This England: race, nation, patriotism
This England: race, nation, patriotism
Shakespeare being Shakespeare, the ringing stanzas found in ‘This England’ still have the capacity to move, and they resonated with episodes in the history of the centuries to come, to the extent that whatever they may have meant, in the 1590s, becomes irrelevant. But patriotism has now all but vanished from English culture, except in the painted faces of those following the so-called beautiful game, and at the more unacceptable fringes of our politics. It appears that if English nationhood continues to retain any scholarly mileage, it is not with the new British historians but with those who read English literature. This chapter examines religion, nationalism, patriotism, language and history in this context.
Keywords: Britain, language, patriotism, English nationhood, Shakespeare
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