British Lifestyle, Identity and Attitudes.

British Lifestyle, Identity and Attitudes

(Course summary by Natalia Diquech, Angélica Santi, Karina Moreschi, Agustín Lopez, Melina Nuñez y Guadalupe Bustingorri) (Summarised from Britain by O’Driscoll and Britain in close-up by Mc Dowal, 1993, for academic purposes only)

        British people tend to be attributed with certain characteristics which are supposedly typical. However, they have reasons for being cautious about it. There is a popular belief that Britain is a land of tradition. But in their private lives, the British are less inclined to follow tradition than people think. There are many examples of supposedly traditional British habits which are simply not typical any more. Britain is today a multicultural society; the new British have brought with them widely differing sets of attitudes which have helped to make people more informal.

        The British can be particularly conservative. Their conservatism can combine with their individualism; they are rather proud of being different. Their concern is not to be like everyone else; that is a good reason not to change. They also have a high respect for privacy. Unless you know people very well you do not ask them personal questions. The habit of keeping private themes to themselves is still deeply engrained. British public life has a reputation for demanding puritanical standards of behaviour.

        Family identity is rather weak in Britain, especially in England. The family unit is still the basic living arrangement for most people. But in Britain this definitely means the nuclear family. There is little sense of extended family identity. This is reflected in the size and composition of households. However, the stereotyped nuclear family of father, mother and children is becoming less common. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than anywhere else in Europe and the number of children born outside marriage is one of the highest, too.

        In terms of everyday habits and mannerisms, the British are said to be reserved and famous for their politeness, self discipline and especially for their sense of humour. Basic politeness (please, sorry and excuse me) is expected. When being entertained at someone’s home, it is nice to take a gift for the host: a bunch of flowers, a bottle of wine or chocolates are all acceptable. In England people like to form orderly queues and wait patiently for their turns. Remember that if you are in England you will not greet people with a kiss; they only kiss people who are close friends or relatives. You should not speak out loud in public, either. British people place considerable value on punctuality; it is often considered impolite to arrive even a few minutes late.

British society probably expects a sharper difference between the sexes than most other European societies do. As far as roles are concerned, most people assume that a family’s financial situation is not just the responsibility of the man. However, the care of the children is still seen as a woman’s responsibility. Despite the fact that men are taking a more active domestic role than they did forty years ago, some things never seem to change. In general, the distinction concerning roles and behaviours of the two sexes is shown in the lower and upper classes and it is less clear in the middle classes.

        People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They consider it difficult to make friends with somebody from a different class, and this results from the fact that different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits.

        The most obvious and immediate sign of people’s class comes when a person speaks. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news broadcasts, books and newspapers is known as Standard British English while most working class people speak non-standard English. Identification of an accent can place the speaker in a general area of Britain. Geordie, Scouse and Cockney are well-known dialects from Tyneside, Liverpool and London respectively. Today, the home counties accent, which are the counties nearest to London, is usually accepted as Standard English.

        People in Wales speak a completely different language. About 25% of the people still speak in their native Celtic tongue called Welsh. In some regions of Scotland, Gaelic is used as a first language. All over Scotland the accent is markedly stronger, some words are different, but overall it is not difficult to understand.

        It has been said that accent tells where a person comes from. It can also tell which social class the person belongs to. According to sociologists, social class is the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university people are given more status than unskilled workers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money. Britain was once a class-ridden society. Class was a staple part of the British way of life. Today, multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system, but some features of the system still remain. The upper class consists of people with inherited wealth, and includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titled aristocrats. The upper classes are not only defined by their title, but also by their education and pastimes which include the traditional sporting life involving hunting, shooting and fishing, as well as a great deal of horse-riding. The middle classes are the majority of the population of Britain today. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners. Working class people are mostly agricultural, mine and factory workers.

        The architecture of the UK has a long and diverse history from Stonehenge to the designs of Norman Foster and the present day. The earliest known examples of architecture are the many Neolithic Monuments such as those of Stonehenge and Avery. This is known as Pre-Roman Architecture and dates back to 750-12 bc.

The earliest domestic architecture is that bequeathed to the country by the Romans, who occupied Britain from 43 AD to 410 AD aprox. The Romans built the first cities and towns which included Chester, London and Bath. Many fine examples of Roman architecture still remain, of special note are the ruins of the spa in Bath. Following the Roman’s departure, architecture seems to have regressed, and little remains of the period immediately after the Roman withdrawal. This is known as Roman Architecture. Following the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period (around 450 AD), a few isolated examples of architecture began to appear, most notably, churches.

After the Norman invasion in 1066, more consistent forms of design began to appear regularly. William I and his law lords built numerous castles to uphold their authority. Often they were built initially of wood, speed of erection being of greater concern than design or appearance; the best known of these is the Tower of London. However, during the following two centuries of the Norman period, further and even larger castles were built to suppress the natives. Many castles remain from these medieval times and in most times and villages the parish church is an indication of the age of the settlement. While the Crown was busy with the construction of defensive structures, the clergy and indeed most of society, was dedicated to the glorification of God through the erection of Gothic Cathedrals, such as Salisbury Cathedral.

The 15th and 16th centuries are famous, among other things, for their architecture. This is the time of Tudor Architecture. Henry VIII was the most famous Tudor King. You can see many Tudor houses in England today. Most ordinary homes in Tudor times were half-timbered – they had wooden frames and the spaces between were filled with small sticks and wet clay called wattle and daub. Tudor houses are known for their “black-and-white” effect.

After the civil war of 1642-49, houses were built purely for living, and design and appearance were forever more important than defense. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and the Great Fire of 1666 an opportunity was missed in London to create a new metropolitan city. Although one of the most well-known British architects, Sir Christopher Wren, was employed to design and rebuild many of the ruined ancient churches of London, his master plan to rebuild London as a whole was rejected. It was in this period that he designed the building that he is perhaps best known for, St Paul’s Cathedral. This period is known as Stuart architecture.

The 18th century was the time of Georgian architecture. In this period, comfort and style became truly popular. After the great fire an act of Parliament was passed to ensure new homes were made from fire resistant materials, such as brick and slate. A typical Georgian house of the 18th century was elegant and formal in style. During the Georgian times there was a heavy tax on windows, as England needed money for war. The number of windows you had was a sign of your wealth as poor people only had one window per floor. Some people bricked up windows to avoid the tax (King’s College in Cambridge). Buildings were built in red brick with white stone decoration. There were pillars in the front of the house. They had square symmetrical shape, a panelled front door in the centre, tiled hipped roofs (a roof that slopes upwards from all sides of the building), paired chimneys and sash windows (windows that slide up and down).

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