Culture of England

Encyclopedia : C : CU : CUL : Culture of England

The culture of England is sometimes difficult to separate clearly from the culture of the United Kingdom, so influential has English culture been on the cultures of the British Isles and, on the other hand, given the extent to which other cultures have influenced life in England.

Contents

1 Art
2 Cuisine
3 Folklore
4 Heritage
5 Literature
6 Music
7 Religion
8 Sport and leisure
9 See also

Art

The Hay Wain by John Constable is considered an archetypal English painting

Main article: English art

English art is a term referring to a body of art originating from England. Nikolaus Pevsner attempted a definition in his 1956 book The Englishness of English Art.

It has developed over several millenia, to recent movements such as Brit Art, and now encompasses a variety of forms - painting, photography, sculpture and performance art.

It is often considered that English landscape painting typifies the tradition of English art, mirroring as it does the development of the country house and its landscaping.

Cuisine

Main article: English cuisine

England being the first industrialised country in the world, urbanised workers were in many cases cut off from regional food traditions. Some consider that English cuisine has consequently suffered from a widespread image of blandness and lack of distinctiveness. The openness of English diners to exotic dishes has also meant that English cooking does not enjoy as high a profile as other nations' culinary traditions. More recently, a new style of cooking called Modern British has emerged that combines traditional British ingredients with foreign culinary influences.

The Full English breakfast remains an enduring tradition for many, despite the increasing popularity of the continental-style breakfast, or no breakfast at all, for busy workers. Tea and beer are typical drinks. Cider is produced in the West Country, and the south of England has seen the reintroduction of vineyards producing high quality white wine on a comparatively small scale.

England produces a range of cheeses in various regions, including:

Other foods associated with England include:

Folklore

Morris dancing is one of the more visible English folk traditions, with many differing regional variations.

Main article: English folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition which has evolved in England over a number of centuries. Some English legends can be traced back to their roots, even as far as before the Roman invasion of Britain, while the origin of others is fairly uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as the traditional semi-mystical Arthurian legends and semi-historical Robin Hood tales, to contemporary urban myths and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Morris dance and related practices such as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance preserve old English folk traditions, as do Mummers Plays. The utopian vision of a traditional England is sometimes referred to as Merry England.

English mythology is no longer widely believed. Whereas some folklore legends were formerly believed nationally across the whole of England, most can generally be divided into regional areas of England.

Heritage

In recent years, Stonehenge has become a focus for modern summer solstice celebrations

Though it pre-dates the existence of England as a nation,Stonehenge is believed by many English people to hold an iconic place in the culture of England. Other built structures like cathedrals and parish churches are associated with a sense of Englishness. The English country house and the lifestyle associated for centuries with an élite minority now forms an interest among many people in England as typified by visits to properties managed by English Heritage or the National Trust.

Landscape gardening as developed by Capability Brown set an international trend for the English garden. Gardening and visiting gardens are also a facet of the culture of England for many people.

Literature

William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century

Main article: English literature

The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, or literature composed in English by writers who are not necessarily from England. Writers noted for expressing Englishness, or associated particularly with regions of England, include William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy (Wessex), A. E. Housman (Shropshire), Rupert Brooke, Jane Austen, Arnold Bennett and the Lake Poets (Lake District).

But Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian: all have enriched English literature.

Music

Main article: Music of England

England has a long and rich musical history. The United Kingdom has, like most European countries, undergone a roots revival in the last half of the 20th century. English music has been an instrumental and leading part of this phenomenon, which peaked at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

The achievements of the Anglican choral tradition following on from 16th century composers such as Thomas Tallis, John Taverner and William Byrd have tended to overshadow instrumental composition. The semi-operatic innovations of Henry Purcell did not lead to a native operatic tradition, but George Frederick Handel found important royal patrons and enthusiastic public support in England. The rapturous receptions afforded by audiences to visiting musical celebrities such as Haydn often contrasted with the lack of recognition for home-grown talent. However, the emergence of figures such as Edward Elgar and Arthur Sullivan in the 19th century showed a new vitality in English music. In the 20th century, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett emerged as internationally-recognised opera composers, and Ralph Vaughan Williams and others collected English folk tunes and adapted them to the concert hall. Cecil Sharp was a leading figure in the English folk revival.

Finally, a new beat out of Liverpool emerged in 1962. The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, became the world's most popular musicians of all time. The "Fab Four" opened the doors for British acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to the globe.

Some of the leading contemporary artists include Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams and Coldplay.

Religion

The Church of England functions as the established church in England. Other churches which have started in England include the Methodist church, the Quakers and the Salvation Army.

Sport and leisure

Association Football, Cricket, Rugby Union and Rugby League are considered to be the national sports of England.

Football maintains a consistent popularity across the country and is often indicative of trends across wider culture in England, such as in clothing and music. The increase in hooliganism amongst football fans in the 1970s and 1980s can be in part attributed to a parallel rise in unemployment. As England, and the United Kingdom as a whole, returned to a more afluent and stable finiancial position in the late 1990s, violent football culture was transformed in to a culture where families were welcome, and nationalism lost its aggressive edge.

Different sports directly represent the different social classes within England. Rugby Union, for instance, is generally seen as the sport of the Northern working class, whereas Cricket and Rugby Union have their origins in the Public School system of the 18th and 19th Centuries respectively.

However, since the English Rugby World Cup victory in 2003, the sport has seen a revival in widespread popularity across the class system. Likewise, after the Ashes victory of 2005, Cricket has regained much of the popularity it had lost throughout the 1990s.