sherri

Almost all of us proudly entertain the view that United Kingdom is full of culture and traditions which have been around for hundreds of years. Also, there are many of us who believe, including our Prime Minister that multiculturalism has polluted the Great British culture and it’s one of the reasons people are turning to all kinds of extremism in Britain.

So in the spirit of promoting stronger national identity and "Britishness", how do you define the Great British Culture?

Hello.Kitty

That kind of reminds me of a mythical philosophy exam topic that was being talked about when I was sitting my Baccalaureat: "define courage"... and the tale goes that one student replied " . " on his paper...

For me, culture goes hand in hand with heritage and our heritage is one of conquest (both being conquered and conquering). We live and breathe the consequences of that every day... it's neither good nor bad - it's just part of who we all are.

I love the people who complain about multiculturalism "polluting" British culture... how far back do they want to take it... maybe look into place names and remove all the "-chester"s (Roman) and all the Saxon references too... remove half our language, which is directly derived from French, then a large chunk of the grammar, which is germanic... oh and maybe, if in fact they are complaining about the influx of different cultures during the 20th century (without any reference to colour or religion) then maybe they should consider that we should have thought about the consequences of roflstomping over 1/3 of the globe a bit more...

... and invariably the biggest moaners happen to be the ones who don't 'arf like a nice kebab, chow mein or a curry on a Friday night. [rolls eyes]

Paracletus

I lav it mate.

In all seriousness, I find this topic a waste of time to discuss. Though I come from the UK, I've barely lived there. I do identify with the country, but not it's inhabitants. I am however, quite comfortable in my sense of national identity which I play on obviously. People who believe their culture is being 'lost' don't have the confidence or a deeper understanding of their own culture to begin with. It's like a person who has no self esteem and totally lacking in confidence.

scrubbedexpat141

wtf?

Someone says they think the culture of their country has changed / been lost therefore they must have no self esteem and lack in confidence...I don't see the link.

Hello.Kitty

no, I can see it. Culture isn't static or frozen in time, so it evolves naturally - for a culture to be lost, it needs to have been defined (hence this thread) and frozen in time.

If people think that British culture is something similar to how the Victorian Golden Age is portrayed (so without the nasty bits) then they're on a hiding to nothing because it was of its time... the world has moved on. What they actually mean is that they don't feel comfortable in today's culture, can't see where they fit in to it and would desperately love to fall back on a now somewhat twisted world view where being British was unquestionably valued (so they would also be valued by default, not through actually having to make a difference in life).

Respect without having to earn it, piggybacking off collective achievements, and whinging about lost values whilst eating their ready meal in front of Eastenders and f-ing and blinding in front of their kids.

scrubbedexpat141

Just don't get why that means the individual lacks confidence and self esteem. There is no link between the two.

Norm_uk

The almighty wikipedia has a lot of info on British culture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_culture

But for specifics you'll learn why Britons are as unique as anyone else by looking at their business culture: http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/...n-Britain.html

Heritage Britain has some good info too: http://www.heritagebritain.com/

I agree that multiculturalism has helped foster extremism because Britain has a native population - it is not a nation geared for regular or sustained immigration (like the USA) and so rightly or wrongly people will see mass immigration without integration as a threat to their identity or at least feeling like the government has abandoned them to live in areas where increasingly they do not hear their own language, see their own people or experience their own culture in primacy, especially when their culture has been and is in many ways one of the most productive, advanced and generous in sharing it's technology, legal systems, governance models, medicine and wealth...

When the white man moves into the tribal lands of the Amazon and refuses to respect any of the customs of traditions of the locals it's a crime to be condemned by the UN.

When someone British even suggests asking immigrants to integrate before giving them citizenship it's a debate, and those who don't just get perpetual residency based on work and usefulness it's a debate, often focusing on what British culture is anyway . After all what are the native European cultures? Surely because another European group invaded Britain 1500 years ago or the Normans turned up in 1066 that makes the country one with a long proud history of immigration (odd how they always use military invasions as examples of "multiculturalism - or small pockets of traders/diplomats in centuries past as a reason why native Britons and those who adopt Britishness must accept all cultures - and therefore all law and governance systems, are equal in their own land ).

N.

typical

I know plenty of people in the UK who would explain how they feel like this because of the cultural and later financial destruction wrought by the English, particularly those from the South-East.

British culture is a very complex and multifaceted, and yes, multicultural thing - much of which is often ignored by those putting forward a very particular idea of British (actually English) culture.

scrubbedexpat141

Thoroughly good bunch of chaps though.

WakeUp

I'll do it in 3 pictures.......

scrubbedexpat141

wait for someone to change the middle pic to a cuzza

Bongoman2

Summed up in 3 pictures







Frozen ready made leftovers.

Charismatic

I’m probably one of the few people who thinks the UK is much improved thanks to foreign people then .

As for what is British culture it depends who you ask and what period you are talking about. However our most dazzling mark must be our enduring manifestations of intellectual achievement and in that respect advancement in Science, Engineering, Government, Law and Industry are our greatest traditions. The pursuit of knowledge over all through rationalization and abstraction.

So you’ll find examples of our finest cultural achievements across the world .

Meow

Surely we all have differing ideas of what constitutes British culture? Our perceptions will be different, as will our own experiences. It's a nebulous concept anyway but in my view includes, tolerance, fair play, an ability to laugh at ourselves and to poke fun at others, observance of the law, standing up for the underdog, afternoon or high tea, enjoying a roast dinner as much as a curry (whether a chicken tikka masala or Thai green), innovation, football and cricket, enjoying both high and low cultural pursuits, daft traditions such a cheese-rolling, Sunday papers, pub gardens, Marmite and an inate ability to queue properly.

scrubbedexpat141

I miss those two things the most.