Thursday 24 November 2016

Regional identity

Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes: "Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space- this an be a particular nation or region."

Benedict Anderson (1983) maintains that the media play a vital role in constructing a national/regional identity as in reality the nation is too big for everyone to know each other yet they often have shared values: "The unification of people in the modern world is achieved not by military but cultural means, in particular the media system enables people (of a nation or region) to feel part of a coherent, meaningful and homogenous community."

Higson: "Stereotyping is a form of shorthand... a way of establishing a character... that often reducing the character to the most basic form so that the stereotype often becomes comic."  (Higson 1998)
Higson: "No wonder then that a particular characterisation may be criticised for being stereotypical meaning it lacks a realistic dimension, it fails to match up the reality of identity." (Higson 1998)

Medhurst: "Awful because they are not like us."


Stereotypes for different regions:

Brummies: 
Brummie- Drag on words, meant to say Birmingham as Buuuuurminghammmm
Yams yams , Citizen Khan 
"Brummie screwdriver" is UK slang for a hammer


Cornish: 
Cornish- Pasties. Farmers, Fields, Beach weather, holiday, miners, tractors
Poldark, Doc martin
Cornwall has about half a million people, 75,000 cows and more than five million tourists a year.
Put the cream on BEFORE the jam when having a cream tea

Essex: 
Everyone in Essex has the same accent - a chavvy, cockney like accent 
Everyone is blonde and tanned
 "The Only Way Is Essex" uses phrases like "Shut Up!" and "Well jell"
 Everyone in Essex enjoys alcohol and parties 

London: 
London-  Fake tan, crime, chavs, grime, tourists, gangsters, 
Eastenders
Celebrations of St Piran’s Day in 19th century Cornwall led to the phrase ‘drunk as a perraner’.

Our food is awful and we can’t produce our own wine

Manchester: 
The Mancunian stereotype is much like the stereotype of just your general northerner, alcoholic rude loud and lower working class status.From what I’ve found it appears like Manchester is a city of two halves, you’re either a ‘casual’ who enjoys music like Oasis and The Stone Roses or you’re a ‘chav’ and you wear tracksuits and have babies at 16.
 Not just that but when you think of Manchester you think “United or City?”
Some of the better stereotypes of Manchester is not only its HUGE football teams but the fact that its multi cultural, it has a lot more diversity than other cities in the UK, hence why like places such as Bradford and Birmingham which also have a very diverse culture, EDL make a few appearances in Manchester.

     Scouser: 
·      Obsessed with football
·      Distinguishable accent
·      Chavs
·      "Ya ma" is still the best comeback of all time
·      You will see people at Tesco wearing pyjamas and Ugg boots
·      You know the words to 'You'll Never Walk Alone' if you're a red or a blue or neither
·      You'll see people blatantly in their mid-20s trying to buy a child ticket on the bus
·      Hollyoaks is set there
·      A new poll looking at people’s perceptions of various different UK accents shows the “scouse” accent is the most popular for mimicking for comedic effect
·      Accent is hard to understand
·      Liverpool vs Manchester
·      Full of chavs and drug users
·      Rough schools
·      Full of criminals- bad reputation
·      Stereotyped to have hair rollers in their hair
·      Known to love cheesy chips
·      “Birds”
·      Hard to understand- a lot of new phrases
·      Woolyback / Wool : A person from Runcorn, Wirral, Wigan, Warrington, Southport etc.
·      Swear a lot
      
       Wales: 
·      Obsessed with football
·      Distinguishable accent
·      Chavs
·      "Ya ma" is still the best comeback of all time
·      You will see people at Tesco wearing pyjamas and Ugg boots
·      You know the words to 'You'll Never Walk Alone' if you're a red or a blue or neither
·      You'll see people blatantly in their mid-20s trying to buy a child ticket on the bus
·      Hollyoaks is set there
·      A new poll looking at people’s perceptions of various different UK accents shows the “scouse” accent is the most popular for mimicking for comedic effect
·      Accent is hard to understand
·      Liverpool vs Manchester
·      Full of chavs and drug users
·      Rough schools
·      Full of criminals- bad reputation
·      Stereotyped to have hair rollers in their hair
·      Known to love cheesy chips
·      “Birds”
·      Hard to understand- a lot of new phrases
·      Woolyback / Wool : A person from Runcorn, Wirral, Wigan, Warrington, Southport etc.
·      Swear a lot

·      Thieves

      Yorkshire: 
·     Scones
·     Yorkshire puddings
·     Yorkshire tea

     Scotland:
     People from Scotland have been presented, as ginger people, who eat haggis, wear kilts and play the bagpipes. Iron Bru is also associated with them.
   
     Devon :
     People are presented as, farmers who drink cream teas, drink cider, and clotted cream is a big thing.
   
   





The clip above fits with the London stereotype, of people being in gangs, chavs and it has there accents. It portrays them differently, and magnifies a small story, into a large program that is watched by millions of viewers every evening. This would agree with Higsons theory "No wonder then that a particular characterisation may be criticised for being stereotypical meaning it lacks a realistic dimension, it fails to match up the reality of identity." 







No comments:

Post a Comment