British Identity: Dying, not Dead - 1356 Words
British Identity: Dying, not Dead Cultures have always mixed and clashed, but the United Kingdom has a history of having a unifying identity for its...
British Identity: Dying, not Dead

Cultures have always mixed and clashed, but the United Kingdom has a history of having a unifying identity for its population. It is the British Identity; its conception was designed to unite the countries first on the British Isles, then eventually the citizens of the British Empire. The Empire has long since passed, but is the British Identity still accepted by those living within the United Kingdom? Contemporary literature is challenging that identity, pointing to cultural differences and traditions prevailing over an outdated unifying concept. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the British Identity plays into two contemporary novels Brick Lane, and Sheepshagger. The settings of the stories will be examined in its relation to the British Identity, as well as the characters attitudes towards the concept. The clash of cultures prevalent in the novels will be examined and final thoughts on the future of the British Identity, and whether it is a dying concept as the novels suggest.

The British Identity can be dated to the creation of the Great Britain in 1707. At that time, it referred to the collective identity of the English Scottish and Welsh. The term became more popular during the rise of the Second British Empire. Historian Linda Colley attributes the creation of the British Identity as a way to unify the inhabitants of Great Britain in times of conquest, and expansion of the empire. “Empire did serve as a powerful distraction and cause in common” (Colley, 1992). However with the fall of empire, the British identity is also put into question. The 2011 census revealed that around 20% of the UK population identify themselves as British first. Large proportions of this percentage are n...

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