english culture

[kurious]

hmmm 'english culture'

I live in a victorian house and I love the acoustics. Also I was at a 1950 style tea party, was quite classy and I had a great time.

[Skenghis Khan]

Let's put it this way.

Europe essentially had no 'high culture' until the Englightenment,

What you screwing your boat up at? Respond properly or STFU.

erm if we put aside for the moment ancient Greece/Rome who basically invented the things we have come to define as 'high culture'

here's a quick list of what i would define as 'high culture' in pre enlightenment europe:

the great viking sagas, the goldwork of the saxons, beowulf, the book of kells, the lewis chessmen, the bayeux tapestry, the doomsday book, salisbury cathedral, wells cathedral, york minster, winchester cathedral, westminster abbey, lincoln cathedral, reims cathedral, notre dame, the morgan bible, the kennicott bible, the cantigas de santa maria, the magna carta, the canterbury tales, thomas more's utopia, copernicus's heliocentrism, the works of thomas aquinas, the sistine chapel, michelangelo's david, st peter's basilica, the works of da vinci, the works of shakespeare, the compositions of thomas tallis and william byrd... i could go on.

but thats a quick list of the top of my head based on my very incomplete grasp of european history.

/

and the british working class have a very strong identity/culture tbh, i dont know why people are saying otherwise.

[JOHN DOE]

anyone watch 'THE BRITISH' show on sky atlantic

program is sick

So much history and the way it is documented is very entertaining

[imhim]

link or gtfo

[Elementalism]

Let's put it this way.

Europe essentially had no 'high culture' until the Englightenment,

What you screwing your boat up at? Respond properly or STFU.

erm if we put aside for the moment ancient Greece/Rome who basically invented the things we have come to define as 'high culture'

here's a quick list of what i would define as 'high culture' in pre enlightenment europe:

the great viking sagas, the goldwork of the saxons, beowulf, the book of kells, the lewis chessmen, the bayeux tapestry, the doomsday book, salisbury cathedral, wells cathedral, york minster, winchester cathedral, westminster abbey, lincoln cathedral, reims cathedral, notre dame, the morgan bible, the kennicott bible, the cantigas de santa maria, the magna carta, the canterbury tales, thomas more's utopia, copernicus's heliocentrism, the works of thomas aquinas, the sistine chapel, michelangelo's david, st peter's basilica, the works of da vinci, the works of shakespeare, the compositions of thomas tallis and william byrd... i could go on.

but thats a quick list of the top of my head based on my very incomplete grasp of european history.

/

and the british working class have a very strong identity/culture tbh, i dont know why people are saying otherwise.

Good post, don't mean to sound like a c*nt, but smiley responses are a par.

'Europe' as a geographical designation did not exist during the Greek or Roman era, let alone as a collective identity. The north of Europe was considered the land of barbarians until the 1400s. Just to address your first point. When you couple this with the fact that the term 'culture', let alone 'high culture' did not exist until after the Enlightenment, I suppose that is the crux of where my point lies. It's an etymological/geographical argument.

Good list, and while I did mean to mention the Enlightenment, I meant to mention the Renaissance.

I suppose you could consider architecture high culture, but remember it is a ubiquitous practice, done by everyone from the Babylonians, to the Assyrians, to the Moors in Spain. In Europe, it was usually done by the Church/King, and usually as a means to display/reinforce/protect power.

Stories/sagas aren't necessarily 'high' culture, it is dependent on the civilization that produced them. They are usually more the preserve of the lower classes, who use them as a way to keep an oral history of sorts.

[Skenghis Khan]

ok, I concede that europe as we know it is a relatively recent construct, but for the sake of convenience we can refer to the multitude peoples/tribes/kindoms that inhabited these lands historically and the works they created as european. Personally I don't like the term 'high culture', it suggests a hierarchy of cultural products, i think 'the arts' would be better perhaps, and its a term which would of been used at the time of making of many of the things on that list.

architecture may be ubiquitous but soaring gothic cathedrals are not. and whilst they certainly do display the wealth and power of the church/medieval europe, they are also beautiful works of art and places of worship designed to inspire the soul to ascend. They are skillful, breathtaking and mathematically ingenious. Some of the great cathedrals of europe took several hundreds of years to complete and saw generations of architects, stone masons, labourers, monarchs and clergyman come and go.

if you have not been to see the places on my list in person, i strongly recommend you do.

[Benicio del Toney]

I co-sign Elementalism, fantastic list Skenghis.

and I'd agree with your point on architecture, Norwich Castle is another I'd like to add, to think the bulk of it was ordered by William the Conqueror is mind boggling.

It feels in a way I'm underestimating the skill of the day but I can't help but be baffled at the sophistication of construction 1000 years ago.

Regarding the British working class and culture I hear the points on punk and house and the teddy boys etc... but to me it doesn't seem there is much lasting culture among the working class of the big cities, I dunno.

[Supernova]

I think many people are mixing up culture and tradition.

The problem here is when you look at other cultures and their customs, they are driven by things that are much more respected by english people such as religion.

The things you don't experience when you are abroad, are part of english culture.

Ridiculously long queues, a mass of people commuting for work, living for the weekend, the monarchy. Love it or hate it this is english culture.

I also think a massive part of english culture is to be unimpressed with everything around you. That is where this argument stems from.

[2NinesUp]

Football the greatest sport ever obviously invented in England and the EPL best league in the world is in England, Full English breakfast, classic legendary sitcoms Only Fools and Horses and Faulty Towers, drinking beer, roast dinner, tea, London upmarket lifestyle in areas like Chelsea and Camden obviously 1 of the most famour city's in the world, Grime music invented in East London, shows like Eastenders and Coronation Street, Fish and Chips.

[Elementalism]

Regarding the British working class and culture I hear the points on punk and house and the teddy boys etc... but to me it doesn't seem there is much lasting culture among the working class of the big cities, I dunno.

The reason for this is because in post-modern society, people have to 'buy into' culture, and by that I mean they need to exchange their cash for things that determine their cultural identity. Mods needed Vespas, Rockers needed leather jackets and hair gel, Punks needed hair dye, weed smokers need Rizla (and tobacco), 80s hip-hop fans and terrace casuals needed Adidas etc etc.

Aside from the hippies, and certain other fringe cultural groups, I can't think of any culture that doesn't have an aspect of consumerism associated with it.

[MARVELL]

I think many people are mixing up culture and tradition.

The problem here is when you look at other cultures and their customs, they are driven by things that are much more respected by english people such as religion.

The things you don't experience when you are abroad, are part of english culture.

Ridiculously long queues, a mass of people commuting for work, living for the weekend, the monarchy. Love it or hate it this is english culture.

I also think a massive part of english culture is to be unimpressed with everything around you. That is where this argument stems from.

culture and tradition are intertwined and in many cases the same thing : Cultural traditions, traditional culture.

[Kurtis]

hmmm 'english culture'

I live in a victorian house and I love the acoustics. Also I was at a 1950 style tea party, was quite classy and I had a great time.

yo Kuri, you feeling to have a slave-era 3some with the "wife" of a master?

[ag.]

English culture is to have a curry and washed down with a pint of Carlsberg anyone who disagrees go f*ck your mum

 

c/s 

[ag.]

guys writing bare paragraphs of shit they prolly saw on a bbc4 documentary

then man like robberz jus shut down the thread #calm lol