Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain

The legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood

Bibliographic Data

ID9288745
AuthorsStephanie Barczewski (0000-0003-2669-2060, corresponding author), Stephanie L Barczewski
Year2000
Pages274
Publication date2000-03-02
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueMyth and national identity in nineteenth-century Britain (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207283.001.0001
OpenAlexW2478974363
Open LibraryOL44542M
ISBN9780198207283
LanguageEN
Citations received24

Scholars have become increasingly interested in how modern national consciousness comes into being through fictional narratives. Literature is of particular importance to this process, for it is responsible for tracing the nation's evolution through glorious tales of its history. In nineteenth-century Britain, the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played an important role in the construction of contemporary national identity. These two legends provide excellent windows through which to view British culture, because they provide very different perspectives. King Arthur and Robin Hood have traditionally been diametrically opposed in terms of their ideological orientation. The former is a king, a man at the pinnacle of the social and political hierarchy, whereas the latter is an outlaw, and is therefore completely outside conventional hierarchical structures. The fact that two such different figures could simultaneously function as British national heroes suggests that nineteenth-century British nationalism did not represent a single set of values and ideas, but rather that it was forced to assimilate a variety of competing points of view

Aesthetics · Art · Genealogy · Identity (music · Literature · Mythology · National identity · Political science · Politics · Classics · History · Law · Philippine History and Culture · 19th century · Adaptations · Arthur, king · Arthurian romances · British · Britons in literature · civilization · English literature · Great britain · History and criticism · in literature · Medievalism · Myth in literature · Mythology, in literature · National characteristics in literature · National characteristics, British, in literature · Nationalism and literature · Nationalism in literature · Outlaws in literature · Robin Hood (Legendary character) in literature

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