The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture

by Edited by Michael Higgins , Clarissa Smith , John Storey

• ISBN13: 9780521864978
• ISBN10: 0521864976
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-09-27
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

British culture today is the product of a shifting combination of tradition and experimentation, national identity and regional and ethnic diversity. These distinctive tensions are expressed in a range of cultural arenas, such as art, sport, journalism, fashion, education, and race. This Companion addresses these and other major aspects of British culture, and offers a sophisticated understanding of what it means to study and think about the diverse cultural landscapes of contemporary Britain. Each contributor looks at the language through which culture is formed and expressed, the political and institutional trends that shape culture, and at the role of culture in daily life. This interesting and informative account of modern British culture embraces controversy and debate, and never loses sight of the fact that Britain and Britishness must always be understood in relation to the increasingly international context of globalisation.

Table of Contents

Notes on contributors	p. vii
Chronology	p. xi
Introduction: modern British culture	p. 1
Becoming British	p. 12
Language developments in British English	p. 26
Schooling and culture	p. 42
The changing character of political communications	p. 62
Contemporary Britain and its regions	p. 79
Contemporary British cinema	p. 96
Contemporary British fiction	p. 115
Contemporary British poetry	p. 137
Theatre in modern British culture	p. 154
Contemporary British television	p. 171
British art in the twenty-first century	p. 189
British fashion	p. 208
Sport in contemporary Britain	p. 225
British sexual cultures	p. 244
British popular music, popular culture and exclusivity	p. 262
British newspapers today	p. 279
The struggle for ethno-religious equality in Britain: the place of the Muslim community	p. 296
Guide to further reading	p. 314
Index	p. 317
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