Book contents
- The Nation in British Literature and Culture
- Cambridge Themes in British Literature and Culture
- The Nation in British Literature and Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Origins
- Part II Writing the Nation
- Part III Revolutions and Empires
- Part IV Making the Modern Nation
- Chapter 14 ‘It’s Being So Cheerful That Keeps Me Going’
- Chapter 15 The New British
- Chapter 16 Censorship
- Chapter 17 ‘Wake Up the Nation’
- Chapter 18 Queer Nation
- Part V Futures
- Index
Chapter 17 - ‘Wake Up the Nation’
Modern Pop and the Quest for a New England1
from Part IV - Making the Modern Nation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2023
- The Nation in British Literature and Culture
- Cambridge Themes in British Literature and Culture
- The Nation in British Literature and Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Origins
- Part II Writing the Nation
- Part III Revolutions and Empires
- Part IV Making the Modern Nation
- Chapter 14 ‘It’s Being So Cheerful That Keeps Me Going’
- Chapter 15 The New British
- Chapter 16 Censorship
- Chapter 17 ‘Wake Up the Nation’
- Chapter 18 Queer Nation
- Part V Futures
- Index
Summary
In a survey that begins by looking at the ways in which post-war Britain gradually escaped from the popular cultural domination of the USA to create a new musical empire of its own, this chapter explores the manner in which home-grown pop reflects upon and influences notions of national identity. While progressive and revolutionary through the creation of new musical styles that sought to change the cultural, social or political landscape, pop has sometimes revealed itself to be nostalgic and backward-looking. This has often resulted in the curation of an Anglocentric musical tradition celebrating national stereotypes, but this is a tradition that has more recently been contested by other sounds, other voices, writing themselves into the pop history of the UK to become an integral part of the equally evolving character of the nation.
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- The Nation in British Literature and Culture , pp. 292 - 307Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023