The British

Seminar paper from the year 1999 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography grade: 17 University of Osnabrück (Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften) course: Constructing Britishness: Fiction Film Press language: English abstract: We call our islands by no less than six different namesEngland Britain Great Britain the British Isles theUnited Kingdom and in very exalted moments Albion. This quotation taken from George Orwell's essayEngland Your England (1941) clearly shows that the namesquoted above are often used as synonyms although theypatently are not. So it is no surprise that some people definethemselves as being Englishsorrybritish - a term whichoccurred in the newspapers several times over the last fewmonths. A lot of people seem to be quite confused about theiridentity about who they are and where they belong. But usingthe words English and British interchangeably is in myopinion not very fair - especially with regard to the inhabitantsof Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland.In fact the so-called United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland comprises four different indigenousnations: English Scottish Welsh and Northern Irish. Andconsidering the fact that the British Isles (cf. map 1 page 2) - ofwhich the United Kingdom3 is a part - have attracted settlersand immigrants for several centuries it is not surprising that thecontemporary British are a very diverse people or - as is statedin the title of my paper - people from worldwide origins. Thequestion arises whether the majority of people in the UnitedKingdom consider themselves to be British or rather to beEnglish Scottish Welsh Northern Irish or part of any othercommunity often referred to as a so-called ethnic minoritygroup.