Problematizing the study of English nationalism :a linguistic perspective -

Abstract

This project is informed by postmodern theories of nationalism and is a direct response to the scholarly investment with English nationalism. Rather than presupposing the existence of English nationalism and attempting to identify its rise, this project is concerned with problematizing the existent scholarly approaches to the topic. The main argument of this work is that any engagement with nationalism is troubled by methodological problems and critical failures that chiefly involve the marginalization or exclusion of individuals who do not adhere to the characteristics of national identity. To illustrate and support this claim, this thesis studies English identity as it is informed through English linguistic practices within England, the British isles, and the British empire over time. This identity is shown to be a factor of social and political upheavals that continuously redefine what it means to be English. This thesis does not provide a eureka moment during which an example of unqualified national cohesion through the nation’s identification with the English language is uncovered. Rather, this project demonstrates that the marginalization and racialization of individuals who do not speak proper English occurred both internally within England and externally within the British isles. People who did not conform with preassigned linguistic determinants for Englishness were written off as unrepresentative of the English nation. To speak of nationalistic movements without recognizing how these movements defined their subjects is an epistemic failure that this thesis attempts to address.