These Englands

A conversation on national identity

Arthur Aughey

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781526142276
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Nationalism & Patriotism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The term 'conversation' is one of today's jargon terms. This book explores in depth what conversation means in national terms. Its premise is that to be English is to participate in a conversation about the country's history, politics, culture and society. The conversation changes, of course, but there is also continuity which illustrates a distinct tradition. It is a conversation, the book argues, which requires the plural notion of these Englands rather than the singularity of this England. Englishness, then, is the tone, register and idiom of it subject matters, its anxieties and certainties, differences and commonalities. The book explores the English conversation through historical, political, literary and popular voices and tries to identify the character of contemporary Englishness.

Table of contents

• Front matter
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of tables
• Notes on contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: these Englands – a conversation on national identity
• Part I Englishness in discourse and opinion
• Part II Englishness in politics and institutions
• Part III Englishness in history andimagination
• Afterword
• References
• Index