On Tap.doc

COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
1/Geographically speaking
The British Isles
- North-west coast of Europe
- Group of islands - the islands of Great Britain, Ireland &over 6000 smaller islands.
- 4 nations
Great Britain
-

“Great Britain” is the name of just the single large island –made up of E, Ccot and Wales

-

Island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe.

-

The ninth largest island in the world & the largest European island

Britain: Scotland, England, Wales & Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom of GB and Northern Ireland - The United Kingdom -The U.K
2/ Politically speaking
 2 states in British Isles:
 The Republic of Ireland (Eire): govern most of the island of Ireland
 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the United Kingdom or the UK or
Great Britain): authorize the rest of British Isles.
 In 2001, Britain's population is made up of:
54,154,000 White
1,053,000 Indian
747,000 Pakistani
566,000 Black Caribbean

485,000 Black African
283,000 Bangladeshi
248,000 Non-Chinese Asian
247,000 Chinese
30,000 Other


3/ The Four Nations
A long gradual process of political unification
 Wales + England (13 century)
 Scotland + England ( 17 century)
 Ireland+ Great Britain (18 century)
 Northern Ireland + Great Britain ( 1920)
→The United Kingdom of GB and Northern Ireland
British as nationality but different signs of national identity
 Racial differences: Celtic race vs Germanic race
 Celtic languages vs English
 Economic, social and legal differences
British – Briton – English
 British - people who live in Britain.
 Briton - a word used in official contexts & formal writing to describe a citizen of the U.K.
 English - people who live in England.


- Scottish people or Scots => anyone born in Scotland, or to anyone whose linguistic,
cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from within Scotland.



- Welsh people



- Irish people

The Dominance of England Population, Language, Custom and practice, Economic and military
power, Other aspects of public life

John Bull : looked upon with affection.
as English personification: honest, generous, straightforward, with a zest for life and
ready to stand up and fight for what he believes in.


HISTORY
I.

PREHISTORY

2000 years ago: Iron Age Celtic culture
The Celts: arrived from Europe from 8th century BC onwards
Chief significance: sense of mystery (astonishing monumental architecture, remains of which exist in the
country)
Little known about the early inhabitants
Prehistoric remains: Silbury Hill, Stonehenge
From the 8th century BC onwards, Celts arrived.
II.

THE ROMAN PERIOD (43-410)

The Roman province of Britannia covered most of England & Wales

Impose own way of life, culture
Celtic aristocracy to govern
Roman dress & Roman language (Latin)
Celtic tribe (Scots) migrated from Ireland to Scotland.
=> allies of the Picts and opponents of the Romans.
=> Division of the Celts
- The Britons in England and Wales
- The Gaels in Ireland and Scotland
=> 2 distinct branches of the Celtic group of languages
Long occupation (43-410) but little influence
Imposed way of life and culture
Use of towns: villas, baths, temples, roads but soon destroyed
Lasting reminder: place names (Britannia, Londinium, Chester, Manchester)
III. THE GEMANIC INVASIONS (410-1066)
2 waves of Germanic invasions
The Anglo-Saxons
The Vikings
5th century:
a number of tribes from the north-western European mainland invaded & settled in large numbers
2 tribes: the Angles, the Saxons => Anglo-Saxons => grasp the south-east
6th century: Their way of life predominated in all of England & parts of southern Scotland
The Anglo-Saxons:
Had great effect on the countryside
Introduced new farming methods
Founded the thousands of self-sufficient villages => formed the basis of English society
Christianity spread (Rome, Ireland)
Germanic culture
9th century: The Vikings (Danes) conquered, settled the north & west Scotland, some coastal regions of Ireland

Conquest of England was halted when they were defeated by King Alfred of the
Saxon kingdom of Wessex
=> divided England between Wessex (S+W) and Danelaw (N+E)

Large scale: Angle+land = England
Use of countryside: new farming method, self-sufficient villages →basic of English society
The cultural differences between Anglo-Saxons & Vikings (Danes): small
Led the same way of life & spoke the same Germanic tongue
The Danes soon converted to Christianity
=> political unification
10th century: England =>1 kingdom with a Germanic culture

V. THE NORMAN INVASION (1066-1485)

 The successful Norman invasion of England brought Britain into the mainstream of western European
culture
 The Norman invasion: small scale but strict feudal system

Strict feudal system: imposed

 Peasants: English-speaking Saxons
 Lords, barons: French-speaking Normans
=> English class system
 System of government: Anglo-Norman kingdom => The most powerful political force
 Conquests of Wales, Scotland & Ireland
 Evolution of Parliament

GEOGRAPHY

I. CLIMATE
- No climate => weather
- Very variable – changes so frequently
=> difficult to forecast.
- No “extreme” weather.
- Not “very” hot, not “very” cold.
Further West => more rain
Mild winters = snow: higher areas
Winter: colder in the East than in the West
Summer: warmer & sunnier in the South than in the North
 Spring - March to May
 Summer - June to August
 Autumn - September to November
 Winter - December to February

II. LAND & SETTLEMENT
No towering mountain ranges, large rivers, plains, forests
- South, east:
- Low-lying, flat plains, rolling hills
- North, west: Mountainous areas
- Blocks of flats
- Outward > upward


III. LONDON
- Largest city in Europe
- Headquarters of government departments,
Parliament, major legal institutions & the monarch
- Headquarters of national TV networks & national
Newspapers

- Population: 1/5 of population of UK

West End
Theatres, cinemas, expensive shops
East End
- Poor residential area of central London
- Large numbers of immigrants
- Home of the Cockney
LONDON
 Cosmopolitan
 137 languages/ district
 Losing place as one of the world biggest financial centres
 Cultural variety, long history


IV. SOUNTHERN ENGLAND
The county of Kent
 Garden of England
 Many kinds of fruit & vegetables
The Downs
 Hills in a horseshoe shape
 Sheep farming
 White cliffs of the south coast
 Services & light manufacturing
 Little heavy industry
The West country
 Bristol
 Dairy produce, fruit
 South-west peninsula:
- Rocky coast

- Small bays
- Wild moorlands
 Tourist industry
East Anglia
 North-east London
 Large expanses of uniformly flat land
 Dry climate
 Grow wheat, arable crops


V. THE MIDLANDS
Birmingham
 Heavy industry
 Iron, steel => variety of goods
 Industry areas:
- The Potteries
- Derby
- Leicester
- Nottingham
Grimsby: fishing ports

* Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace)
Nottingham
 Heavy industry
 Coal
 Iron ore


VI. NORTHERN ENGLAND
Western: Manchester area

Cotton goods
Eastern:

Bradford, Leeds
Woolen goods

Southern: Sheffield
Steel goods
Northern: Newcastle
Shipbuilding

 Lake District (North-western corner of country)
 Largest National Park in England

VII. SCOTLAND
Southern uplands: Sheep farming
Central plain:

80% of population
Oil industry

Highlands:

Tourism
Whisky

Glasgow (3rd largest city in Britain)
 Heavy industry
 Artistic heritage
 Glasgow school

Edinburgh (capital)
 Historic buildings
 Topography (the Athens of the North)
 Edinburgh festival of the arts


VIII. WALES
Cardiff (capital)
South Wales: Coal mine
High proportion of industrial villages
Most of the rest of Wales: mountainous

IX. NORTHERN IRELAND
 Belfast
Manufacture of linen
Shipbuilding
 The rest of Ireland
Agriculture
 Giant’s Causeway (enormous stepping stones)


IDENTITY
I . ETHNIC IDENTITY: THE NATIVE BRITISH
THE SCOTS
 Constant reminders distinctiveness
 Important aspects of public life are organized separately (education, law & religion)
 The Scottish way of speaking English
- Scots: lowland
- Scottish Gaelic: highland
 Symbols of Scottishness (chap 1)

-> BURNS SUPPERS: EAT HAGGIS (make from sheep’s heart and lungs and liver)

THE WELSH
 Not many reminders of the Welshness in everyday life
 Highly-important symbol of Welsh identity:Welsh language
 Welsh shows signs of continued vitality
The national costume of Wales
Holiday houses

THE ENGLISH
 Dominant in many aspects
 Misconception of English vs British
Ex: English & British have the same national anthem


NORTHERN IRELAND:
polarized society => 2 communities

Two communities live side-by-side => almost segregated
 Live in # housing estates, listen to # radio & TV programmers, register with # doctors, read #
newspapers...
 Marrying a member of the other community => horror

The people of the 4 nations: limit to their significant differences
 Same: language, food, religious heritage, attitudes to the roles of men & women
 Family roots lie in the Caribbean/ south Asia/ elsewhere => # languages, religions, habits,
attitudes...


II. ETHNIC IDENTITY: THE NON-NATIVE BRITISH

- Non-whites, white non-English
- Taking pride in their cultural roots
- Increasing defensive reaction to racial discrimination
THE FAMILY
 Family identity is rather weak in Britain (England)
=> Nuclear family (Father, mother, children)
 Average number of people living in each household < other European countries
 The proportion of elderly people living alone => high
 Rate of divorce > anywhere else in Europe (-Denmark)
 The majority of marriages (55%) do not break down
 Proportion of children born outside marriage has risen automatically (1/3 of all births)
 Significant family events (weddings, births, funerals): not accompanied by large gatherings of
people => only sentimental significant
 Family gatherings of any kind beyond the household unit are rare (Christmas period)

GEOGRAPHICAL IDENTITY
 Place of birth: not strong
 Larger geographical area: stronger
 Large city, region
- Accents: Liverpudlians, Mancunians, Geordies, Cockneys


CLASS
 Basic classes: the upper, middle & working class
 The class system in Britain is flexible
 Major part of most people’s sense of identity: awareness of class forms
 Different classes have different sets of attitudes & daily habits
- Eat # food, talk about # topics using # styles & accents of English, enjoy # pastimes & sports, have
# values about things in life...
=> People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences => difficult to become friends

with S.B from a # class
- Determines someone’s class => wealth or the appearance & accent
“Standard British English”: English grammar & vocabulary in public speaking, radio, TV, books,
newspapers...
- Working-class people: use “non-standard British English

- The most prestigious accent: Received Pronunciation (RP)
= Standard E spoken + RP accent
 BBC English, Oxford English, the Queen’s English
- England & Wales:
 Strong regional accent => working class
 RP accent => upper, middle class
- Scotland & Northern Ireland:
 Forms of regional accent = RP

- Last 20th century: changes in British class system
“social climbing” (people try to appear as if they belong to as high a class as possible)
=>“Posh”
- Mix more readily & easily
- Closer to each other in attitudes


MAN AND WOMEN
- Everyday habits & mannerisms

- Family’s roles

=> lower, upper classes

BEING BRITISH

 Proud to be British >< not actively patriotic
 Foreign influences => worry about the loss of British identity => distinctive way of doing things
- Driving on the left
- Using different system of measurement...
 Britain was doing something right and doing it effectively
 No open hostility to people from other countries
- Little know about Europe
- Lazy in learning people’s languages


THE MONARCHY
I. THE CONSTITUTION
 A constitutional monarchy: a country governed by a king / queen who accepts the advice of a
parliament.
 A parliamentary democracy: a country whose government is controlled by a parliament elected by
the people.
 No written constitution: the country has been governed by statutes, habits and
customs/conventions.
II. THE APPEARANCE
 The Queen has almost absolute power
 No legal concept of “the people”
=> undemocratic
 Elizabeth II (1952)
 Every autumn: make a speech at the state opening of Parliament
 Choose anybody she likes to run the government
 Appear to have great power over Parliament
- Summon a Parliament
- Dissolve before a general election
 Embody the law in the courts
 Accuse people of a crime

- USA: “the people”
- Other countries: “the state”
- Britain: “the Crown”
=> sent to “Her Majesty” ’s prison
=> legal authority of the monarch
 People are described as: “subject” (of Her Majesty the Queen)
=> Queen Elizabeth is above the law


III. THE REALITY

IV. THE ROLE OF THE MONARCH
- The personal embodiment of the government.
- A final check on a government that was becoming dictatorial: Royal assent to bills.
- Performing the ceremonial duties so that the government has more time for the actual job of running the
country.
V. THE VALUE OF THE MONARCHY
 British monarchy is more important to the ECONOMY of the country than to the system of
government
 The monarchy is popular with the majority of British people
 Symbol of continuity, expression of national pride
 The glamorous lives of “the royals” provide a source of entertainment (TV soap opera)
 Occasions in Britain make up for the lack of colour & ceremony (no local parades, few traditional
local festivals survive...)


THE GOVERNMENT
The Government of the United Kingdom – Her Majesty's Government
2 meanings of government
 All of the politicians – help run government departments

 Prime Minister, members of the cabinet
I. THE CABINET
- The cabinet: collective decision-making body of Government
- The most important ministers are called Secretaries of State and they form the Cabinet.
- Leading politicians in the governing party
=> members of the cabinet
- Meet once a week
- Take decision about:
 New policies
 Implementation of existing policies
 The running of various government departments
- Summarize topics discussed & decisions taken
Cabinet office:
- Organization helps run the complicated machinery of a modern government
- Run busy communication network
- Keep ministers in touch with each other
- Draw up the agendas for cabinet meetings
Cabinet committees:
Appointed by the cabinet to look into various matters in more detail than the individual members
of the cabinet have the knowledge for


The most important Secretaries of State are:
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance)
 The Foreign Secretary (international affairs)
 The Home Secretary (internal affairs)
 The Lord Chancellor (the legal system)
 The Secretary of State for Education
 The Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment.

II. THE PRIME MINISTER (PM)
- The position of PM: contrast to the monarch
 The Queen: appears to have great deal of power => in reality: very little
 The PM: appears not to have much power
=> in reality: great deal
- The leader of the party with the large number of Members of Parliament (MPs)
- The monarch’s powers of patronage
 Cabinet reshuffle (change the number of cabinet members, shuffle around the exist
members...)
- The power of the PM’s public image
 Go “over the heads” of the other ministers & appeal directly to the public
- Keep busy looking after the government departments
 The cabinet: directly under the PM’s control
 The rest of the government have to go along with whatever the PM decided


III. THE CIVIL SERVICE
- Civil service – Civil servant – Permanent secretary
- Unknown to the public
- Working for >= 20 yrs
- High salary
- Job security
- Know the secrets of the previous government
- Political impartiality
IV. CENTRAL & LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Local government: councils
- Local government = national government
 Elected representatives (councillors)
 Council chamber
 Make policy – local government officers

* Local councils
 Manage all public services
 Collect tax of property (rate => poll tax => council tax)
=> Now, collect the taxes on business properties themselves
* LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE
- The organization
 Public hygiene and environment health inspection
 Collecting of rubbish from outside people’s houses
 Cleaning and tidying of public places
 The provision of public swimming baths, public parks…
- Public libraries
 Consult the books, newspapers => free of charge
 About 5,000 libraries in Britain
 Many British people prefer libraries to bookshops even when they want to own a book
 Library card or ticket