The history of British nostalgia and
the role it has played in the Brexit process will be explored during an event
at Northumbria University.
The In Conversation with Alexander Menden event will see Northumbria’s
Tanja Bueltmann, Professor of History and Faculty Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor,
discuss the topic with Alexander Menden, culture correspondent of Sueddeutsche
Zeitung, one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany.
They will examine the roots of
nostalgic British sentiments such as ‘keep calm and carry on’, the ‘stiff upper
lip’ and the ‘spirit of the Blitz’, and explore the impact these have had on
national identity, and what it means in the context of Brexit.
Professor Bueltmann said: “Alexander
and I will be looking at the cultural and historical background to these mottos
and the extent to which the established myths that have potentially put Britain
on a collision course with the reality of life as a small island nation in the
21st century.
“Sayings such as ‘keep calm and
carry on’ date back to times of war – the slogan was designed in 1939 by the
Ministry of Information as part of a campaign intended to boost morale. However,
it was rarely used publicly at the time.
“Instead, the role now associated
with the slogan dates back to its re-discovery in 2000 and subsequent use
during more recent times of crisis, such as the financial crash of 2008-9. ‘Keep
calm and carry on’ invoked a key moment of the British past, a point of crisis
that was overcome. Therein lies its appeal, but with that appeal also came a
sense of nostalgia for a past that never quite existed like that in the first
place.
“This nostalgia, the myths created
with it by some media outlets and politicians, has played its part not only in
delivering the EU referendum’s leave result, but also in Brexit discussions
since then.”
The event takes place at from 6pm to
7pm on Friday 11 May at Northumbria University’s Business and Law Building,
City Campus East.
For more information, and to book a
place, please visit https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/events/2018/05/in-conversation-with-alexander-menden/
Professor Bueltmann is an EU
national whose work focuses on diaspora and migration history. She has written
a number of articles around this issue for a variety of national publications
including Times Higher Education and The Guardian.
She has also recently been involved in a Podcast produced by The Guardian around
the subject of Brexit in the context of the Windrush scandal – listen here.
