I am new to this service and I am very excited about participating. My name is
John Ellis and I am a phd. candidate at Boston College studying modern
British and Irish history. My research interests include ethnicity and
national identity, nationalism and Irish, Scottish and Welsh history. I would
like to give a brief overview of my dissertation and would appreciate any
comments or suggestions. I will try to keep it as brief as possible and
will be glad to elaborate on any specific points of interest in future
postings. Thanks for your attention.
My study explores how statesmen, intellectuals and the press attempted to
relate and reconcile British national identity with the diverse ethnic
identities of the British Isles between 1899 and 1919. In particular, I will
be focusing on the relationship between "Britishness" and the "problem"
identities of the Irish and Welsh.
During the later Victorian period, the nature of British nationality was the
subject of intense debate and division centering on issues of constitutional
reform, namely Irish Home Rule and Welsh Disestablishment. Those supporting
these reforms argued that the Irish and Welsh formed distinct nationalities
within the state and constitutional reform would strengthen their bonds with
the United Kingdom. Those who sought to maintain the constitutional status
quo argued that there was only one, essentially English nation and such reforms
worked against the integration of the state. Throughout the late Victorian
period, ideas concerning British national identity were polarized between these
two antagonistic viewpoints.
During the Edwardian period, however, certain public figures, intellectuals
and members of the press attempted to overcome this ideological impasse. A
sense of crisis engendered by the Boer War and the increasing rivalry with
Germany highlighted the need for a principle of ethnicity and nationality
which would unify rather than divide the peoples of the British Isles. Fears of
a growing external threat, internal dissension and national decline forged a
common ground between the seemingly irreconcilable Victorian views of
Britishness. Statesmen, cultural leaders and the press contributed to the
construction of a pluralist conception of Britishness informed by popular ideas
of social organicism. According to this view, the nation-state was analogous
to a living organism, a unified entity but composed of different parts, each
part performing its own particular function for the benefit of the whole.
Political speeches, royal ceremonies and even recruiting propaganda depicted
the United Kingdom as a family of nations in which each nation contributed
its "essential" talents and characteristics to a larger whole. Like familial
gender roles, the cultures of the "Celtic Fringe" provided the feminine
qualities of imagination, enthusiasm, emotion and spirituality to the British
household while the English provided the paternal qualities of rationality,sh
pragmatism, leadership and material ambition. United through their loyalty to
the British monarchy and their service to the British Empire, the different
ethnic groups of the British Isles were described as forming an organic nation-
state capable of ruling a global empire. The Edwardian reconstruction of
British nationality was essentially open-ended, beyond ethnic definition yet
capable of absorbing a diverse population through its message of "unity in
diversity". The national sensibilities and the value of the characteristics
of the Irish and Welsh were officially recognized by the British state but
the form and extent of this recognition was left open to negotiation. This
allowed debate to continue over constitutional issues while establishing a
consensus on the principal of "unity in diversity" among a broad range of
public and political opinion.
I am exploring the relationship between ethnic and British national identities
through an examination of the public discourse surrounding issues and events
which actively defined the ethnic dimension of Britishness during the Edwardian
period and the First World War. I will examine the commentary and ritual of
royal ceremonies, the political debates and campaigns of Irish Home Rule and
Welsh Disestablishment and the recruiting schemes and propaganda of the First
World War in order to analyze how statesmen, cultural leaders and the British
press defined Britishness in relation to ethnicity. These definitions will
be related to popular views on race, social organicism, imperialism and the
gendered imagery of the family. I will also explore how the dominant principal
of "unity in diversity" was opposed by groups who contested the defining
of ethnic and national identities such as the Irish republicans, Welsh pacifss
pacifists and socialists through the propaganda and polemic which they produceed
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your
comments.
JOHN S. ELLIS ellisjg@bcvms.bc.edu