The Little Manx Nation
Antiquarianism, Ethnic Identity, and Home Rule Politics in the Isle of Man, 1880–1918
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10063528 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Belchem (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 217-240 |
| Publication date | 2000-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of British Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-9371 • E-ISSN: 1545-6986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1086/386217 |
| OpenAlex | W2075023150 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 12 |
As imperial pride flourished in the racial discourse of late Victorian British politics, ethnic revival and Celtic nationalism also gained purchase and resonance. These complex and seemingly competing issues of identity extended beyond the “four nations” of the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man, a crown dependency constitutionally outside the United Kingdom but at the very center of the British Isles. In this “land of home rule,” adrift in the Irish Sea, the juxtaposition of Britishness and Celticism was particularly acute, compounded by the proud persistence of Norse traditions. Manx independence within the Atlantic archipelago was symbolized by the annual Tynwald Day ceremony, a Viking “Thing” or general meeting, at which the year's new legislation was promulgated in both English and Manx Gaelic. In the late Victorian period, as Anglo-Manx business syndicates invested heavily in the “visiting industry,” transforming the island into “one large playground for the operatives of Lancashire and Yorkshire,” gentlemanly antiquarians constructed (and/or invented) the necessary traditions to safeguard Manx cultural distinctiveness and its devolved political status. Through the assertion of Celticism, a project that tended to downgrade Norse contributions to the island's past, the little Manx nation girded itself against cultural anglicization, yet remained unquestionably loyal to the British empire. Slightly other than English, the Manx have displayed what Sir Frank Kermode has described as “mild alienation” and “qualified foreignness,” characteristics that need to be considered in the wider debate about British identity
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · British Empire · Britishness · Dominion · Economic history · Empire · Ethnology · Home rule · National identity · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Royalist · Scots · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Scottish History and National Identity
Manxness
Gegen Deutsches K.Z. Paradies. Thinking about Englishness on the Isle of Man during the Second World War
Radical Conservations
The revivals of Manx – introduction
Identity in the “Road Racing Capital of the World”
Collective remembrance, Second World War mythology and national heritage on the Isle of Man
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |