- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 English Identity Before the Norman Conquest
- Chapter 3 <i>Normanitas</i>
- Chapter 4 Ethnic Identity and Cultural Difference
- Chapter 5 A Chronology of Assimilation
- Chapter 6 A Chronology of Identity
- Chapter 7 Ideology, Prejudice, and Assimilation
- Chapter 8 The Interaction of English and Normans: Methodological Considerations
- Chapter 9 The Aristocracy
- Chapter 10 English Women and Norman Men
- Chapter 11 The Peasants and the Middling Sort
- Chapter 12 Townspeople
- Chapter 13 The Religious
- Epilogue to Part II
- Chapter 14 The Defence of English Honour
- Chapter 15 The Image of England and a Sense of Place
- Chapter 16 Royal Government, England, and Englishness
- Chapter 17 The English Church, English Saints, England, and the English
- Chapter 18 Stereotypes and the Image of the English
- Chapter 19 The Image of the Other
- Chapter 20 The Intensification and Politicization of English Identity
- Chapter 21 History and Identity
- Chapter 22 High Culture, Religious Culture, and Ethnicity
- Chapter 23 Language, Literature, and Ethnic Identity
- Conclusion
- APPENDIX 1 Native English Landholders in the <i>Cartae Baronum</i>
- APPENDIX 2 Notable Native Patrilineages and Individuals of Southern England in the Twelfth Century
- MANUSCRIPT SOURCES
- PRINTED SOURCES
- SECONDARY SOURCES
- Index
Stereotypes and the Image of the English
Stereotypes and the Image of the English
- Chapter:
- (p.297) Chapter 18 Stereotypes and the Image of the English
- Source:
- The English and the Normans
- Author(s):
HUGH M. THOMAS
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter explores the image of the English, with particular emphasis on stereotypes, during the medieval period. It argues that the image of the English was a crucial factor in sustaining the construct of Englishness, and that the positive stereotypes, and even to some degree the negative ones, helped to draw the descendants of the immigrants into an English identity. When medieval travellers encountered other groups, they experienced real differences in the way peoples acted. Stereotypes could play an important role in how people thought about ethnic identity, and in that context need to be considered very carefully. The type of characterisations discussed in this chapter was important in building group identity, in classifying people into groups, and in maintaining boundaries and barriers between peoples. Some of the material considered in this chapter was meant to be humorous, and even the insults could be employed in a bantering way.
Keywords: stereotypes, image, English, Englishness, immigrants, ethnic identity, group identity
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 English Identity Before the Norman Conquest
- Chapter 3 <i>Normanitas</i>
- Chapter 4 Ethnic Identity and Cultural Difference
- Chapter 5 A Chronology of Assimilation
- Chapter 6 A Chronology of Identity
- Chapter 7 Ideology, Prejudice, and Assimilation
- Chapter 8 The Interaction of English and Normans: Methodological Considerations
- Chapter 9 The Aristocracy
- Chapter 10 English Women and Norman Men
- Chapter 11 The Peasants and the Middling Sort
- Chapter 12 Townspeople
- Chapter 13 The Religious
- Epilogue to Part II
- Chapter 14 The Defence of English Honour
- Chapter 15 The Image of England and a Sense of Place
- Chapter 16 Royal Government, England, and Englishness
- Chapter 17 The English Church, English Saints, England, and the English
- Chapter 18 Stereotypes and the Image of the English
- Chapter 19 The Image of the Other
- Chapter 20 The Intensification and Politicization of English Identity
- Chapter 21 History and Identity
- Chapter 22 High Culture, Religious Culture, and Ethnicity
- Chapter 23 Language, Literature, and Ethnic Identity
- Conclusion
- APPENDIX 1 Native English Landholders in the <i>Cartae Baronum</i>
- APPENDIX 2 Notable Native Patrilineages and Individuals of Southern England in the Twelfth Century
- MANUSCRIPT SOURCES
- PRINTED SOURCES
- SECONDARY SOURCES
- Index