The Shift in the Sense and Constitution of British Identity: Based on the Books "How to be an Alien" (George Mikes) and "Empire of the Mind" (Iqbal Ahmed)

Robert Stolt

Mar 2010 · GRIN Verlag

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Essay from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,4, University of St Andrews, language: English, abstract: In the course of this essay the two books, How to be an alien by George Mikes and Empire of the Mind by Iqbal Ahmed, shall be carefully examined by placing an emphasis on how the sense of the British identity has changed since the end of the British Empire. The primary focus lies on the imperial and industrial decline, thus, due to the scope of this essay, other core issues that co-form the British identity, such as multiculturalism will not be considered. Mikes’ depictions are based on the English society of the beginning of the twentieth century, a time that was directly influenced by the decline of the empire. Ahmed’s experiences, on the other hand, are of a much more recent nature. This essay, therefore, presents the link between Britain losing its empire and the modern Britain of today. Firstly, the effects of the end of the empire will be examined by presenting two opposing post-war theories, which will then be applied to Mikes’ How to be an alien. In order to picture the impact of the end of the empire, the role of cricket shall be investigated as well as the shift in social structures. Furthermore, the industrial decline, as a ‘fellow traveller’ of the imperial decline, is analysed by means of Ahmed’s Empire of the mind. The last part of this essay is dedicated to tracing the remnants of the empire on the basis of Ahmed’s journey.