English, Whose English?

Synopsis

Investigates some of the ways in which images of England were developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as a means of justifying and maintaining imperialism in the face of increasing doubt and conflict about Britain’s imperial ambitions. Examines the roles played in this process by archive footage (newsreels, feature films and travelogues), by English literature (Virginia Woolf, Rupert Brooke, Kipling, and ‘The Wind in the Willows’) by the monarchy, the countryside, and that most English of sports, cricket. Ends by looking at the apparent break in the continuity if ‘English literature’ provoked by modernism and by reactions to the Great War, exemplified in Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’ and T S Eliot’s ‘The Wasteland’, both of which were actually later absorbed into a redefined concept of ‘English literature’.

Series

Literature in the Modern World, Course A319

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 25 min.

Year of production

1991

Availability

Sale; 1998 sale: £145.00 (+VAT +p&p)

Subjects

English language and literature

Keywords

cricket; Eliot, Thomas Stearns (1888-1965); English literature; Modernism

Credits

Producer

Tony Coe

Contributor

Graham Martin

Production Company

Name

BBC Open University Productions

Distributor

Name

Open University Worldwide

Web

http://www.ouw.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 1908 274066

Address

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

Notes

NB. As of May 2016 Open University Worldwide are no longer distributing DVDs. They have posted this message on their website: ‘Unfortunately Open University Worldwide Limited has decided that product sales are no longer viable given the reduced funding to Higher Education institutions and diminishing demand for the products we have traditionally stocked. At present the Open University Students Association (OUSA) will continue to sell the "Good Study Guide", and we are in discussion with other possible distributors to continue to make The Open University’s products available for purchase. As soon as we have any information on other channels of distribution we will update this notice’. Some products are still available via second hand dealers on Amazon.co.uk