British Abroad

I've been chortling recently over this article. It's obviously meant to be funny, so please don't take the following too seriously. By the way, I'm going to conflate the astonishingly nebulous `Britishness' with the slightly-less-so `Englishness'. And anyway, talking about all of this is quite awfully un-English, so take it with a pinch of salt.

The author mentions the unreality and artifice of the behaviour of too many Britons when abroad. He mentions it disparagingly, of course. But it is my opinion that this charade is forced on traveling Brits.

The problem is that most-of-the-world's stereotypes of Britons were formed in the days of the Empire. They don't pertain especially to Britain; they pertain, rather, to elites anywhere. The British stereotype is educated, equanimous, self-deprecating, and well-dressed.

These qualities equally derive from, and lead to, power and authority. Since the end of the Empire, there is no reason to suppose that these qualities should predominate in Britain, and indeed, in my experience, they don't any more than elsewhere.

But a Brit abroad is measured against this fantastic yardstick, and I think it's not at all surprising that most of us attempt to match it, at least in some, perhaps farcical, sense. Other nations' stereotypes are a mix of the good and the bad, and they therefore have less to worry about if they don't measure up.