Questions of Identity

[bovril]

Was having a discussion with a colleague the other day about identity and nationality and thought it'd be interesting to hear some other views.

 

I'm a British citizen, but I feel English, specifically southern English. I have a strong connection with E. Anglia, but I feel at home in Luton, Brighton, Kent, Dorset, Oxford. The same in Leicester or Brum. The Midlands still feels culturally closer to the South to me, but that could just be because I'm a Leicester fan with family from the area.

 

N. England, especially Cumbria, N. Yorkshire and Northumberland feel like a different entity. I feel as foreign there as I feel in Scotland. Lowland Scotland feels very British to me, whereas the Highlands are very much a nation apart.

 

I've never felt European, although I am obviously. Maybe that's because I've only been outside of Europe once, and that was only to the Middle East which didn't feel that different to much of the Balkans and the Med.  

 

So my order would be:

Southern English

East Anglian

British

European

 

Leicester fan trumps them all, obviously. 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

I don't really associate with anything much, I'm just a bloke trying to live my life in an honest, gentle, fun way.

I'm obviously a Leicester boy and English and British and European but I don't really think about it much.

[ealingfox]

Yes but more importantly what does everyone call small bread rolls used for sandwiches, and the meals usually taken in early afternoon and evening?

[bovril]

Just now, ealingfox said:

Yes but more importantly what does everyone call small bread rolls used for sandwiches, and the meals usually taken in early afternoon and evening?

I call them small bread rolls. 

[Izzy]

As a youth a was fiercely patriotic and definitely considered myself English rather than British. 

 

I've lived down south for nearly 20 years now and it's a cultural world away from the north IMO. Leicestershire/Midlands still feels like home as all my family/friends still live there and I still feel a bit like a foreigner/visitor down here, which is weird.

 

I still don't really feel 'British' as I don't feel like I've got much in common with the Scottish/Welsh/NI 

 

And I definitely don't class myself as European apart from one week every two years during the Golf Ryder Cup which is a massive contradiction I know.

[Dunge]

I think I go:

British (strongest)

Leicesterian/Leicestersherian

English

European/World

 

English would mostly be on a fun/sporting sense. I don’t feel a disconnect with Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Frankly I feel more of a disconnect with Nottingham.

 

[leicsmac]

British in the sense I've got a passport with my name on it that says I was born and grew up there.

Leicester in the sense I've followed City since I knew what football was.

 

But by and large, mostly just Human, really. Because I know that in quite a few respects I've got more in common with some people who were raised on the other side of the Earth to me than some people who were raised not a mile from where I was.

Edited 1 December 2020 by leicsmac

[Fox92]

I always tend to lean towards Northern England more than anything, even though I'm just touching the edge of Sheffield. I enjoy being in the North than I do anywhere else in the Country.... and I want gravy on my chips!

[Stadt]

It’s a shame the East Midlands has a relatively weak collective identity, you only get anything in the UK by pooling your collective grievances and whining until you’re placated for now 

[Guest Fktf]

The change we've seen in the political landscape in recent years has made me feel less and less English. But it isn't just that my views don't match the majority - they don't seem to align with any of the main parties - who presumably come up with manifestos that are supposed to appeal to some section of the public. 

[bovril]

5 minutes ago, Fktf said:

The change we've seen in the political landscape in recent years has made me feel less and less English. But it isn't just that my views don't match the majority - they don't seem to align with any of the main parties - who presumably come up with manifestos that are supposed to appeal to some section of the public. 

Brexit has made me feel much more English, which is not something I particularly wanted. I was quite happy living in the EU and not having to worry about shit like that. I'm happy living back here too, especially in London, but I have still lost something and I bitterly regret that. 

Edited 1 December 2020 by bovril

[Captain...]

I grew up in Leicester, but have lived in Sheffield, West London, Valencia, Pamplona, Litchfield, Hertford, South East London, North London.

 

I've always felt like a bit of a foreigner in most of those places, I literally was on some cases, but the place I had the closest affinity with was Sheffield hence moving back here in the eye of the lockdown storm. I guess I'm a Yorkshire man at heart, but always a Fox.

[DennisNedry]

I would say I feel English first and foremost because English is what I class as my ethnicity.

I do feel British, European and 'Western' to a lesser extent also.

 

[worth_the_wait]

2 hours ago, Stadt said:

It’s a shame the East Midlands has a relatively weak collective identity, you only get anything in the UK by pooling your collective grievances and whining until you’re placated for now 

Now let me think, which place could you possibly be thinking of?  

[Mark_w]

1. Leicester City Fan

2. Animal

And that's it basically.

Edited 1 December 2020 by Mark_w

[Alf Bentley]

I'd say:

1) British (inc. English) & Irish

2) European/Old World

- with no regional identity whatsoever.

 

I started off as a mongrel - Irish father, Northern English mother, grew up in SE - then got even more confused by living all over England plus stints abroad.

 

- I always felt at home in Ireland, despite never having lived there. Inherited connection, I presume (1 Irish parent, 3 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents)

- I remember once, in my early 20s, suddenly feeling very English after returning from 3 months in France: feeling emotional about the white cliffs & lush green fields of Kent, wanting to eat English chips, drink English beer & listen to John Peel's radio show. Mainly, though, I feel more British than English. I've had a number of Anglo-Irish & Welsh friends and like feeling part of something bigger & more diverse. Which parts of England I preferred were mainly down to work done, life lived & people met.

- I felt very Old World/European when I went to Australia. More in common with other European countries with a long history, despite cultural differences, than with the New World of Oz.....I'd expect to feel the same about the USA, and I don't mean that as something negative. I liked Australia and really want to spend time getting to know the USA, precisely because they feel more different than, say, France, Spain or Germany.

 

[Alf Bentley]

17 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

1. Leicester City Fan

2. Animal

And that's it basically.

 

I shall now always see you as a peperami.....

 

 

[HighPeakFox]

I'm fairly mongrel (as are we all) and although I was born and raised in Leicester (well Oadby, and right on the edge of the Shire too), my parents are not from Leicester and I remember feeling somewhat alien in my own city - maybe it's because I sound like someone raised in a bit of a QE speaking household.

 

I identify as human before anything else, but equally happy to be described as English, British, European with my Jewish heritage thrown in. I don't much like being told I am less of a patriot/Brit etc because I'm willing to see our faults/things in us I don't care for, or because I don't have a deferential attitude to our Royalty. I've nothing against them personally, but their existence sort of perpetuates our class system, which is pernicious, whichever class one identifies as (Ronnie Barker for me).

 

Sorry, I've waffled. 

[Electric Yetis]

Don't particular identify as anything at the moment. The whole country/world feels like a shit show.

 

LCFC is probably the only group I'm happy to be part of.

 

[urban.spaceman]

British/English/Leicester/Nomad

 

English born and bred and from Leicester, one Northern Irish grandad, the other Scottish (would have been 105 today!); his mum was a Roma (we think, it's all a bit sketchy). Lived in Wales for 3 years at Uni so I consider myself to be quintessentially British with *some* kind of an understanding of all identities. 

 

Having said that I'd love to move to Africa permanently.

[Parafox]

I feel, if anything, multi-cultural. My paternal history is Hungaro/Romanian. My birth-mum was English. I was brought up by a step-mum from Berwick and the Borders. I was born in Leicester and have lived in the region ever since but there are a lot of influences on my upbringing. I don't feel any roots in any particular region/country/society. I just feel "I am", wherever I may be in the world.

[Parafox]

Just now, Parafox said:

I feel, if anything, multi-cultural. My paternal history is Hungaro/Romanian. My birth-mum was English. I was brought up by a step-mum from Berwick and the Borders. I was born in Leicester and have lived in the region ever since but there are a lot of influences on my upbringing. I don't feel any roots in any particular region/country/society. I just feel "I am", wherever I may be in the world.

After the 2nd World War my (refugee) father was offered repatriation in either England or Australia. Could have gone either way. Shame he didn't fancy Oz.

I have a very unique surname and, on research, the only other same surnames I have found is one in Romania and one in Australia (who happens to be a millionaire owner of a large construction company).  

 

[Manini]

I’m part English, Irish and Italian and I enjoy being European in that sense. My family all have their own cultural values and traditions, which I’m quite lucky with in a way. 
 

Overall I’d say I feel more English than anything though and from a local perspective I’ve always felt more comfortable in the north of England compared to the south, I feel like the midlands is closer aligned to northern values compared to southern though so I think that’s where that comes from. 

Edited 1 December 2020 by Manini

[RowlattsFox]

I've never referred to myself as British, it always English, not that I have anything against being British, it's just not something I use. 

 

I haven't lived in Leicester for 9 years but whenever someone asks where I'm from, I always say "Leicester but now living near Blackpool". Always feel a but weird when being asked whilst on holiday somewhere, but feel ill always answer Leicester.

[Webbo]

I had one of those DNA tests a couple of birthdays ago;

76% English and North Western Europe.

13% Scottish.

9% Welsh

2% Norwegian.

 

Quite interesting, I thought.