Дистанційне навчання 10-A (16.01.2021)
Lesson
Saturday, the
sixteenth
of January
Theme: Religious and cultural portrait of Great Britain
Cultural Life
England’s contribution to
both British and world culture is
too vast for anything but a cursory survey here. Historically, England was a
very homogeneous country
and developed coherent traditions,
but, especially as the British Empire expanded
and the country absorbed peoples from throughout the globe, English culture has
been accented with diverse contributions
from Afro-Caribbeans, Asians, Muslims, and other immigrant groups. Other parts
of the United Kingdom have experienced the same social and cultural
diversification, with the result that England is not always distinguishable
from Wales and Scotland or
even Northern Ireland.
The former insularity of English life has been replaced by a cosmopolitan familiarity
with all things exotic: fish and chips have given way to Indian, Chinese, and
Italian cuisine, guitar-based rock blends with South Asian rap and
Afro-Caribbean salsa, and the English
language itself abounds in neologisms drawn from nearly every
one of the world’s tongues.
Even as England has
become ever more diverse culturally, it continues to exert a strong cultural
influence on the rest of the world. English music, film, and literature enjoy
wide audiences overseas, and the English language has gained ever-increasing
currency as the preferred international medium of cultural and economic
exchange.
Daily life and social
customs
Historically, English
daily life and customs were markedly different in urban and rural areas.
Indeed, much of English
literature and popular culture has explored the tension between
town and country and between farm and factory. Today, even though the English
are among the world’s most cosmopolitan and well-traveled people, ties to the
rural past remain strong. Urbanites, for example, commonly retire to villages
and country cottages, and even the smallest urban dwelling is likely to have a
garden.
Another divide, though
one that is fast disappearing, is the rigid class system that long made it difficult
for nonaristocratic individuals to rise to positions of prominence in commerce,
government, and education. Significant changes have accompanied the decline of
the class system, which also had reinforced distinctions between town and
country and between the less affluent north
of England and the country’s wealthy south. For example, whereas in decades
past English radio was renowned for its “proper” language, the country’s
airwaves now carry accents from every corner of the country and its former
empire, and the wealthy are likely to enjoy the same elements of popular
culture as the less advantaged.
Many holidays in England,
such as Christmas, are celebrated throughout the world, though the traditional
English Christmas is less a commercial event than an opportunity for singing
and feasting. Remembrance Day (November 11) honours British soldiers who died
in World War I.
Other remembrances are unique to England and are nearly inexplicable to
outsiders. For example, Guy Fawkes Night
(November 5) commemorates a
Roman Catholic conspiracy to
blow up the Houses of
Parliament in 1605, and Saint George’s
Day (April 23) honours England’s patron saint—though the holiday is barely
celebrated at all in England, in marked contrast to the celebrations in Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland for
their respective patron saints. Indeed, the lack of official celebration
for Saint George contributes
to the ambiguity of
“Englishness” and whether it can now be distinguished from “Britishness.” The
monarch’s official birthday is also observed nationally and commemorated in
the summer by a military parade called Trooping the
Colour, which has been celebrated since the 18th century.
Religion
Although the Church of
England is formally established as the official church, with
the monarch at its head, England is a highly secularized country. The Church of
England has some 13,000 parishes and a similar number of clergy, but it
solemnizes fewer than one-third of marriages and baptizes only one in four
babies. The Nonconformist (non-Anglican
Protestant) churches have nominally fewer members, but there is probably
greater dedication among them, as with the Roman
Catholic church. There is virtually complete religious
tolerance in England and no longer any overt prejudice against
Catholics. The decline in churchgoing has been thought to be an indicator of
decline in religious belief, but opinion polls substantiate the
view that belief in God and the central tenets of Christianity survives the
flagging fortunes of the churches. Some churches—most notably those associated
with the Evangelical movement—have small but growing memberships. There are
also large communities of
Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Hindus.
