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Beefeaters, Bobbies, and a New Varangian Guard? Negotiating Forms of “Britishness” in Suburban Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 15:55 authored by Wills, S, Katherine Darian-SmithKatherine Darian-Smith
The recent emergence of “Britfests” provides a point of departure for investigating the complex transitional narratives of migrancy, ethnicity, and “belonging” among British migrants in modern Australia. We argue that the recreational representation of “Britishness” at these events reflects broader trends in the re-imagination of “Britishness” in Australia now a source of popular and scholarly debate. Such events are seen as representative of a newly-emergent sense of identity among British migrants — an organic reawakening of “community” pride, nationhood, and sense of privilege in a society that publicly proclaims a multiculturally-hued nationalism. We explore the ramifications for identity formation among British migrants, particularly as located in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston, as a situated example of how ethnic and national identities may be expressed. Local contexts can shed new light not only on the ways in which conceptions of “Britishness” are formed and negotiated by migrants in an Australian context, but also on the broader British diaspora in nations shaped by the historical processes and legacies of British imperialism, colonization, and migration.

History

Publication title

History of Intellectual Culture

Volume

4

Pagination

1-19

ISSN

1492-7810

Department/School

College Office - College of Arts, Law and Education

Publisher

University of Calgary Press

Place of publication

Canada

Rights statement

Copyright unknown

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other culture and society not elsewhere classified

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