Rule, Britannia!: The Biopic and British National Identity Contributor(s): Pettey, Homer B. (Editor), Palmer, R. Barton (Editor) |
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ISBN: 1438471114 ISBN-13: 9781438471112 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $94.05 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Film - History & Criticism - History | Europe - Great Britain - General |
Dewey: 791.436 |
LCCN: 2017049450 |
Series: Suny Series, Horizons of Cinema |
Physical Information: 1.1" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (1.45 lbs) 364 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Rule, Britannia! surveys the British biopic, a genre crucial to understanding how national cinema engages with the collective experience and values of its intended audience. Offering a provocative take on an aspect of filmmaking with profound cultural significance, the volume focuses on how screen biographies of prominent figures in British history and culture can be understood as involved, if unofficially, in the shaping and promotion of an ever-protean national identity. The contributors engage with the vexed concept of British nationality, especially as this sense of collective belonging is problematized by the ethnically oriented alternatives of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish nations. They explore the critical and historiographical issues raised by the biopic, demonstrating that celebration of conventional virtue is not the genre's only natural subject. Filmic depictions of such personalities as Elizabeth I, Victoria, George VI, Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, Iris Murdoch, and Jack the Ripper are covered. |