L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire

The decline of the British Empire following the end of the Second World War, the rise of Scottish and Welsh nationalisms in the 1970s as well as Britain integration into Europe and the recent crisis in the multicultural model contributed to a redefinition of Britishness. This article reviews histori...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gilbert Millat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique 2008-04-01
Series:Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/5993
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850124969779920896
author Gilbert Millat
author_facet Gilbert Millat
author_sort Gilbert Millat
collection DOAJ
description The decline of the British Empire following the end of the Second World War, the rise of Scottish and Welsh nationalisms in the 1970s as well as Britain integration into Europe and the recent crisis in the multicultural model contributed to a redefinition of Britishness. This article reviews historiographical developments regarding the interaction between imperial and Commonwealth studies and British national identity from the late 1980s. Since then, historians have tended to focus much more on a cultural interpretation of imperial history. Besides, they have been more interested in the impact of empire on British society than on the influence of British civilization on dominions and colonies. These approaches are remarkable for the use of new sources, especially visual ones, a plural conception of British identity and the criticism of such concepts as imperialism. Historians such as Linda Colley, Andrew Thompson and Bernard Porter have tried to work out a pragmatic and critical answer to the much debated question of the integration of imperial history to British history in a post-imperial context. Lastly, they advocate a development of comparative approaches of the different imperial histories.
format Article
id doaj-art-c0a4c76d4d26426a91fe49278d33df6d
institution OA Journals
issn 0248-9015
2429-4373
language English
publishDate 2008-04-01
publisher Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique
record_format Article
series Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
spelling doaj-art-c0a4c76d4d26426a91fe49278d33df6d2025-08-20T02:34:12ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732008-04-0114410.4000/rfcb.5993L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empireGilbert MillatThe decline of the British Empire following the end of the Second World War, the rise of Scottish and Welsh nationalisms in the 1970s as well as Britain integration into Europe and the recent crisis in the multicultural model contributed to a redefinition of Britishness. This article reviews historiographical developments regarding the interaction between imperial and Commonwealth studies and British national identity from the late 1980s. Since then, historians have tended to focus much more on a cultural interpretation of imperial history. Besides, they have been more interested in the impact of empire on British society than on the influence of British civilization on dominions and colonies. These approaches are remarkable for the use of new sources, especially visual ones, a plural conception of British identity and the criticism of such concepts as imperialism. Historians such as Linda Colley, Andrew Thompson and Bernard Porter have tried to work out a pragmatic and critical answer to the much debated question of the integration of imperial history to British history in a post-imperial context. Lastly, they advocate a development of comparative approaches of the different imperial histories.https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/5993
spellingShingle Gilbert Millat
L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
title L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
title_full L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
title_fullStr L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
title_full_unstemmed L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
title_short L’identité britannique au miroir de l’empire
title_sort l identite britannique au miroir de l empire
url https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/5993
work_keys_str_mv AT gilbertmillat lidentitebritanniqueaumiroirdelempire