British identity and English (only?)

[Anthea Fraser Gupta]

(I should think that Crosstalk would look very very quaint now, Aurolyn
-- I used to have a copy but I've no idea where it is now!)

I have no idea about the manners and the child rearing one. It's widely
believed in the UK that people only queue (=line up) in the UK, which is
manifestly untrue, though queuing in an orderly fashion is fairly
prevalent. Other shared manners??? Well, some people hold the door open
for people behind them and some don't. In some parts of the UK people
thank the bus driver when they leave the bus, and in other places they
don't (and doubtless people who move around get it wrong). Some people
get rolling drunk and others don't (it's the beginning of the academic
year, so this is a common sight at the moment). Re children: some people
use corporal punishment and some don't. All I see is diversity, even if
we only look at white English people.

I wish they would really spell out these shared values. 

BTW, neither Trevor Phillips nor Jeevan Singh Deol is white. James
Naughtie is white, but Scottish.

Anthea


*     *     *     *     *
Anthea Fraser Gupta (Dr)
School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
<www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg>
NB: Reply to a.f.gupta at leeds.ac.uk
*     *     *     *     *
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu 
> [mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of 
> Aurolyn Luykx
> Sent: 22 September 2005 17:21
> To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
> Subject: Re: British identity and English (only?)
> 
> 
> As if having everyone speak English would ensure that
> all Britishers share "certain codes of manners"! I
> guess this guy has never seen John Gumperz's film
> "Crosstalk" (which, as far as I know is out of print.
> Anyone know where I can get it?).
> Aurolyn
>