Scribd
Upload
102 views29 pages

British Culture and Society

This document provides an overview of British culture and society, covering the following key points: 1. It defines culture and discusses different perspectives on what constitutes culture. 2. It describes the main geographical aspects of the United Kingdom, including its location, land area, and changeable climate with few temperature extremes. 3. It examines national, regional, and local identities in Britain, how they are defined, and the interplay between civic and ethnic conceptions of nationality that have shaped British national identity.

Uploaded by

DELL 09
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
102 views29 pages

British Culture and Society

This document provides an overview of British culture and society, covering the following key points: 1. It defines culture and discusses different perspectives on what constitutes culture. 2. It describes the main geographical aspects of the United Kingdom, including its location, land area, and changeable climate with few temperature extremes. 3. It examines national, regional, and local identities in Britain, how they are defined, and the interplay between civic and ethnic conceptions of nationality that have shaped British national identity.

Uploaded by

DELL 09
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 29

British Culture and Society

Prof. Khadija Assal


Content of The Course
- Defining Culture
- The Country: UK’s Main Geographical Aspects
- National, Regional And Local Identities
- The British System Of Government
- Education In Britain
- Immigration And Ethnic Diversity
- Media
- British Popular Culture
What is Culture?
Culture is a complicated concept that has been defined differently by a
variety of scholars, such as Raymond Williams, Edward Tylor and Matthew
Arnolds. First, it may refer to artistic activities and products. This was called
Culture with a big ‘’C’’ and defined as follows ‘’music, literature, painting
and sculpture, theatre and film’’ by Williams (1983, p.90). A similar definition
was given by Arnolds (1867) stated in Spencer-Oatey (2012). This definition
refers to what may be called ‘’high culture’’ according to which only a small
portion of society has culture, which is the category of people dealing with art
and artistic activities.
Second, Williams (1983) introduced culture in another
sense where he stated that culture is ‘’ a particular way of life,
whether of a people, a period or a group or humanity in
general’’ in Longhurst (2008, p.2).
Finally, Tylor provided a comprehensive definition stating that culture is ‘’that

complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and

any other capabilities and habits acquired by a man as a member of society’’ (Sir

Edward,2012) in McDaniel Samovar( 2013, p.9). According to this statement,

culture is everything that exists in our lives; when people speak, they reflect

culture, what they know is culture and the system of beliefs they have belongs to

culture as well. Therefore, culture is a term that is difficult to define due to the

unlimited amount of meanings that it carries.


What are the Characteristics of Culture?
Culture
The United Kingdom
 The united kingdom is an island country located off
Northwestern Europe.
 It comprises Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland)
and Northern Ireland.
 London is the capital of England.
Geographical Aspects
The English channel, the straits of Dover, and the
North sea separate the united kingdom from the
European continent. At the closest point, the islands
are only 17 miles from the French coast.
The total land area of the UK is 94,217 square miles.
The Climate
A changeable weather
Few extremes in temperature, rarely above 32 degrees
or below 10.
National, Regional and Local Identities
Definitions
National identity is based on the features of a
specific country including culture, traditions,
language and politics.
Regional/Local identity is a phenomenon
where people identify themselves with the
social system of a particular region. (Hauszer
& Frey, 1987)
National identity: Civic/ Ethnic
There are two widely accepted conceptions of
nationality: ‘’ethnic’’ and ‘’civic’’.
The civic conception of nationalism helps
explain the development of nations in states
that had already emerged as political and
geographical units. Here, the nation is defined
as the totality of people living within the state
and abiding by its laws.
Ethnic nationalism is related to traditions,
language, religion and ancestry. That is why,
ethnic national identity is characterized by
an attachment to one’s ancestry, tradition,
culture and language.
British social attitudes 31, National
identity.
British National Identity
What makes a person British?
The most common view is that a mixture of
civic factors (which can be acquired over time
– for example speaking English) and ethnic
ones (which are largely determined early on in
life – for example being born in Britain) shape
whether someone can be considered as British.
British identity is a combination of four
national identities: English, Welsh, Scottish
and Irish (from Northern Ireland).
British Values
There are five important British values that are:
Individual
Liberty
Mutual The Rule of
Respect Law

ToleranceDemocracy
 ‘Regionalism’ and ‘localism’, as cultural factors, are significant in
British life, but opinions differ on how strong they actually are. They
can illustrate a sense of belonging, which becomes more evident
with increasing distance from London and the UK government. They
may reflect a determination by regional or local populations to assert
their individual identities. These have increased in Scotland, Wales
and (arguably) Northern Ireland with the devolution of political
power from London and the establishment (1999–2000) of a
Parliament in Edinburgh and Assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast. But
smaller local government areas in these countries may well react to
centralized power in the capital cities. Devolution has also provoked
demands for greater autonomy in some English regions such as the
north-east.
Identification with even smaller local areas was arguably
more significant when the British were a rural people
living in villages and were less mobile. But today, this
identity may still be strongly focused on cities (such as
Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast, London and
Cardiff) or on English and Welsh counties rather than the
larger regional areas.
Attitudes to national, regional and local identities
 Main ideas from the passage on pages 51/52 (British Civilization:
An introduction):
 Immigration affects British identity.
 The English identity is the dominant one in the UK.
 There are different regional/local identities within each one of the
four nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
 Scotts, Welsh and Irish people are considered to be from Celtic
origins.
 English people are regarded as being originally Anglo-Saxons.
What is Identity?
 Gardiner and Kosmitzkisee define identity as “a person’s self-
definition as a separate and distinct individual, including behaviors,
beliefs, and attitudes.”
 Ting-Toomey considers identity to be the “reflective self-
conception or self-image that we derive from our family, gender,
cultural, ethnic, and individual socialization process’’.
 Identity development plays a critical role in the individual’s
psychological well-being.
 The study of identity helps to understand cultural diversity and
intercultural dynamics within cosmopolitan societies like the UK.
Factors defining Identity in the UK
 Geographical identities (being from the south/north…)
different accents, stereotypes, stories, jokes,....
 Social class identities (wealth, standard/non-standard
English, accent Received Pronunciation…
Religious and political identities are not as significant in
England, Scotland and Wales as they are in Northern Ireland
which is divided into 2 poles:
o 1. A group whose ancestors came from south Scotland and
England, protestant and unionist (they
want Northern Ireland to stay with the UK)
o 2. Natives of Ireland, Catholic in faith and separatist (they
want Northern Ireland to be independent from the UK and be
part of the Republic of Ireland)
Geographical Identity
Class

You might also like