Today is St George's day and there has been plenty of discussion about why the English don't celebrate it. We even had a group discussion about this in our company in advance of one of the girls appearing (?) on radio this morning.
However, I have been thinking for some time now, after I was challenged that we should pull out of the European Union because we have lost our identity, about that big questions: "What is an English identity?"
and I keep coming back to the feeling that we don't have a culture or identity - we have done a very good job of borrowing from others, but the best I can do is the good old Sunday Roast. My main problem is that the wide range of things that come to mind when you are asked about the English are things like cricket, G&Ts, croquet, stripy jackets and flowers in our straw caps.
Almost all of the things we are famous for belonged to the rich. The class history of our country is such that poor people were excluded from all the common cultural institutions.
As the rise of the middle class meant we became richer and the reduction in the upper classes meant there were less of them, I think we saw English culture die off because there were less people practising it. the middle and lower classes were kept away from English culture - with the result that now, we find it difficult to define English culture, or at least we find it difficult while ignoring things we don't like....
Football, drinking, Costa del sol, fry-ups and burned faces....
Compare this to ITV's falling audiences for the boat race
We love the royals (ahem..... Ed), but how many people know who the lord lieutenant is?
It's a good question to ask about British culture, and it would be good to start defining some traditions which are open and accessible - school sports days, dragon feasts for St George's Day - regional dishes that don't depend on cholesterol.
Of course, one of the bigger problems with this is that it requires non-centralised media and reporting.......... another issue entirely.....
