Britain and British Culture : The Gap Between Image and Reality

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Kobe Shoin Women’s University Repository

Title

Britain and British Culture ―The Gap Between

Image and Reality―

Author(s)

Peter J Mallett

Citation

Shoin Literary Review，No.32：27-40

Issue Date

1999

Resource Type

Bulletin Paper / 紀要論文

Resource Version

URL

Right

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BritainandBritishCultureTheGap

BetweenImageandReality

PeterJMallett

・Introduction TheimageofBritainandBritishcultureheldinJapanis predominatelyatraditionalpictureofwhite-skinnedmeninbowlerhats andladieshavingafternoonteaincountrygardens,allcontinuinga somewhatold-fashionedandeccentricwayoflife,mindfuloftheclass towhichtheybelongandrespectfuloftheroyalfamily. In1998astudentatthisuniversitywroteathesisontheimage JapanesehaveofBritain(1)andconcludedthattheimagespresentedin theperiodfilm`ARoomwithaView'wereclosertothoseheldbythe Japanesethantheimagesinthecontemporaryfilm`Trainspotting'.It istruethat`Trainspotting'isnomorerepresentativeofBritishsociety asawholetodaythan`ARoomwithaView'isofBritishsocietyone hundredyearsago,butitisinterestingthatitshouldbetheseold-fashionedimageswhichprevail.Thestudentwrotethatsomeofher friendsdidnotevenrealizethat`Trainspotting'wassetinBritain.To someextentthismustbebecausetheold-fashionedimagesofBritain arewhatJapanesewanttobelieveisthereality,eventoday. Onthewhole,theJapaneseimageofBritainisveryfavourable.That heldbyothercountriesmaybeverydifferent‐andlessflattering. TheSpanish,ItaliansandGreeks,forexample,mayassociatefootball

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hooliganismmorestronglywiththeBritish,orseethemasdrunken touristswhostayinthesuntoolong,eatfishandchips,andfightinthe discos.Noneoftheseimagesarethewholetruth,nordotheyrepresent alttheBritishpeople,buttheyarecertainlyapartofthetruth. Theseimagesarebasedonourselectiveexperiencesandonwhatwe wanttobelieve.Havinggrownupinaquiet,ruraltowninthesouth-eastofEngland,myimageofBritainisquitedifferentfromthatof someonelivinginanorthernindustrialtown,orinamulti-racialinner city.JustastheJapaneseimageofBritainmaybeonlypartofthe truth,sotooistheimagemanyBritonshaveoftheirowncountry. Thosewhowanttopreservea`British'cultureoftendonotreallyknow whatthatcultureis. ・TheImageofBritaininJapan WheneverIaskmystudentstothinkofsamewordsthatthey associatewithBritain,BritishcultureandtheBritishpeople,they producethefollowinglist: ・: otea Ogentlemen(wearinghats) oroyalfamily Otradition 1)Fog.ItiscertainlyfoggyinBritainattimes,butnotsooftenas itisrainy.TheimageofBritainasafoggycountryhascomefrom19th centuryliterature,suchasConan-Doyle's`SherlockHolmes'mysteries, andDickens,asinthisopeningtohisnovel`BlearHouse': Fogeverywhere.Foguptheriver,whereitflowsamonggreenaitsand meadows,fogdowntheriver,whereitrollsdefiledamongthetiersof shipping,andthewatersidepollutionsofagreat(anddirty)city.Fogonthe

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Essexmarshes,fogontheKentishheights.Fogcreepingintothecabooses ofcoolier-brigs;foglyingoutontheyards,andhoveringintheriggingof greatships;fogdroopingonthegunwalesofbargesandsmallboats.,..(zl `Fog'inthisnovelisusedbyDickensasasymbolofthedarknessin 19thcenturyEngland,andoftheobscureworkingsofthelaw.Butit wasalsoaliteralfog:in19thcenturyLondon,andotherindustrial cities,thefogcamedownandmixedwiththepollutionfromfactories andthesmokefrommillionsofdomesticchimneys,causingadense smogwhichmightlastfordaysatatime.Thissituationprevaileduntil wellintothiscenturywhentheCleanAirActsof1956and1968 drasticallyimprovedthings:since1958wintersunshineincentral Londonhasincreasedbyabout70percent.(3) 2)Tea.TheBritishdodrinkalotoftea,butcoffeedrinkinghas increasedenormouslyinrecentyears.WhiletheBritishenjoytheirtea, theydonotusuallyhavetimetoserveitinWedgwoodcups,and tea-bagsaremuchmorecommonlyusedthanleaftea.`Afternoontea', althoughstillavailableatgrandhotelsandrestaurants,isamealfor holidaysandspecialoccasionsandnotacommonevent:mostwomen areworkingandthereisnotimeforit. 3)Gentlemen.ThispositiveimagestillseemstoprevailinJapan, despitethenegativeimagessentaroundtheworldafterviolenceby footballfansatWorldCupmatches.Thecontrastbetweenthester-eotypicalEnglishgentlemaninabowlerhatandthecharactersinafilm suchas`Trainspotting'perhapsaccountsfortheinabilityofsome JapaneseviewerstorecognizethatthisfilmwassetinBritain. 4}Royalfamily.Themedia'sobsession(bothathomeandabroad) withBritishroyaltycontinuestogivethemahighprofile,thoughtheir roleineverydayBritishlifeattheendofthetwentiethcenturyisreally quitemarginal.

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5}Tradition.Britainisgovernedbytwoopposingforces:innova- tianandconservatism.Butitistheconservativeimagethatisgener-allypromotedinJapan.Itshouldnotbeforgotten,however,that BritainwasthesourceoftheIndustrialRevolution,and,infashion,the homeofMaryQuant'smini-skirtinthe1960sandofpunkinthelate I970s.Today,Britainisonceagaintheworldcentreoffashion,while manyleadingFrenchdesignhousesareheadedbyBritishdesigners. ManyyoungJapanesearenowheadingtoLondontostudyfashionand designandsoitislikelythatinthenextfewyears,Japanesewill associateBritainwith`fashion'asmuchas`tradition'. Wheredowegettheseimages? onewspapersandmagazine.Thereisacertainpredictabilityin thesortofarticlesthatnewspaperschoosetoprintaboutother countries.Thearticlestendtoconfirmthe`images'wehaveof othercountries.TheEnglishlanguagepressinJapan,forex-ample,alwaysprintsstoriesabouttheBritishroyalfamily, howevertrivialthestorymightbe.Withoutexposuretothe realityofthosecountrieswemaycometobelievetheseimages asrepresentative. Oadvertising Otourcompanies.Thetoursofferedbytravelcompaniesnatu-rallytakevisitorstothemostattractivepartsofacountrybut indoingso,showonlyapartofthecountry.Obviously,tourists wanttoseeBigBenandBuckinghamPalaceinLondon.These obvioussymbolsshouldnotbetakenasrepresentativeofthe countryasawhole.Theimagehasbeenfedtothecustomersby advertising,andthenthetoursdesignedtoreinforcethose images,deliberatelyleavingoutanythingwhichwouldcontradict them.

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Ofilm.Thevisualimagesinfilmmayleaveastrongimpression withuswhichweassociatewithaparticularcountry‐even thoughthoseimagesmaybeveryoldfashionedandnolonger relevant. ・Whatis`British'Cuiture? TheimagesofBritishcultureareverydistinctfrom,forexample, thoseofFrenchorGermanculture.Yet,itisdifficulttoidentify elementsthatarepurely`British',fortheculturehasbeeninfluencedby, andismadeupof,elementsfrommanyothercultures.Nowhereisthis moreobviousthanintheEnglishlanguage,whichowesitsrichnessand, indeed,itsveryexistencetothecultuxesofmanyothercountries‐ Celtic,Roman,Greek,Germanic,Scandinavian,French,andothers frommuchfurtherpartsoftheglobe‐asaquickglanceatthehistory ofthelanguagewillreveal. ThefirstinhabitantsofBritainwereCelticpeople.AfewCeltic wordsremaininplacenamessuchascomb,asin`Cumbria',aswellas thenamesforsomeriverslikeAvon.TheRomanoccupationfrom 44ADtillthe5thcenturyADleftevidenceofsettlementinplacenames containingtheLatinelementscamp,caster/chester,eccles,portetc. TheGermanicbasetothelanguagewespeaktodaywasbroughtto Britainbetween400and600ADbytheAnglesandtheSaxonsfrom whatisnowDenmarkandGermany.TheAnglesareresponsiblefor thenamingofthatpartofBritainknownas`England',orAngleland. In597ADStAugustinebroughtChristianitytoBritainandwithit cameLatin(andGreek)words,whichenteredthevocabulary.From 787ADtheVikings(fromScandinavia)begantoattackBritainand settled,mainlyintheEast,whereseveraltownsshowtheNorse elements-by(‐tolive)and-thorpe(=avillage/field)intheirnames.

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InthetwocenturiesaftertheNormanConquestof1068about10

_,000

FrenchloanwordsareestimatedtohaveappearedintheEnglish

language.FrenchnamesbecamemuchmorepopularthanoldEnglish

ones.WiththeRenaissance,whichbeganinBritaininabout1470

_,the

existingvocabularywasnotbigenoughforthenewthoughts,inven-tiansanddiscoveries,andsonewwords,oftenofLatinorigin,andlater

Greek,wereintroduced.

TheexpansionoftheBritishEmpirebroughtmanymorenewwords

intotheEnglishlanguagefromthecolonies.Theseareallcommon

wardsinmodernEnglishthathavecomefromdifferentpartsofthe

world{oftennowwithquitedifferentmeaningsfromtheoriginal}

boomerang(Australianaborigine)

bungalow(Hindustani)

curry(Tamil)

juggernaut(Sanskrit)

bazaar(ltalianfromTurkishfromPersian)

ketchup(Cantonese)

khaki(Urdu)

pyjamas(PersianandUrdu)

safari(Kiswahili)

shampoo(Hindustani)

iyek(Afrikaans)

InTomStoppard'splay`lndianInk',twoofthemaincharactersplay

agameinwhichtheytrytobeateachotherinthenumberofwordsof

Indianorigintheycanuseinonesentence:

FLORA:WhilehavingtiffinontheverandahofmybungalowIspilled

kedgereeonmydungareesandhadtogotothegymkhanainmypyjamas

lookinglikeacoolie.

DASIIwasbuyingchutneyjnthebazaarwhenatLugescapedfromthe

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chokyandkilledabox-wallahforhisloot,creatingahullabalooand landinghimselfinthemulligatawny. (wordsoflndianorigininbold) AlthoughsomeofthesewordsarecloselyassociatedwithIndia, severalofthemareinordinaryeverydayuseinBritainandtheusers areoftenunawareoftheireasternorigins. Withtheincreaseofinternationaltravel,tradeandexchangein moderntimestheBritishhaveborrowedmanymorewordsfromlang-uagesallaroundtheworld.ThereareevenJapaneseloanwordsinthe Englishlanguagenow‐judo,karate,tsunami,harakiri,kamikaze and,mostrecently,karaoke,thoughitisusuallyincorrectlypronounced as`carryoki'inBritain. Culturalidentityisverycloselylinkedtolanguageandtheseexam-plesshowhowtheEnglishlanguageembodiesthehybridnatureof Britishculture. Furthermore,Britain'sculturehasbeeninfluencedbythatofother Europeancountriesbecauseofreligion,education,travelandtrade . Theword`culture'comesfromtheLatin`cultus',meaning`worship', showingacloserelationshipbetweencultureandreligion.Thepredom-inantreligioninEuropeofChristianityhasprovidedformanycenturies afirmculturalfoundationwhichhasshapedmusic,art,architecture andliterature.SincetheRenaissance,theLatinandGreeklanguages, togetherwiththestudyofliterature,mythology,historyandartsof AncientGreeceandRomehaveconstitutedthefoundationofeducation inmanyEuropeancountriesandmeantthateducatedpeoplehave sharedacommonknowledge. Travelhasalwaysbeenimportantinopeningpeople'seyestoother culturesanditshouldnotbeforgottenthatpeopledidtravel,evenin theMiddleAges.InChaucer's`CanterburyTales',forexample,written

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inabout1387,welearnofTheWifeofBaththat: thrieshadshebeenatJerusalem; Shehaddepassedmanyastraungestrem; AtRomeshehaddebeen,andatBoloigne,

ト

InGaliceatSeint-Jame,andatColoigne.'" Thiswasatatimewhentravelwasuncomfortable,time-consuming, expensiveanddangerous,andyettheWifeofBathhadbeenonreli-giouspilgrimagestoJerusalem‐notjustonce,butthreetimes--as wellastoRome,Boulogne,SaintJamesofCompostella,andCologne. TheWifeofBathisafictionalcharacter,butnodoubtrepresentsthe realityofthetime.Severalhundredyearslater _{,inthe18thand19th} centuries,richyoungnoblemenwouldgoontheGrandTourtocom-pletetheireducation,returningtoBritainwitharttheyhadcollectedon theway,aswellasnewideasonarchitecture. Europeancountrieshavetradedwitheachothersincelongbeforethe EUwasformedandthisprovidedopportunitiesforculturalexchange. Sometimestradewasareasonforcommunitiestoleavetheirown country:groupsofFlemish,fromthenorthernregionofwhatisnow Belgium,forexample,settledinpartsofBritainfortheclothtrade.It isnowthoughtthatthequintessentiallyEnglishsportofcricketmight, infact,haveitsoriginsinasimilargamewhichhasbeendiscoveredin Flanders,becausethesportdevelopedinEnglandinareasinwhich therewereFlemishcommunities. Immigrationhastakenplaceforotherreasons,persecutionbeinga commonone.TheProtestantHuguenots,manyofthemskillfulsilk weavers,fledfromFrancetoBritaininthe16thand17thcenturies.In themid-19thcentury,thousandsofIrishcametoBritaininsearchof jobsandtoescapethefamineinIreland.Attheendofthe19thcentury, 100,000EasternEuropeanJewsfledtoBritaintoescapereligious

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persecution.Afterthe2ndWorldWar,therewasasevereshortageof

labourinBritainandbetween1950and1961manyimmigrantscame

fromtheformercoloniesoftheBritishEmpire,especiallyfromthe

CaribbeanandTndia.Theymainlytooklow-paidanddirtyjobssuchas

cleaningandbus-driving.Inthe1970sBritainacceptedseveralthou-sandUgandanAsianswhohadbeenexpelledfromUgandabytheruler

ofthetime,IdiAmin,andinthe1980stherewasaninfluxofViet-nameseboatpeople.

Forallthesereasons,wecanseethatBritishculturehasalwaysbeen

influencedbytheculturesofothercountries.Itdoes,however,main-tainanindependentidentity,shapedby:

1)Geographicposition:Britainisanislandnationandassuchis,to

acertainextent,isolatedfromothercultures.TheBritishhadto

explorebyseasoship-buildingwasimportantandastrongtraditionof

carpentryevolved,resultinginfinewoodwork.

2)Theclimate:itisnotveryhot,eveninsummer,nortoocold,even

inwinter.Mostofthetimeitisdampandthereismuchrain.

3)TheEmpire:Britainwasonceagreatpowerwithinfluenceall

overtheworld.Elementsofculturesfromthosecountrieswhichwere

partoftheempirehavebeenimportedintoBritain,mostrecently

becauseofwidescaleimmigrationfromthosecountries.Modern

Britainisnowamulti-ethnic,multi-culturalsociety.

4)TheIndustrialRevolution:Britainwasthehomeoftheindustrial

revolutionandthishaschangedthecountrydramaticallyinthepast20d

years.

5)Thetwoopposingforcesofinnovation(egtheindustrialrevolu-tion,fashion,popmusicetc)andtradition{egtheRoyalFamily,

Church,formaldressetc).

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・TheRealityofBritaintoday LikemanyotherEuropeancountries,Britainisamulti-ethnicsoci-ety.Asshownabove,`British'culturehasalwaysbeenamixtureofof manydifferentcultures:today,evenmoreso,isitacollectionof differentcultures: Gaelic,Anglo-Saxon,French,Jewish,Hindu,Moslem,Chinese etc The1991censusfoundthattherewere3.015millionnon-whites(5.5% ofthepopulation)livinginBritain.Thelargestethnicminoritygroup wasIndian{1.5%ofthetotalpopulation). POPULATION:1.9916' EthnicGroup Ethnicminoritygroup BlackCaribbean500,000 BlackAfrican212,QOO BIackother178,000 1ndian840,000 Pakistani477,000 Bangladeshi163,000 Chinese157,000 0therAsian198,000 0ther290,000 Allethnicminoritygroups3,015,000 White51,874,000 Allethnicgroups54,889,000

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Theselargenumbersofimmigrants,mostfromnon・Christiancu1-tures,togetherwithadecreasingnumberofChristiansintheUK _,have ledtoadramaticchangeinwhatcantodaybecalled`Britishculture' _. ItisnowquestionabletowhatextentBritishculturecanbeseenasa Christian-basedculture,asthesefiguresofchurchmembershipshow: RELIGION(7〕 Churchmembership(Adultmembers‐overlfi) millions 197519801992 AllTrinitarianChurches8.07.536 _.72 (Anglican,RomanCatholicetc)(=15%ofUKadultpop) AllNon-TrinitarianChurchesO.340.350 .46 (Mormons,Jehovah'sWitnessesetc) OtherReligions MuslimsO.200 _.310.52 SikhsO.120.150.27 HindusO.100 _.120.14 JewsOユ10.110.11 0thersO.040.050.08 AllotherreligionsO.570.741.12 1mmigrantshavebroughttheirowncultureandtodaythisisblending withtheculturealreadyinBritain,tocreatesomethingnew.The theatricalgroup`TaraArts'wasfoundedin1976bydirectorJatinder VermaandtwootherAsianimmigrantfriendsinordertogiveanAsian voiceonthepublicstage.Theactorsrepresentapotpourriofcultures

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withnopuritytoholdonto,buthaveincommonanAsianconnection andthefactthattheyarealllivinginBritain.IinterviewedVermain 1994foranarticleintheAsahiEveningNews _{.(8)Vermaexplainedthat} theirculturesarenotIndian/Chinese/whatever,fortheyallarebased inBritain. TaraArtsreflectstheencountersnowoccurringbetweenpeopleasa resultoftravelandimmigrationand,especially _{,themixedmarriages} thatthisoftenleadsto:"Multi-culturalismisrootedinmiscegenation ," saidVerma."Wehavetofindsomeexpressionwherethatmixtureis positive,isvalued,isanartinitself." Right≪pingpoliticianssuchasEnochPowellandWinstonChurchill raisethefearofbeingswampedbyimmigrants ,andthat`British' culturewillbelost.Interestingly,atthesametime _{,theimmigrantsalso} feelfearandaneedtoprotecttheircultureandpreventtheirfamilies frombeing`corrupted'bythehostculture .AreportinTheGuardian Weekly(1June1997}claims: "Toothers ,particularlyintheblackcommunity,they[mixedrace]repre-sentathreattothefutureoftheirculturalheritageasBritain'sethnic minoritiesbecomeincreasinglysubmergedintowhitesociety ,leavingfuture generationswithlittleideaoftheidentitiesoftheirforebears."{9, Inanotherarticleinthesamenewspaper{30January1994) ,an18-year-oldIndian,talkingaboutintermarriage,says: "Theparentsseeitastryingtoprotecttheircult ure.Ifpeopleareinvolving themselvesininter-racerelationshipsthenthere'sachanceit'sgoingtoget tothestagewhenthereligionwillbelost,thecultureswillbeIost _."(io〕 Boththewhitemajorityandtheethnicimmigrantsaretryingto fossilizetheirculture,ignoringthefactthatculturechanges .Itisas inevitablethat,forexample,HinducultureinBritainwillbecome differentfromHinducultureinIndiaasthat`British'culturewillbe changedbyhavingHinduslivinginBritain _.

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・Conclusion Cultureandsocietychangeanditisimportantthattheimageswe haveofaparticularcultureandsocietychangewiththem.Theimages wehavearealwaysgoingtobebasedonourselectiveexperienceof, andexposuretoaparticularculture.TheimagesofBritainheldin Japanmayreflectonlypartofthetruth,butitisequallytrue,thatthe imagemanyBritonsthemselveshaveoftheircountryandcultureonly reflectapartofthetruth.Britishculturehasalwaysbeeninfluenced byotherEuropeancultures;withimmigration,globaltravelandtrade itislikelythatitwillcontinuetobeinfluencedbyotherculturesfrom muchfurtherafield. Notes: 1)WheredoJapaneseImagesofBritainComeFrom?ChigusaAoki, graduationthesis,KobeShoinWomen'sUniversity,1998 2)BleakHouse(Ch1),CharlesDickens 3)AspectsofBritain:PollutionControl;HMSO,1993(p22} 4)IndianInk,TomStoppard,FaberandFaber,1995{p18) 5)GeneralPrologue:TheCanterburyTales,GeoffreyChaucer 6)SocialTrends24,1994:CentralStatisticalOffice(Source: OfficeofPopulationCensusesandSurveys;GeneralRegisterOffice (Scotland)) 7)SocialTrends24,1994:CentralStatisticalOffice(Source:Christ-ianResearchAssociation) 8)MixingcultureswiththeBard:PeterMallett,AsahiEvening News,20January1994 9)Black,whiteandeveryshadebetween:GaryYounge,TheGuardian Weekly,1June1997

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10)ThekidsfromHackney:MartinBright,TheGuardianWeekly,30 January1994 Bibliography AnIntroductiontotheHistoryoftheEnglishLanguage,Georges Bourcier,(Englishadaptation:CecilyClark),StanleyThornesLtd, 1981 7'heNewShorterOxfordEnglishDictionary,OUP,1993