emma essay

Emma Campbell 11006180

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Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2

Britishness and the Commission for Racial Equality Study ............................................................... 2

People and Britishness .................................................................................................................. 3

Citizenship and Britishness ............................................................................................................ 4

National Symbols and Britishness .................................................................................................. 5

Values and Attitudes, and Britishness ............................................................................................ 6

Cultural Habits and Britishness ...................................................................................................... 7

Britishness outside of the UK ........................................................................................................ 7

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 8

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 10


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Introduction Britain has an ever-changing multicultural demography throughout the three countries within

it: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Linguistically, Britain is a predominantly

homogenous English speaking area, yet ethnically, it is a heterogeneous area. According to the 2011

Census data, 91.2% of respondents said all members of the household over 16 years old have English

as their main language in the household (Census, 2011). Further to this, the Census data also revealed

that 19.5% of respondents revealed their ethnic group to be something other than

English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British, contradicting the statement above (Census, 2011). This

raises the issue of what being British actually is; in other words, what constitutes Britishness?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple as the question perhaps insinuates;

the concept of Britishness is a much more complex and contradictory term. This complexity is caused

by the multicultural demography; therefore the word Britishness can be inclusive yet still

distinguishes Britishness from other national identities. Thus we arrive at a term which is perhaps

impossible to define conclusively, yet can be defined as a subjective entity in a number of various

dimensions. This subjectivity then reflects in the media and how individuals perceive the messages

encoded in the media itself. These messages can be manipulated to create both positive and negative

views of Britishness through the language choices made, or they can be misinterpreted when decoded

by the reader. This further distorts and adds to the plethora of definitions associated with Britishness

and further adds to the already difficult task of defining the term.

The purpose of this essay is to explore and critically examine a number of definitions related

to Britishness and their validity in the contemporary, ever-changing demography of Britain.

Furthermore, this essay will also analyse how the media constructs an image and definition of what is

British and the influence this has on public perceptions of Britishness.

The essay will begin by exploring the multifaceted plethora of definitions and associations of

Britishness and the ongoing changes occurring with relation to the changing demographic of Great

Britain, thus creating difficulty when attempting to find a static definition, with particular, initial

relation to some of the eight dimensions as a result of the Commission for Racial Equality study. It

will further consider how the media used language to construct Britishness for these definitions and

analyse how the language affects public perspectives with specific examples taken from such media

outlets.

Britishness and the Commission for Racial Equality Study When we first begin to search for a definition for Britishness, “we start with the assumption

that Britishness, like any other concept denoting a social identity, is very much a fluid concept, which


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can be associated with a range of different, and indeed contradictory, meanings” (Commission for

Racial Equality, 2005). Although there is this element of fluidity, it must also be accepted that

Britishness is “grounded in a particular historical, political, economic, social, ideological and cultural

reality” (Commission for Racial Equality, 2005).

One of the most pertinent studies in the ongoing debate of how to define Britishness was

conducted by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in 2005. Although the sample was small in

terms of being representative for the British population, there were equal proportions of Scottish,

Welsh and English participants of both genders and varying generations of immigrants thus being a

highly representative sample. Further to this, the participants were of various ethnic backgrounds,

further diversifying the sample. It could be argued that the sample may be outdated due to it being

conducted almost 10 years ago although the variety in the participant sample would suggest it could

still be considered representative as an initial thought. Further to this, each focus group included

members of a specific ethnicity, and was facilitated by a researcher of a similar ethnicity thus creating

a more relaxed environment and resulting in more honest responses. These arguments reinforce this

study to be highly salient for this essay, although other opinions will also be considered throughout.

People and Britishness The most salient area which arose as a result of the CRE study was who actually constitutes

as British: the British People. One important perspective from the CRE study was that to be British is

exclusively for white people (Commission for Racial Equality, 2005). This viewpoint is reinforced by

Campbell, 2008, who suggests that “‘whiteness’ often serves as a synonym for Britishness” and the

two terms are “inextricably connected” (Campbell, 2008). This perspective would suggest an ethnic

national identity whereby the national identity is constrained by shared heritage and ancestry

(Roshwald, 2006). This interchangeable terminology appears in the media on a regular basis. Paton

(2014) wrote an article for The Telegraph using the term ‘too white’ in the headline and ‘too British’

later in a quote taken from a member of the public. This influences readers to view these terms as

synonyms rather than ‘white’ as race and ‘British’ as an umbrella term for the people of Britain. This

manipulation blurs terms which are referring to completely separate concepts. The Express journalist,

West (2014), also covered this story, yet used the term ‘English’. This again influences the reader and

“entails the creation of an “other” who is made to stand [for] (…) absolute difference” (Campbell,

2008). Therefore, the language of these articles is somewhat English and/or white exclusive and thus

constructs Britishness as something which it is not: Purely English and white. Although these terms

are used interchangeably, in reality, they insinuate very different concepts.

On the contrary, the CRE also raised the opposing view that to be British is to hold a UK

passport and therefore includes people from a diverse range of ethnic origins (Commission for Racial


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Equality, 2005). Amara (2014) wrote an article for The Independent citing ‘ethnic minority’ and

‘Britons of all backgrounds’ in the headline. The use of these terms together suggests a more inclusive

use of ‘Britons’, influencing readers to see this relation and thus seeing Britishness as including ethnic

minorities. Thus, here the language constructs Britishness and a diverse identity, and in an accepting

and perhaps inclusive way.

However, the definition of being British as holding a UK passport also has drawbacks.

According to the government website (gov.uk, 2014), British citizenship is based upon a number of

things including passing a ‘Life in the UK’ test for example, thus a passport is not necessarily

essential to the British identity. Heath and Roberts argue on this perspective that being British is more

complex than a mere “official category” (Heath & Roberts, n.d.). Instead it fulfils a desire for a sense

of belonging and thus an “attachment to the state” (Heath & Roberts, n.d.). It could therefore be

argued that the people themselves are not important, but instead the attachment they feel towards

being British which is most salient.

Citizenship and Britishness British citizenship is not the only perspective on citizenship in the UK. The indigenous British

population are further distinguishing themselves as English, Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh,

something which is segregated from the wider, multi-ethnic term, British. In 1707, the Act of Union

linked together the nations of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England (Richards, 2004)

creating this notion of British unity. Yet now, Britain as a group of interweaved nations is somewhat

dissolving (Richards, 2004), particularly with the Scottish Independent Movement of recent. Kumar

(2010) argues that Englishness, as a subcategory of Britishness, is more important that both Scottish

and Welsh, but is this really the case? With the recent Scottish referendum, it is clear that Scotland

feel their national identity to be highly important in their community. In an article for The Scotsman

by Peterkin (2014), the segregation of Scotland versus the rest of Britain is evident. There is no

mention of ‘British’, only ‘Scotland’, ‘Scottish’ and ‘North of the Boarder’. Although this is expected

in a Scottish newspaper article written by a Scottish journalist, it could be argued that the language

used creates an inclusive perspective for Scottish readers, and an outsider’s perspective for non-

Scottish readers, suggesting that the indigenous population of Britain is segregating along the

boarders and thus perhaps a segregating nation, thus manipulating the reader’s perspective of Britain.

On the other hand, Richards (2004) argues that the English are being lost in the separation of

Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England as they have such a close bond with Britishness which

is, in his opinion, disintegrating. This argument is based on the fact while Scotland have the Kilt and

Tartan as their national costume, the English have no national dress, and while Wales celebrates St

David’s Day, the English do not celebrate St Georges Day (Richards, 2004). Yet there are a number


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of things which are considered quintessentially English, and thus would argue the English are not lost,

they are merely a different contributing strand of British. For example, the English are a football,

cricket and rugby nation (Commission for Racial Equality, 2005) – something which will be explored

later in this essay.

This further dissection of the citizenship in Britain suggests that Britishness is perhaps a ‘dual

nationality’ for the indigenous population over their more salient national identity of Scottish, Welsh,

Northern Irish or English. Thus defining Britishness becomes increasingly difficult when many

indigenous Britons are distinguishing themselves from each other as Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh

or English rather than as an inclusive ‘British’.

National Symbols and Britishness People and their citizenship are only two dimensions of what British can be defined by.

Britishness is further symbolised by a number of iconic concepts such as the Union Jack, The Royal

Family, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, among others (Commission for Racial

Equality, 2005). Many of these are recognised all over the world and even many British people would

name the above as symbols of the British identity. However, how far do these icons go in representing

Britain as a whole? Many icons on the list above are London-centric, thus are not salient for those

across the north of the country, or Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Ward (2012) argues the

“Beefeaters as an icon of Britishness”, yet they have very little relation to Scotland or Wales. In an

article for The Telegraph, Hannen (2013) mentions how the British monarchy is one of the first things

people from outside of Britain associate with Britain: “The Crown defines our brand” (Hannen, 2013).

In this perspective, the language of the media portrays a very much royalist and patriotic view of the

British and thus Britishness, something which is, on some level, quintessentially a British trait. The

language further insinuates that the Royal family are a representation of Britishness, which for many

people is not the case.

In contrast, Tatchell (2012) argues that instead of clinging to this ethnic national identity

based on a shared heritage, which in turn would include the monarchy, Britain should be moving

towards a more civic national identity (Tatchell, 2012) whereby Britishness would be based on shared

values and duties (Roshwald, 2006), something which will be explored later in this essay. Tatchell

(2012) discusses how the Royal Family “more than anyone else, are deemed to symbolise British

tradition and identity” and British people celebrate the Royal family instead of celebrating other

elements of Britishness such as scientists, artists and so forth. Furthermore, Tatchell argues that the

Royal family are “out-of-touch with modern multicultural Britain” (Tatchell, 2012). He says that the

demographic of Britain is so ethnically diverse yet the Royal family remains wholly white in race, and

the charities and community groups visited by members of the Royal family are “rarely black ones

and never gay ones”. The language of this article portrays the royal family in a negative way, and as


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somewhat segregated from minority groups in Britain, and perhaps a representation of a purist,

predominantly white British society, constructing an unaccepting identity within Britishness. This

leads to the conclusion that the modern, and more accepted British identity is not synonymous with

the Royal family, instead Britishness should be based upon a civic national identity: that is, shared

rights, values and duties, and loyalty to a territory (Roshwald, 2006). Further to this, the language of

the article, in particular the examples above, construct Britishness to be represented by the Royal

family which is somewhat incorrect.

Values and Attitudes, and Britishness The CRE study revealed traits associated with the civic national identity. The first would be

the values and attitudes of the British people. Firstly there were some positive aspects including

respect for the law and upholding human rights. However some negative aspects were also

highlighted namely drunkenness, hooliganism and yobbishness. Paxman (2007) links this

drunkenness to football fans. He says “they see fighting and drunkenness as part of their birthright. It

is the way they proclaim their identity”. The identity they may be attempting to construct is one of a

football fan from Britain, or England. Instead, they are forming a representation of Britishness to

those outside Britain.

This concept of Britishness and being a drunk hooligan is very much apparent in various

media outlets. For example, Huggler (2014) wrote an article based upon another German article about

drunk Britons and the German perception of these. Both articles construct a drunk, sexual and

overweight image of the typical Briton abroad. For example, the German article labels British women

as suffering from ‘underwear amnesia’ in relation to sexual favours, ‘Welsh wandering hands’ to

describe more sexual actions, and ‘balcony leg’ to describe the Britons jumping into a pool from their

balconies (Huggler, 2014). All of this behaviour can be related to some level of hooliganism on the

disruptive dimension. Further to this, the article discusses ‘vodka cough’ as a result of drinking too

much cheap alcohol which, inevitably, results in the hooligan behaviour listed about which clearly

stems from drunkenness (Huggler, 2014). All of the terms to describe the British as mentioned above,

along with being overweight, casts a negative shadow over the British in the media – in particular the

German media. These terms construct Britishness in a certain negative light and thus influence the

reader to see Britishness and the British people in this negative light also. This use of negative phrases

and negative language denotes Britishness to be founded upon this alcoholic, disruptive and, at times,

violent culture, thus manipulating readers into a false representation. Further to this, by using the

same negative language in the British media article, it could anger the British opinion of their identity

to German people, thus creating a barrier between nations. This example alone is a representation of

how influential the media can be.


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Cultural Habits and Britishness Along with football, among other sports, Britishness is also associated with food. Ashley et

al. (2004) suggests “the link between Britishness and a “nice cup of tea” is (…) well established,

taken-for-granted, and very much a part of the ‘national culture’”. They further highlight foods such

as a full English breakfast, roast dinner, fish-n-chips, scones and so forth to be part of the “core

national diet” (Ashley et al., 2004) and thus, quintessentially British. In recent years however, more

adventurous foods have been brought to prominence as characteristically British – namely a curry. It

has become so far salient to the British gastronomic landscape that it has officially been proclaimed a

national dish, and Britain now celebrates National Curry Week (National Curry Week, 2014). Parker

(2014) discusses that we now have ‘British Indian’ dishes. This term is used to describe dishes which

originated in Britain such as a “Korma, Tikka Masala and Lamb Rogan” (Parker, 2014). This is a

suggestion that curry is an integrated part of Britain and thus forms the British identity. The language,

such as ‘British Indian’ depicts an integrated dynamic in the British identity. It insinuates tolerance,

acceptance and integration, along with promoting diversity in Britishness, thus showing how language

can reinforce a really positive message about Britishness and their identity.

Britishness outside of the UK

Throughout this essay, the concept of Britishness has been considered from the British

perspective through data collected by the CRE. This essay has briefly touched on the opinions of the

rest of the world about Britishness, but there are clearly more opinions in this. The Telegraph posted a

series of videos about what Europe think about British people. In particular, the first video at the top

of the page is what they consider to be strange about British people. Many answers were salient with

those given as responses to the CRE study such as cups of tea, beer, food and so forth (The Telegraph,

2014). Interestingly, a number of answers which were not responses in the CRE study such as banter,

being apologetic, small talk and the class system, many of which are British traits (The Telegraph,

2014). The fact that the European participants labelled these traits as strange yet the British CRE

study participants labelled many of these are quintessentially British suggests that Britishness is

something which is agreed on at some level across nations. This concept of Europe thinking our

normal traits as strange is interesting. It insinuates that what is thought of as strange outside of Britain

is what Britishness is proud of, perhaps suggesting the nation is unique in what is characteristically

British. The language in the article is interesting because many in the video have the same view: the

British have strange traits and traditions. However, to a British person, it suggests a uniqueness, and

thus something to be proud of.


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Overall, it is clear that Britishness is a term with a multitude of definitions, each salient with

different people from various different backgrounds. It could be said that this suggests Britishness is a

subjective entity that can vary from person to person yet is also constant between various people of

various backgrounds also. Although the individual opinions, both negative and positive, vary, the

dimensions such as people, citizenship and so forth are constants across these suggesting there is not

one single definition for Britishness, but in fact a plethora of valid and correct definitions held within

larger, vague constraints.

Further to this, it is clear the media use various language, such as using ‘white’ and ‘English’,

for example, in place of British, to insinuate a specific dimension of Britishness to influence the

reader. Moreover, language is used in the media to manipulate how Britishness is perceived by the

readers, for example the article about Britons abroad from the German perspective. This manipulation

makes Britishness even more difficult to define due to the fact that the media may change their

construction of Britishness from article to article in order to have the reader see a specific perspective.

Thus it could be argued that the media has as many constructions of Britishness as definitions.

Conclusion Throughout this essay, the term Britishness and its definitions have been explored with

contradictory opinions alongside. The essay further examined how this concept of Britishness is

portrayed in the media, with specific relation to how language constructs these opinions and

definitions regarding the British identity.

From this essay, it is clear Britishness is a multidimensional term with a number of definitions

which perhaps represent the many different perspectives of the many different people within Britain

who feel, to some degree, British. This confirms Britishness is a subjective entity which varies from

person to person, place to place, situation to situation. This subjectivity is exploited in the media.

Many terms which are associated with various definitions of Britishness are adopted in media articles

to influence and mould the audience to follow or believe a certain perspective on the concept of

Britishness, whether it is to feel some form of national pride or to reject a certain ethnic minority as

not wholly British. Thus, being British and Britishness must be taken and used with a level of caution

due to this subjectivity.

Further to this, the media use language in many ways in order to construct many different

constructions of Britishness depending on the story and position held by the journalist. Thus it could

be argued that Britishness can be many different things depending on the intentions of the journalists

and the perceptions of the reader.

Of course, this essay is not completely conclusive on the subject of Britishness due to the

complexity and enormity of the term. Further to this, it cannot have a definitive definition due to the


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demographic of the UK changing constantly, thus what constitutes as British changes with this.

Instead, theorists and researchers must therefore keep updated with this changing definition. What is

constant however is the fluidity and flexibility the term allows for the user. Overall, the term

Britishness is a ‘user friendly’ and subjective term which is suitable for use by any person who feels

any affiliation to being British.


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