Regional and National Identity

What is Britishness?

Understanding regional identity• Pick 3 of the following regions and stereotype their

regional identity:– Northerners– Southerners– Essex– Scottish– Welsh– Scousers– Geordies– Yorkshire– Mancs– Brummies– Londoners

Northerners• Stereotype= ‘Northern

Monkeys’, Loud rude, drink a lot and of a lower status

• Costume= Track suit or cheap/casual clothes

• Dialogue/dialect= Vowel sounds over-pronounced

• Make up= Over the top or minimal

• Class/Status= Low

Southerners

• Stereotype= ‘Poncy Southerners’ arrogant and posh

• - Dialogue/dialect= Well spoken ‘ the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain’

• -Costume= Suit and tie, tailored clothing and dresses

• -Props= Brief case• -Make up= Classy and to a

minimum• -Class/Status= Middle/Upper

Essex• Stereotype= Image conscious,

unintelligent, love to shop and party• Stereotype coined by TOWIE (The

Only Way is Essex)• Dialogue/dialect= 'Shut up' 'Oh my

God' = common phrases • Costume: Girls= Revealing/OTT

Boys: Fashionable• Location= Clubs and boutiques• Props: G Expensive, flashy, tacky

handbags, up to date mobile phone • Make up= Fake tan, fake eyelashes

and hair extensions• Class/Status= Lower Middle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vTzuZk1OHA

Scottish• Stereotype= Humourless, hate

other nations,alcoholic and violent• Dialogue/dialect= Strong accent

'och' 'wee'• Costume= Kilt, tartan, Tam o'

Shanter • Location= Highlands, cold and vast

open spaces• Props= Bagpipes, haggis, whisky• Make up= Ginger hair and freckles• Class/Status= Lower class (farmers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp-jVwBGUsI

Welsh• Stereotype= Small ,dark haired

people who play all rugby, sing in choirs, herd sheep or mine coal

• Dialogue/dialect= Very ‘song-like’ and melodic, slow and exaggerated pronunciation

• Costume= Rugby shirts• Location= Rugby pitch, church,

pub, fields with sheep• Props= Sheep• Make up= Minimal• Class/Status= Middle/Lower

Scousers• Stereotype= Dangerous ; ‘Why

does the river Mersey run through Liverpool? If it walked it would get mugged’

• - Dialogue/dialect= Flemmy, difficult to understand; 'like' prominent k's

• -Costume= Tracksuits, very casual cheap looking clothing

• -Location= Pub/home• -Props= Cheap looking jewellery• -Make up= Minimal, or OTT • -Class/Status= Low

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIvNjWobzA

Yorkshire

• - Dialogue/dialect= 'Ey up’, ‘An' Ah'll tell thi that fer nowt’, don’t pronounce ‘t’s’

• Costume= Flat caps, tweed jackets

• Location= Open fields, country pubs, Local shops

• Props= Whippets/Yorksire terrier and Yorkshire puddings

• Make up= Minimal/pale • Class/Status= Low (farmers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzAD2GLfaNU

Geordies

• Stereotype= Loud, swear a lot, party animals and binge drinkers (help coined by Geordie Shore)

• Dialogue/dialect= ‘way eye man’, difficult to understand

• Costume= Revealing, tight clothing• Location= Busy town centres,

clubs, urban areas• Make up= Over the top, fake tan,

dark hair• Class/Status= Lower middle/

middle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PVQbnvv79I

Mancs

• Stereotype= Loud, rude, funny and fond of fighting (Helped coined by Oasis)

• Dialogue/dialect= ‘Oh, aye’ ‘Nowt’• Costume= Manchester United • Shirt• Location= Busy town centres• Class/Status= Low/lower • middle

Brummies

• Stereotype= Unintelligent and unfriendly

• Dialogue/dialect= 'Yow' heavily pronunciation the 'ow' of 'You'

• Costume= Casual/ Cheao• Location= Busy, industrialised

centres• Make up= Greasy hair• Class/Status= Low

Londoners (Northern/ more posh boroughs)

• - Dialogue/dialect= Well spoken, range of vocabulary

• -Costume= Cashmere jumpers/sweaters and suits

• -Location= Skyscrapers, swanky bars, posh homes

• -Props= Briefcase• -Class/Status= Middle/upper

Londoners (Cockney/ South London)

• - Dialogue/dialect= ‘Gorblimey’, Rhyming slang ‘apples and pairs = stairs’,dropping ‘t’s’

• -Costume= Flat caps• -Location= Busy streets, market stalls• -Make up= Minimal• -Class/Status= Low

Key Theorists• Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; “Identity is generally

understood to be the shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space – this can be a particular nation or region.”

• Benedict Anderson (1983) maintains that the media play a vital role in constructing a national/regional identity as in reality the nation is too big for everyone to know each other yet they often have shared values ; “The unification of people in the modern world is achieved not by military but by cultural means, in particular the media system enables people (of a nation or region) to feel part of a coherent, meaningful and homogenous community.”

Constructing images of regional/national identity:

• According to Higson (1989) there are two ways in which the process of constructing images of national/regional identity should be understood; “The first involves an inward looking process, defining the nation in terms of its own cultural history. The second is a more outward-looking process, defining the nation in terms of its difference from others.”

In other words, stereotypes play a large role in constructing images of identity and these can either reaffirm notions of a nation (historic/culture) or contradict them. For example, as Higson (1998) states; “Film like Trainspotting (1995) deal with quite specific cultural traditions, including working class traditions, youth traditions, all of which can be subsumed under the umbrella term Britishness.” In other words, Trainspotting taps into traditional stereotypes of Scotland while illustrating what these stereotypes mean to working class youths (social-realist interpretation). Interestingly, this film changed the way this film represented Scotland changed outward perceptions of the nations (negatively).

Higson also argues that; “Representations of national/regional identity are constructed as the narrative of the text unfolds, as characters are pitted against one another, so a sense of identity emerges…but at the same time producers often resort to stereotyping as a means of establishing character and identity.”

• Higson goes on to say; “Stereotyping is a form of shorthand, a way of establishing character by adopting recognisable and well established conventions of representation…the stereotype reduces characters to the most basic form and attempts to naturalise them and the more widely recognisable they become the more readily they are accepted. Except that if a stereotype becomes more widely recognisable it becomes comic”.

Now think about programs/films set in the following locations, do they reinforce these stereotypes through mise-en-scene (location, setting, actors, props, costumes etc), camera work, sound (include dialect that could be colloquial) and editing?

• EastEnders • Shameless • TrainSpotting/Braveheart/Monarch of the Glen • Doc Martin • Emmerdale

The satellite map shows us a city sprawl so we know that the

programme is set in an urban area. However it is the River

Thames than reveals the specific location as being

London.

Regional Identity can be seen by the views we see

in the picture. We can see the countryside in

the distance and we can also see an old vehicle of which is only used in the

countryside.

You can tell that this is set in the

country also because the

background of the first picture is the country and in the second picture the house is styled as a country house. Also, what the characters are

wearing symbolises ‘the

country’You can tell that this is set in an estate as there are flats in the

background and the people look like they aren't of a high class because

of the clothes they are wearing therefore we would expect them to

live there and if there is a show about them then it would be set

here.

Manchester - Mancunians, or Mancs Liverpool – Scousers

Task: As you watch, write notes and then write one P.E.E for each of the following clips

As you watch, consider:•Setting•Accents•Dialogue• Props•Make up

•Class of characters•Costumes

• As you watch, consider:• Setting• Accents• Dialogue• Props• Make up

• Class of characters• Costumes

For Regional Identity in Emmer dale we shall look at this clip for examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01QQB_nrOtU

Views at 0.30 show that the setting is in the country and we see straight away that all the views we see are all of this manor also/

We see that the clothes and possessions (van) show low class as the clothes look old and used as the van that the women is driving does too.

We know that they either run or live on a barn as when they open the barn we see a lot of sheep , which can only really be in the country which backs up our other beliefs.

We then see people decorating a house which we can see was very old by the décor for example the curtains are very countrified which means that if the house was oringinally decorated as if it was in the country it is probably in the country.

We then see the sheep again and the farm surroundings which is repeated throughout which only drums in the fact that they are in the country and that that is their regional identity.

• Good example clips to look at during revision if you want to practice note taking include; Vicar of Dibley or Doc Martin (middle class/upper class characters do not have regional accents and are presented ‘as intelligent’ while the locals are ridiculed – this obviously links to Marxism).