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Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

The Legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood

Stephanie Barczewski author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

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Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain cover

Scholars have become increasingly interested in how modern national consciousness comes into being through fictional narratives. Literature is of particular importance to this process, for it is responsible for tracing the nations evolution through glorious tales of its history. In nineteenth-century Britain, the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played an important role in construction of contemporary national identity. These two legends provide excellent windows through which to view British culture, because they provide very different perspectives. King Arthur and Robin Hood have traditionally been diametrically opposed in terms of their ideological orientation. The former is a king, a man at the pinnacle of the social and political hierarchy, whereas the latter is an outlaw, and is therefore completely outside conventional hierarchical structures. The fact that two such different figures could simultaneously function as British national heroes suggests that nineteenth-century British nationalism did not represent a single set of values and ideas, but rather that it was forced to assimilate a variety of competing points of view.

Barczewski is most successful in historical contextualization, and in linking the legends with the broader issues of race, identity, and nationalism ... strong treatment of the history of ideas ... wide-ranging survey of national identity in nineteenth-century thought. * Carolyne Larrington, TLS *

ISBN: 9780198207283

Dimensions: 224mm x 145mm x 19mm

Weight: 517g

284 pages