Alien Albion

"Alien Albion is a fascinating and significant new study of the complicated cultural representation of the nation in early modern England. Scott Oldenburg explores the faultline opened up by mass immigration in the late sixteenth century and asks whether the influx of diverse peoples made the English more xenophobic or more tolerant. The book will inspire all readers interested in questions of identity and breathes new life into debates about early modern nationality." -- Andrew Hadfield, School of English, University of Sussex "This nuanced, timely, and readable investigation sheds new light on the integration of European immigrants, particularly artisans, into early modern England." -- Sujata Iyengar, Department of English, University of Georgia

Alien Albion challenges assumptions about the origins of English national identity and the importance of religious, class, and local identities in the early modern era.

Using both canonical and underappreciated texts, Alien Albion argues that early modern England was far less unified and xenophobic than literary critics have previously suggested. Juxtaposing literary texts from the period with legal, religious, and economic documents, Scott Oldenburg uncovers how immigrants to England forged ties with their English hosts and how those relationships were reflected in literature that imagined inclusive, multicultural communities.

Through discussions of civic pageantry, the plays of dramatists including William Shakespeare, Thomas Dekker, and Thomas Middleton, the poetry of Anne Dowriche, and the prose of Thomas Deloney, Alien Albion challenges assumptions about the origins of English national identity and the importance of religious, class, and local identities in the early modern era.