Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain PDF Author: Stephanie Barczewski
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191542733
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Scholars have become increasingly interested in how modern national consciousness comes into being through fictional narratives. Literature is of particular importance to this process, for it is responsible for tracing the nations evolution through glorious tales of its history. In nineteenth-century Britain, the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played an important role in construction of contemporary national identity. These two legends provide excellent windows through which to view British culture, because they provide very different perspectives. King Arthur and Robin Hood have traditionally been diametrically opposed in terms of their ideological orientation. The former is a king, a man at the pinnacle of the social and political hierarchy, whereas the latter is an outlaw, and is therefore completely outside conventional hierarchical structures. The fact that two such different figures could simultaneously function as British national heroes suggests that nineteenth-century British nationalism did not represent a single set of values and ideas, but rather that it was forced to assimilate a variety of competing points of view.

Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain PDF Author: Stephanie Barczewski
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191542733
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
Scholars have become increasingly interested in how modern national consciousness comes into being through fictional narratives. Literature is of particular importance to this process, for it is responsible for tracing the nations evolution through glorious tales of its history. In nineteenth-century Britain, the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played an important role in construction of contemporary national identity. These two legends provide excellent windows through which to view British culture, because they provide very different perspectives. King Arthur and Robin Hood have traditionally been diametrically opposed in terms of their ideological orientation. The former is a king, a man at the pinnacle of the social and political hierarchy, whereas the latter is an outlaw, and is therefore completely outside conventional hierarchical structures. The fact that two such different figures could simultaneously function as British national heroes suggests that nineteenth-century British nationalism did not represent a single set of values and ideas, but rather that it was forced to assimilate a variety of competing points of view.

Imagining Spain

Imagining Spain PDF Author: Henry Kamen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
'Imagining Spain' is an analysis of the myths that Spaniards have held, and continue to hold, about themselves and about their collective past. The text discusses how perceptions of key aspects of early modern Spain were influenced by ideologies that continue to play a role in the formation of contemporary Spanish attitudes.

The Nation Made Real

The Nation Made Real PDF Author: Anthony D. Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199662975
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Focusing on national identity in the Netherlands, France, and Britian, The Nation Made Real offers an original interpretation of the role of visual art in the making of nations in Western Europe.

The English National Character

The English National Character PDF Author: Peter Mandler
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300120523
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
De geschiedenis van opvattingen over het nationale karakter van de Engelsen in de afgelopen twee eeuwen.

The Societal Foundations of National Competitiveness

The Societal Foundations of National Competitiveness PDF Author: Michael J. Mazarr
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 1977409407
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Nations rise and fall, succeed or fail in rivalries, and enjoy stability or descend into chaos because of a complex web of factors. One critical component is a nation’s essential social characteristics. This report examines the characteristics of highly competitive societies, explores the relationship of a nation’s social condition to its global standing, and then applies these lessons to the United States today.

Foundations of National Identity

Foundations of National Identity PDF Author: Josep R. Llobera
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845450427
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Since it emergence in the 19th century in response to feudalism, nationalism has been a mixed blessing. Originally seen as a positive force, often enough it has resulted in warfare and persecution of minorities, so much so that, over time, it has been considered a social evil whose apparent decline has been greeted as a positive development. The author disputes this or rather, he maintains that the picture that emerges is more complex: nationalism is not disappearing but has taken on a different form. What we are experiencing is an increasing autonomy of ethnonations, i.e. nations without a state, in the wake of a weakening of the multinational states and the transfer of their sovereignty upwards, in the case of Europe to the federation of the European Union, and downwards to the "ethnonations." Catalonia is the major case study in this book but it is embedded in a comprehensive theoretical framework as well as the historical and contemporary reality of Europe, opening up a new perspective. The author, one of the foremost scholars in this field, brilliantly succeeds in developing an original, clear and comprehensive vision of nationalism that is accessible to a wide readership.

The Rise and Fall of British Crusader Medievalism, c.1825–1945

The Rise and Fall of British Crusader Medievalism, c.1825–1945 PDF Author: Mike Horswell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351584251
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book investigates the uses of crusader medievalism – the memory of the crusades and crusading rhetoric and imagery – in Britain, from Walter Scott’s The Talisman (1825) to the end of the Second World War. It seeks to understand why and when the crusades and crusading were popular, how they fitted with other cultural trends of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, how their use was affected by the turmoil of the First World War and whether they were differently employed in the interwar years and in the 1939-45 conflict. Building on existing studies and contributing the fruits of fresh research, it brings together examples of the uses of the crusades from disparate contexts and integrates them into the story of the rise and fall crusader medievalism in Britain.

Gender, Race and National Identity

Gender, Race and National Identity PDF Author: Jackie Hogan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134174063
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
This book examines links between gender, race and national identity by analyzing a range of mass-mediated and pop-cultural ‘texts’ in four nations: Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA.

The Making of English National Identity

The Making of English National Identity PDF Author: Krishan Kumar
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521777360
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Why is English national identity so enigmatic and so elusive? Why, unlike the Scots, Welsh, Irish and most of continental Europe, do the English find it so difficult to say who they are? The Making of English National Identity, first published in 2003, is a fascinating exploration of Englishness and what it means to be English. Drawing on historical, sociological and literary theory, Krishan Kumar examines the rise of English nationalism and issues of race and ethnicity from earliest times to the present day. He argues that the long history of the English as an imperial people has, as with other imperial people like the Russians and the Austrians, developed a sense of missionary nationalism which in the interests of unity and empire has necessitated the repression of ordinary expressions of nationalism. Professor Kumar's lively and provocative approach challenges readers to reconsider their pre-conceptions about national identity and who the English really are.

Romantic Women Writers and Arthurian Legend

Romantic Women Writers and Arthurian Legend PDF Author: Katie Garner
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137597127
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
This book reveals the breadth and depth of women’s engagements with Arthurian romance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Tracing the variety of women’s responses to the medieval revival through Gothic literature, travel writing, scholarship, and decorative gift books, it argues that differences in the kinds of Arthurian materials read by and prepared for women produced a distinct female tradition in Arthurian writing. Examining the Arthurian interests of the best-selling female poets of the day, Felicia Hemans and Letitia Elizabeth Landon, and uncovering those of many of their contemporaries, the Arthurian myth in the Romantic period is a vibrant location for debates about the function of romance, the role of the imagination, and women’s place in literary history.