Culture in the UK

The culture of England

If you’re asked about the culture of England what kinds of things do you say?
England perhaps differs from the other countries of the UK in that it is much harder to identify culture that is specifically English rather than British. This can be seen in some of the responses given which range from Morris Dancing (distinctly English) through to attitudes and activities that could relate to anywhere in the UK and probably many other countries – for example a love of eating out but an over reliance on junk food!

'Nostalgia, living in the past on previous successes, parochial.'

'Morris dancing, football, football hooligans, beer louts, pretty country.'

'Traditions, architecture, history, the Royal family, museums and galleries, sport, pop music, fashion, the BBC.'

'Annual 2 week holidays, small homes with small gardens, love of pets, openness and intimacy with partners…high percentage of single parent families. Families are very child focussed and children are given rights which in other countries would be accorded adults only.

Love of eating out, clubbing and boozing. Little interest in (learning) other world languages but love of other cultures’ food. English people it seems don’t make for very good cooks and eat junk food a lot…Being young is perhaps seen as more desirable than being 35+. '

'Westminster, the English language, international power.'

'Very diverse in terms of values, living standards and interests…There is a wealth of activities to keep us busy. Surprised and delighted that reading seems to be getting a look in these days…We are more open to different culinary experiences and this is a passive as well as an active interest – I love this. I feel that a lack of community has led to massive interest in reality shows as we don’t often have local drama to push our noses in. We love to see dysfunctional behaviour in others and act as moralists. We are personality/celebrity obsessed and this brings out the judgmental in us.'

'English culture is generally quite anti-establishment – there’s a big tradition in our arts that attempts to question and challenge authority. Even in the language, there’s a playful attitude – puns, irony, sarcasm. We like one thing to mean a lot. Musically, it’s where a lot of innovation happens – new forms, experiments. Social life is similar. There’s an attitude to drinking etc. that isn’t very healthy – going against common sense – binge drinking and talking about binge drinking.'

'Culture is all pervasive and almost impossibly diverse in England. There are thousands of forms of cultural pursuit, many of which we pursue to globally recognised levels. For me, the most important elements are film and television, music, sport and architecture.'

'Creative society, multi cultural with much new creativity stemming from the meeting of different cultures, particularly in music, literature and enterprise.'