Unit six

Identity and stereotypes

How do British people identify themselves? Who do they feel they are? Everybody has an image of themselves, but the things that make up this image can vary. For example, in some parts of the world, it is very important that you are a member of a particular family; in other parts of the world, it might be more important that you come from a particular place; in others, that you belong to a certain social class, or are a member of a certain profession, or work for a certain company; in still others, that you belong to a certain political party.

Identity is concerned with how people see themselves, or are seen, in relation to others; as northerners or southerners, football or rugby enthusiasts, opera or blues fans and so on. In short, identity is perhaps two things: who people take themselves to be, and who others take them to be.

Nationality is a matter of allegiance and cultural affiliation. Some people say that your nationality is indicated by where you choose to live or by the team you support at sports event; other say that it is a question of whom you would fight for. It has also been argued that nationality is no longer a powerful force in Britain, that it is a matter of circumstance, and that today it is far less significant than local or global identities: relatives, friends and communities are more important to us and so is transnational culture. Nationality is a question of identity and so is crossed by other kinds of identity, such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, age and occupation.

Regional and local identities are extremely strong in Britain and the diversity of beliefs, practices, loyalties and accents is immense. National (‘ethnic’) loyalties can be strong among the people in Britain whose ancestors were not English. For many people living in England who call themselves Scottish, Welsh or Irish, this loyalty is little more than a matter of emotional attachment.

Scottishness

For people living in Scotland, there are constant reminders of their distinctiveness. First, several important aspects of public life, such as education and the legal and welfare systems, are organized separately, and differently, from the rest of Britain. Scotland even prints its own banknotes. Second, the Scottish way of speaking English is very distinctive. A modern form of the dialect known as Scots is spoken in everyday life by most of the working classes in the lowlands. Third, there are many symbols of Scottishness, which are well-known throughout Britain.

• On 25 January every year, many Scottish people attend ‘Burns suppers’. At these parties, they read from the work of the eighteenth-century poet Robert Burns (regarded as Scotland’s national poet), wear kilts, sing traditional songs, dance traditional dances (called ‘reels’) and eat haggis (made from sheep’s heart, lungs, and liver).

• “In the eighteenth century, the English practically destroyed Highland Scotland. The normalizing of relations between the two countries was accomplished by a novelist, Sir Walter Scott, whose stories and legends intrigued and excited the English. Under his direction, the whole country reinvented itself. Everyone who could get hold of a bit of tartan wore a kilt, ancient ceremonies were invented. In a few months, a wasteland of dangerous beggarly savages became a nation of noble, brave, exotic warriors. Scott did the best public relations job in history.’ - wrote A.A.Gill in the Sunday times on 23 January 1994.