The Cultures in England

Culture is a multi-dimensional term that includes the tangibles and intangibles. In England’s culture, it is mainly their values and attitudes, art, cuisine, folklore, and music.

Values and Attitudes

Prominently, the English tend to view themselves as ‘superior’, exclusive and reserved. As they used to enjoy a rich history of royalty, the English people today still view themselves as rich and indulge in arts. Many would think of their poorer qualities such as being stubborn (‘bloody-minded’), impolite with each other and always seem to be grumbling about something. However, this is the way they live and interact. For example, no one will get offended when being treated impolitely.

In a way, the English tend to engage in self-deprecation, where they will criticize and laugh at oneself and one’s situation.  There is also a sense of irony in English culture, where the people often say what they do not mean. On top of that, there is a ‘pub-culture’ where the people are too fond of alcohol and spend much time in pubs. With the rising trend of materialism and selfishness in the English people, foreigners may think the English are not a very nice group of people.

However, bad points aside, the English actually love nature, creativity, harmony, language and wit. They are often very articulate and love literature. They are naturally curious, tolerant, fair, practical and self-sufficient. One thing for sure, there is a sense of trust and fair play among their community.



Art

Art has contributed largely to England’s culture. This is in the form of paintings, literature and theatre. Particularly famous would be William Shakespeare.



Landscape painting by artist John Constable

Cuisine

Since the early modern era, the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach, honesty of flavour, and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. England is also known for cheese, since it produced hundreds of regional cheese, including familiar names like cheddar cheese, cheshire cheese and blue cheese.

Tea and beer are typical and rather iconic drinks in England, particularly tea. For example, English tea is rather synonymous with England. In this video, it shows how people tend to commodify tea into being English.

Folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition that has evolved in England over the centuries. England abounds with folklore, in all forms. One good example are the Robin Hood tales.

Music

With such a rich history, England’s music culture goes a long way back to medieval times. England has definitely reached its peaks in terms of music in the past decades. Some particular ones to note are the Anglican Choral tradition and English folktunes.

However in today’s modern society, music still plays a part in English culture. Some famous musicians include The Beatles, the composing duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Queen and Pink Floyd. Leading contemporary artists include Elton John, The Spice Girls, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams, Oasis, Radiohead, David Bowie, Coldplay and Muse.