropped by and left comment. hope its a trend that will continue.
I'm English. Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish people have a lot of differences with me, and they tell me. That's why we have devolution.
I have differences with them too.
That said, I've lived pretty much everywhere in England at some point or another, nowhere else.
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