What makes culture English?

There's a good un when your pissed and up late and not in England. Lets get started then.

First human activity, First act of humans- seperate self from nature, become cultural. Food (cooked=first culture), drink, family structures, kinship, all cultural. Invent spoken language. Song and storytelling part of language. Codify/organise culture to pass on down generations. Seperate the story/song from act of telling or singing = Myth/survival machine.

Therefore Carry on films=cultural. Music (all)=culture.

Second act of humans-seperate 'us' from 'them' Some 'us' is English. We Chuck bricks at 'them'(Welsh, Scots Irish, Jews, Poles, Immigrants, fill in the blanks, you know your own weaknesses).

Third act of humans- seperate 'us' from those lower/different/ than 'us'- 'them'. (lower class/upper class, high culture/low culture; popular/minority.hmm sounds familiar)

Fourth act of humans- use these categories as a means of forming an identity (sense of self and place in the world)and personalise it so that you describe yourself in terms these categories= 'I am.....'

Fifth act of humans- forget that these categories are the product of humans (cutural) and believe that they are part of nature/common sense/(natural).

Sixth act of humans- ascribe worth to people you have never met on basis of cultural values attributed to them: stereotype. and get very upset with them when they don't behave......

For myself, if I can make a value judgment I think just about the lowest(!) sense of self identity that can be expressed is that of nationality. And the lowest(!) kind of politics is nationalism. Which in my book is but three steps from facism.

SO for that reason, I'd have to answer the question by saying- any human activity occuring in the geographical area called 'England' is English culture. What makes it English is that England is where it happens. And I'd be very interested in hearing why you would think anything else is a tenable position!

Best wishes. I'm going to bed.