Product Description

Examines Englishness as a form and series of shared discourses, exerting a continuity between the 17th century and today. It argues that today's writers, historians and comedians continue to use the voice of the empiricist tradition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1008508 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'This is Antony Easthope at his most relaxed, confident and witty, but still radical, still very polemical. The book will inevitably cause a stir.' - Kate Belsey, University of Wales

'Around the vision of national desire as the main organising core of this volume, Antony Easthope has drawn a fascinating picture of the discursive construction of Englishness in a large variety of fields. This is a book bound to have a lasting influence on scholarship.' - Ernesto Laclau, Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex

From the Back Cover
Today, nation is probably the strongest of all forms of group identity. Over and above its expression in symbols such as flags, leaders and cultural icons, national identity also works at a less visible, more fascinating level - in the forms of discourse specific to a nation: not what we say so much as how we say it.
In this compelling study, Antony Easthope argues that the typical discourses of Englishness are structured by a deep-rooted philosophic tradition: empiricism. He sustains his witty polemic through appeal to a wide array of instances from high and popular culture, ranging from philosophical and literary works through the daily press and aspects of the English sense of humour.
Englishness and National Culture asserts a profound continuity running through from the seventeenth century until now. Todays journalists, historians, novelists, poets, comedians and politicians may imagine they are speaking as themselves. They are mistaken; `ancestral voices speak through them.