AREA STUDIES (ENGLISH)
Master in Translation at the University of Antwerp
2020-2021
,Table of contents
Brexit ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
History between Britain and the EU .................................................................................................... 5
Why brexit ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Negative consequences ....................................................................................................................... 6
Advantages the EU that will no longer apply to the UK .................................................................. 6
Brexit delays ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Internal market bill (bill= a proposed law that has to pass through parliament) ............................... 7
Problems the IMB imposes.............................................................................................................. 7
British identity ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Terminology....................................................................................................................................... 10
The British Isles .............................................................................................................................. 10
Identity .......................................................................................................................................... 10
British nationality .............................................................................................................................. 10
Divided Britain ............................................................................................................................... 10
Text: Visions of England .................................................................................................................... 14
Discussion of interesting parts of the text .................................................................................... 14
Questions on the text .................................................................................................................... 16
Vocabulary: Visions of England ..................................................................................................... 17
England’s place within the UK ........................................................................................................... 28
The UK in numbers ........................................................................................................................ 28
Government .................................................................................................................................. 28
English culture ............................................................................................................................... 29
Representative English figures ...................................................................................................... 29
English heritage ............................................................................................................................. 30
Start of modern England: the Tudor period .................................................................................. 30
Values of modern England: the Victorian period.......................................................................... 31
Britishness: in search of a national identity (documentary) ............................................................. 31
Expanding empire .......................................................................................................................... 31
Imperialists and others .................................................................................................................. 32
The workshop of the world ........................................................................................................... 34
Greater Britain ............................................................................................................................... 35
The white man’s burden................................................................................................................ 37
An imperial people? ...................................................................................................................... 38
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 40
British nationalism................................................................................................................................. 41
, Nationalism ....................................................................................................................................... 41
English nationalism............................................................................................................................ 41
Anti-multiculturalism......................................................................................................................... 41
Reni Eddo-Lodge............................................................................................................................ 42
Scotland and Wales ........................................................................................................................... 44
Trivia on Scotland .......................................................................................................................... 44
Scottish history (in relation to England) ........................................................................................ 44
Wales ............................................................................................................................................. 50
Welsh history ................................................................................................................................. 50
Ireland ................................................................................................................................................... 51
Facts and figures................................................................................................................................ 51
History ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Celts ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Christianization of Ireland ............................................................................................................. 53
Occupation .................................................................................................................................... 53
United (?) ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Irish Nationalism................................................................................................................................ 56
Brexit ................................................................................................................................................. 58
Desire for a reunited Ireland? ........................................................................................................... 59
Classes ................................................................................................................................................... 60
Cultural nationalism .......................................................................................................................... 61
Culture ........................................................................................................................................... 61
Nationalism.................................................................................................................................... 62
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur: Letters from an American Farmer (1782) – letter III: What is an
American? .............................................................................................................................................. 66
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur ........................................................................................................ 66
Text .................................................................................................................................................... 67
Core values .................................................................................................................................... 69
Key points of the text (Albers) ....................................................................................................... 69
Thomas Paine: Common Sense (1776) ................................................................................................... 69
Thomas Paine..................................................................................................................................... 69
Text .................................................................................................................................................... 70
Central ideas .................................................................................................................................. 71
The American Renaissance (Whitman & Emmerson) ........................................................................... 73
Typical thing about writing of every period in America ................................................................ 73
R.W.Emerson (1803-1882) ................................................................................................................ 73
, Emerson & Transcendentalism ..................................................................................................... 74
The American Scholar .................................................................................................................... 74
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) .................................................................................................................. 76
Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855................................................................................................... 77
Fear God and take your own Part (1915) – Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) ..................................... 79
Trans-national America (1916) – Randolph Bourne (1886-1918) ......................................................... 81
Democracy in America – Alexis de Tocqueville ..................................................................................... 85
Alexis de Tocqueville ......................................................................................................................... 85
Democracy in America ...................................................................................................................... 85
The United States versus America......................................................................................................... 90
State versus Nation ........................................................................................................................... 90
Jill Lepore, This America. The Case for the Nation. (2019)............................................................ 90
What made the United States a nation? ........................................................................................... 92
the Dream: recent political views...................................................................................................... 94
Donald Trump in 2015: “The American Dream Is Dead”............................................................... 94
“Why Is America the Greatest Country in the World?” – Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom, 2012...... 94
“We will Make America Great Again”- Donald Trump, 22 July 2016, Speech at the RNC ............ 95
“When Was America Great?” (The Daily Show, 2016, Republican National Convention) ............ 95
“I believe that we can make America Great Again” – Bill Clinton, 1991 ....................................... 95
“Make America Great Again” – Ronald Reagan, 1980, Republican Convention ........................... 95
A new Americanism – Jill Lepore ....................................................................................................... 96
Summaries texts US ............................................................................................................................... 96
What is a nation? – Ernest Renan ..................................................................................................... 96
What makes up a nation ............................................................................................................... 96
Essays on cultural nationalism .......................................................................................................... 98
The importance of cultural nationalism in an era of distrust – Alexander Zubatov ..................... 98
Nationalism: constructing an American Identity ........................................................................... 99
The case for cultural nationalism – Michael Lind ........................................................................ 101
Letters from an American Farmer (1782) – letter III: What is an American? – J. Hector St. John de
Crèvecœur ....................................................................................................................................... 102
Common sense (Thomas Paine, 1776) ............................................................................................ 103
The American Scholar...................................................................................................................... 106
Man Thinking ............................................................................................................................... 107
The influence of nature ............................................................................................................... 107
The influences of the past ........................................................................................................... 107
The influence of action ................................................................................................................ 108
, The Scholar’s duties..................................................................................................................... 109
In short ........................................................................................................................................ 110
Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Walt Whitman ................................................................................................................................. 113
Song of Myself ............................................................................................................................. 113
Preface – Leaves of Grass ............................................................................................................ 114
Trans-national America – Randolph Bourne ................................................................................... 116
Fear God and take your own part – Theodore Roosevelt ............................................................... 118
Democracy in America – Alexis de Tocqueville ............................................................................... 118
Book 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 118
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 118
Chapter 5: On the Government of Democracy in America ......................................................... 119
Chapter 7: The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects .................... 120
Book 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 121
Chapter 2: Concerning the Principal Source of Beliefs Among Democratic Peoples .................. 121
Chapter 13: Why the Americans Are Often So Restless in the Midst of Their Prosperity .......... 122
Chapter 6: What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear ...................................... 122
Chapter 7: Continuation of the Preceding Chapters ................................................................... 123
Chapter 8: General Survey of the Subject ................................................................................... 124
,UK
Brexit
Wales and England voted to leave,
Scotland wanted to stay. London and
Northern Ireland mostly voted to
remain. -> friction: Scotland thinks of
seceding the UK and joining the EU as an
independent nation.
History between Britain and the
EU
1973: Member of the EEC (European
Economic Community)
1992: Maastricht Treaty - European
Union founded (British membership)
2009: Lisbon treaty -> contained article
50: stipulated that any member had the
right to decide to leave the EU if the so
chose
Fall 2014: EU pledged extra
contribution, many people were unsatisfied: the money should have been spent improving things in
the EU. But people did not consider the benefits they got in return. These benefits outweigh this
monetary contribution.
June 2016: Brexit referendum, David Cameron organised this referendum, being overconfident. He
resigned afterwards.
March 2017: Article 50 revoked by Theresa May (from then on the UK had 2 years to organise its
secession)
March 2019: Britain leaves the EU? May had been unable to reach an agreement with the EU and an
extension was granted. In the summer of 2019 May resigned and Boris Johnson took over. In the Fall
of 2019 he managed to pass his agreement that was agreed upon with the EU through parliament.
He managed this by organising a general election. May was unable to pass her deal through
parliament because she did not have an absolute majority, in this new election the conservatives had
a landslide victory and got the absolute majority, this way Johnson got his deal passed.
January 2020: Britain officially leaves the EU
Why brexit
• sovereignty: too much EU regulation (take power back)
• Migration
• Financial support for other poorer member states
• Sense that free trade with the EU would continue because the EU needs the British market
more than vice versa (untrue, the UK needs the EU more)
, • Identity: they feel to have more in common with the Americans than with the Europeans ->
this is important when constructing political unions, if they do not feel European, then why
be part of this union.
Negative consequences
• changes in legislation: European legislation will no longer be in effect, the UK will have to
implement new laws
• Secession of Scotland? Not talked about after the referendum, but Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish
Nation Party) has been talking about independence again.
• Reduced stability in Northern Ireland: violence could flare up with a blared, this is why the EU
did not want a hard brexit. This delayed passing a deal many times, because the UK wanted a
hard boarder (EU refused)
• Economic damage to the UK and EU (EU as the world's biggest market, UK as 5th strongest
economic power, EU has 53 free-trade deals): the UK will have to renegotiate trade deals
Advantages the EU that will no longer apply to the UK
Removal of trade barriers and harmonisation of different state rules (economic benefits)
Master in Translation at the University of Antwerp
2020-2021
,Table of contents
Brexit ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
History between Britain and the EU .................................................................................................... 5
Why brexit ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Negative consequences ....................................................................................................................... 6
Advantages the EU that will no longer apply to the UK .................................................................. 6
Brexit delays ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Internal market bill (bill= a proposed law that has to pass through parliament) ............................... 7
Problems the IMB imposes.............................................................................................................. 7
British identity ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Terminology....................................................................................................................................... 10
The British Isles .............................................................................................................................. 10
Identity .......................................................................................................................................... 10
British nationality .............................................................................................................................. 10
Divided Britain ............................................................................................................................... 10
Text: Visions of England .................................................................................................................... 14
Discussion of interesting parts of the text .................................................................................... 14
Questions on the text .................................................................................................................... 16
Vocabulary: Visions of England ..................................................................................................... 17
England’s place within the UK ........................................................................................................... 28
The UK in numbers ........................................................................................................................ 28
Government .................................................................................................................................. 28
English culture ............................................................................................................................... 29
Representative English figures ...................................................................................................... 29
English heritage ............................................................................................................................. 30
Start of modern England: the Tudor period .................................................................................. 30
Values of modern England: the Victorian period.......................................................................... 31
Britishness: in search of a national identity (documentary) ............................................................. 31
Expanding empire .......................................................................................................................... 31
Imperialists and others .................................................................................................................. 32
The workshop of the world ........................................................................................................... 34
Greater Britain ............................................................................................................................... 35
The white man’s burden................................................................................................................ 37
An imperial people? ...................................................................................................................... 38
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 40
British nationalism................................................................................................................................. 41
, Nationalism ....................................................................................................................................... 41
English nationalism............................................................................................................................ 41
Anti-multiculturalism......................................................................................................................... 41
Reni Eddo-Lodge............................................................................................................................ 42
Scotland and Wales ........................................................................................................................... 44
Trivia on Scotland .......................................................................................................................... 44
Scottish history (in relation to England) ........................................................................................ 44
Wales ............................................................................................................................................. 50
Welsh history ................................................................................................................................. 50
Ireland ................................................................................................................................................... 51
Facts and figures................................................................................................................................ 51
History ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Celts ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Christianization of Ireland ............................................................................................................. 53
Occupation .................................................................................................................................... 53
United (?) ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Irish Nationalism................................................................................................................................ 56
Brexit ................................................................................................................................................. 58
Desire for a reunited Ireland? ........................................................................................................... 59
Classes ................................................................................................................................................... 60
Cultural nationalism .......................................................................................................................... 61
Culture ........................................................................................................................................... 61
Nationalism.................................................................................................................................... 62
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur: Letters from an American Farmer (1782) – letter III: What is an
American? .............................................................................................................................................. 66
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur ........................................................................................................ 66
Text .................................................................................................................................................... 67
Core values .................................................................................................................................... 69
Key points of the text (Albers) ....................................................................................................... 69
Thomas Paine: Common Sense (1776) ................................................................................................... 69
Thomas Paine..................................................................................................................................... 69
Text .................................................................................................................................................... 70
Central ideas .................................................................................................................................. 71
The American Renaissance (Whitman & Emmerson) ........................................................................... 73
Typical thing about writing of every period in America ................................................................ 73
R.W.Emerson (1803-1882) ................................................................................................................ 73
, Emerson & Transcendentalism ..................................................................................................... 74
The American Scholar .................................................................................................................... 74
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) .................................................................................................................. 76
Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855................................................................................................... 77
Fear God and take your own Part (1915) – Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) ..................................... 79
Trans-national America (1916) – Randolph Bourne (1886-1918) ......................................................... 81
Democracy in America – Alexis de Tocqueville ..................................................................................... 85
Alexis de Tocqueville ......................................................................................................................... 85
Democracy in America ...................................................................................................................... 85
The United States versus America......................................................................................................... 90
State versus Nation ........................................................................................................................... 90
Jill Lepore, This America. The Case for the Nation. (2019)............................................................ 90
What made the United States a nation? ........................................................................................... 92
the Dream: recent political views...................................................................................................... 94
Donald Trump in 2015: “The American Dream Is Dead”............................................................... 94
“Why Is America the Greatest Country in the World?” – Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom, 2012...... 94
“We will Make America Great Again”- Donald Trump, 22 July 2016, Speech at the RNC ............ 95
“When Was America Great?” (The Daily Show, 2016, Republican National Convention) ............ 95
“I believe that we can make America Great Again” – Bill Clinton, 1991 ....................................... 95
“Make America Great Again” – Ronald Reagan, 1980, Republican Convention ........................... 95
A new Americanism – Jill Lepore ....................................................................................................... 96
Summaries texts US ............................................................................................................................... 96
What is a nation? – Ernest Renan ..................................................................................................... 96
What makes up a nation ............................................................................................................... 96
Essays on cultural nationalism .......................................................................................................... 98
The importance of cultural nationalism in an era of distrust – Alexander Zubatov ..................... 98
Nationalism: constructing an American Identity ........................................................................... 99
The case for cultural nationalism – Michael Lind ........................................................................ 101
Letters from an American Farmer (1782) – letter III: What is an American? – J. Hector St. John de
Crèvecœur ....................................................................................................................................... 102
Common sense (Thomas Paine, 1776) ............................................................................................ 103
The American Scholar...................................................................................................................... 106
Man Thinking ............................................................................................................................... 107
The influence of nature ............................................................................................................... 107
The influences of the past ........................................................................................................... 107
The influence of action ................................................................................................................ 108
, The Scholar’s duties..................................................................................................................... 109
In short ........................................................................................................................................ 110
Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Walt Whitman ................................................................................................................................. 113
Song of Myself ............................................................................................................................. 113
Preface – Leaves of Grass ............................................................................................................ 114
Trans-national America – Randolph Bourne ................................................................................... 116
Fear God and take your own part – Theodore Roosevelt ............................................................... 118
Democracy in America – Alexis de Tocqueville ............................................................................... 118
Book 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 118
Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 118
Chapter 5: On the Government of Democracy in America ......................................................... 119
Chapter 7: The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects .................... 120
Book 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 121
Chapter 2: Concerning the Principal Source of Beliefs Among Democratic Peoples .................. 121
Chapter 13: Why the Americans Are Often So Restless in the Midst of Their Prosperity .......... 122
Chapter 6: What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear ...................................... 122
Chapter 7: Continuation of the Preceding Chapters ................................................................... 123
Chapter 8: General Survey of the Subject ................................................................................... 124
,UK
Brexit
Wales and England voted to leave,
Scotland wanted to stay. London and
Northern Ireland mostly voted to
remain. -> friction: Scotland thinks of
seceding the UK and joining the EU as an
independent nation.
History between Britain and the
EU
1973: Member of the EEC (European
Economic Community)
1992: Maastricht Treaty - European
Union founded (British membership)
2009: Lisbon treaty -> contained article
50: stipulated that any member had the
right to decide to leave the EU if the so
chose
Fall 2014: EU pledged extra
contribution, many people were unsatisfied: the money should have been spent improving things in
the EU. But people did not consider the benefits they got in return. These benefits outweigh this
monetary contribution.
June 2016: Brexit referendum, David Cameron organised this referendum, being overconfident. He
resigned afterwards.
March 2017: Article 50 revoked by Theresa May (from then on the UK had 2 years to organise its
secession)
March 2019: Britain leaves the EU? May had been unable to reach an agreement with the EU and an
extension was granted. In the summer of 2019 May resigned and Boris Johnson took over. In the Fall
of 2019 he managed to pass his agreement that was agreed upon with the EU through parliament.
He managed this by organising a general election. May was unable to pass her deal through
parliament because she did not have an absolute majority, in this new election the conservatives had
a landslide victory and got the absolute majority, this way Johnson got his deal passed.
January 2020: Britain officially leaves the EU
Why brexit
• sovereignty: too much EU regulation (take power back)
• Migration
• Financial support for other poorer member states
• Sense that free trade with the EU would continue because the EU needs the British market
more than vice versa (untrue, the UK needs the EU more)
, • Identity: they feel to have more in common with the Americans than with the Europeans ->
this is important when constructing political unions, if they do not feel European, then why
be part of this union.
Negative consequences
• changes in legislation: European legislation will no longer be in effect, the UK will have to
implement new laws
• Secession of Scotland? Not talked about after the referendum, but Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish
Nation Party) has been talking about independence again.
• Reduced stability in Northern Ireland: violence could flare up with a blared, this is why the EU
did not want a hard brexit. This delayed passing a deal many times, because the UK wanted a
hard boarder (EU refused)
• Economic damage to the UK and EU (EU as the world's biggest market, UK as 5th strongest
economic power, EU has 53 free-trade deals): the UK will have to renegotiate trade deals
Advantages the EU that will no longer apply to the UK
Removal of trade barriers and harmonisation of different state rules (economic benefits)
