The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #116994 Message #2518440
Posted By: Uncle_DaveO
17-Dec-08 - 07:41 PM
Thread Name: English Culture - What is it?
Subject: RE: English Culture - What is it?
Lizzie, you asked me a question a while back, before the ill-natured donneybrook, and I'll try to answer as I see it, without picking up on the insults and aspersions between.
Yes, "the culture of xxx"--in this case, England--(unless the reference is qualified as being as of a particular time) refers to the present--but! The past is part of it to the extent that the past is always reflected in the present.
Thus, Guy Fawkes Day is part of English culture even though the root events were way back, because it has its part in today's memory and customs. King Arthur is part of English culture even though he's way back (if he ever existed) and probably is more Welsh than English, if I understand correctly. Morris dancing is part of English culture to the extent it is part of what goes on today. And of course Rafe Vaughn Williams, Edward Elgar, and Holbein, and James McNeill Whistler even though I believe he was an American in origin. And let me not forget J.R.R. Tolkien.
Warm beer is part of English culture, as is fish and chips. The Queen is part of English culture, as are the attitudes--for and against-- toward the royal family. Curry is part of English culture even though it originated elsewhere, because it's been "adopted" into English culture. Pounds and crowns and shillings, The Darby Ram, Shakespeare, Dick Whittington's cat, the sound of Bow Bells--they are all in there, and will be for a long time, as long as they are remembered and celebrated--or deplored--and affect how the English think and act. (I'm sorry to say that I suppose one would have to say that even the BNP is to some extent a part of the English culture.)
Some of those things are part of what I call "culchaw", a subset of culture.
I hope I've answered your question, Lizzie. And I hope I haven't offended anyone.
Dave Oesterreich