British Culture 1
Chapter 4: Identity
Instructor: Đỗ Thảo Nhi
Overview
01 02 03 04
Ethnic Geographical Family, Religion,
Identity Identity Class, Politics,
Gender Social
Roles Contacts
01
Ethnic Identity
Ethnic Identity: "Britishness"
• Do the British feel they belong to Britain?
• British people are not normally actively
patriotic, but can be proud of being British
• Growing interest in “Britishness” in the 21st
century
Ethnic Identity: the Four Nations
• Concept of national loyalties
• Scotland
• constant reminder of cultural roots
• distinct education and legal welfare system
• dialects
• popular cultural figures/symbols
Ethnic Identity: the Four Nations
• Wales
• regional rather than nationalist
• Welsh language
Ethnic Identity: the Four Nations
• England
• the distinction between “English” and
“British” is blurry
• sense of English identity is growing
• sports and cultural events
Ethnic Identity: the Four Nations
Northern Ireland
• sense of identity is divided
• people having roots in lowland Scotland and
England (Protestants)
• native Irish (Catholic)
• social class has a minor role in establishing identity
• different lifestyles between two communities
Other Ethnic Identities
• Those having European heritage (mostly Italian & Polish)
• same religion (Christianity) and language (English) with
the majority
• Black Caribbeans
• started immigrating to the UK in 1948
• mostly Jamaicans & Trinidadians
• having cultural practices nearest to those of the White
minority
• distinct language, art, & music
Other Ethnic Identities
• British Asians
• have roots in India & the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan
& Bangladesh)
• close-knit communities with various distinct languages
(Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati) & religions
• different dress and food preferences
• usually have higher levels of education
• hold professional roles in society
East Is East (1996) –
Ayub Khan Din
02
Geographical
Identity
Geographical Identity:
• British people move a lot throughout their lives
• rarely feel to truly belong to a particular place
• Sense of identity is often associated with
• a country (e.g.: England, Scotland)
• a region (e.g.: “northerners”, “southerners”)
• a city (e.g.: Liverpool, London, Glasgow)
03
Family, Class,
Gender Roles
Family Structure
• Family identity is weak
• family events (e.g.: weddings, funerals) are not
usually attended by large gatherings of people
• Family unit is often nuclear
• single-parent families
• adoption
• Children move out at an early age
• More people choose to live alone nowadays
Class Structure
• Class is a major part of the British sense of identity
• flexibility
• Different classes have different living attitudes &
daily habits
• Cultural/personal values identify a person’s social
class, NOT entirely their wealth
• accents (RP; BBC English/The Queen’s English))
Class Structure
• “Inverted Snobbery”
• working-class ways of life are now trendy
• “posh”: pretentious/distant
• Class division has become less rigid
Gender Roles
• It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex and
gender in the UK
• Feminism & gender equality activism lead to
changes in
• domestic & public roles
• social norms
• sports
04
Religion,
Politics,
Social Contacts
Religion and Politics
• Neither religion nor politics is an important part of
a person’s social identity in the UK
• Religion and politics do not determine other
aspects of Britons’ lives
Social Contacts
• Social contacts are highly important to Britons
• pubs & clubs
• Social contacts are considered as part of Britons’
identity
• Sense of humour
Presentation Instructions
Groupwork:
• Presentation (10 minutes) + Q&A (5 minutes – 2
questions from the instructor)
• Pick and analyse 3 cultural aspects of the assigned
topic
• Presentation is graded accordingly to the grid
uploaded to LMS
Presentation Instructions
• Scores are given in the form of band scores, with the
lowest score & highest score (e.g.: 8.0 – 8.3)
• After the presentation, the band score is confidentially
given to the group, & the group decides the score for
each member within the given band score
• Individual member’s scores are sent back to the
instructor by the group leader
Thank You
