Reading Brexit Backwards: British Eurosceptic Fiction from ECSC to Maastricht

IF 0.3 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY Open Library of Humanities Pub Date : 2022-05-17 DOI:10.16995/olh.8840
Kristian Shaw
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Abstract

The post-war years were a period of introspection for Britishsociety as the nation endeavoured to remain fiercely insular yet becameincreasingly troubled by geopolitical relations reshaping the war-torn continent.Britain swiftly assumed the role of the reluctant European; their opposition tointegration hindered by a destructive nostalgia for the past, the perceivederosion of cultural heritage and a sense of English exceptionalism. Beginningwith a brief contextual analysis of the events leading to the 2016 EU Referendum,this article will argue that early warning signs of British antipathy wereevident in literary responses to integration from the creation of the EuropeanCoal and Steel Community (ECSC) to the signing of the Maastricht Treaty whichestablished the European Union. Through a close reading of selected fictions by key figures inthis period, including Kingsley Amis, Nancy Mitford, Angus Wilson and MalcolmBradbury, the article identifies how early warning signs of British antipathyto European integration were clearly evident in post-war literature. By readingBrexit backwards, the article excavates the historical roots of Euroscepticism implantedin the cultural imaginary. 
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向后解读英国脱欧:从欧洲经委会到马斯特里赫特的英国欧洲怀疑主义小说
战后几年是英国社会反省的时期,英国努力保持极度孤立,但却越来越受到重塑饱受战争蹂躏的大陆的地缘政治关系的困扰。英国迅速扮演了不情愿的欧洲人的角色;他们对融合的反对受到了对过去的破坏性怀旧、对文化遗产的感知和英国例外主义意识的阻碍。从对2016年欧盟公投事件的简要背景分析开始,本文将认为,从欧洲煤钢共同体(ECSC)的成立到建立欧盟的《马斯特里赫特条约》的签署,英国对一体化的文学反应中都有明显的反感预警信号。通过仔细阅读这一时期关键人物的小说,包括金斯利·艾米斯、南希·米特福德、安格斯·威尔逊和马尔科姆·布拉德伯里,文章确定了英国对欧洲一体化的反感的早期预警信号在战后文学中是多么明显。通过倒读英国脱欧,文章挖掘了植入文化想象中的欧洲怀疑主义的历史根源。
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来源期刊
Open Library of Humanities
Open Library of Humanities HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-
CiteScore
1.30
自引率
20.00%
发文量
24
审稿时长
15 weeks
期刊介绍: The Open Library of Humanities is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal open to submissions from researchers working in any humanities'' discipline in any language. The journal is funded by an international library consortium and has no charges to authors or readers. The Open Library of Humanities is digitally preserved in the CLOCKSS archive.
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