Л. А. Ласица
Great Britain: geography, politics, culture
Введение
Целью освоения дисциплины «География и культура страны основного иностранного языка» является получение представление о географии, государственном устройстве, культуре, быте, традициях народов, говорящих на изучаемом языке, основываясь на концептуальных и культурологических типах информации о странах изучаемого языка, их истории, социально-культурных особенностях, традициях и быте, а также о языке как отражении и фиксации культуры и о культуре сквозь призму языка. Учебное пособие содержит страноведческий материал об истории, географии, политической жизни, культуре Великобритании, а также контрольные вопросы, тесты и задания для практических занятий по дисциплине «География и культура страны основного иностранного языка».
Изучение дисциплины необходимо для реализации требований, установленных в федеральном государственном образовательном стандарте высшего профессионального образования по направлению подготовки 032700.62 Филология (профиль Зарубежная филология).
Курс рассчитан на 72 часа аудиторной и самостоятельной работы, из которых 34 часа отводится на проработку и повторение лекционного материала учебников и учебных пособий, подготовку к практическим занятиям, коллоквиумам, рубежному контролю и зачету.
Данное учебное пособие разработано в соответствии с рабочей программой дисциплины и предназначено для изучения разделов 1 5: «Введение в курс «География и культура страны изучаемого языка», «Государственное устройство, национальные символы Соединенного королевства Великобритании и Северной Ирландии», «Особенности географического положения Соединенного королевства Великобритании и Северной Ирландии», «СМИ, образование, здравоохранение и религия» и «Государственное устройство».
1 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: country and people
1.1 Geographical position
On the map you can see that the UK lies to the north-west of Europe. There are 2 large islands and several smaller ones. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The other large one is called Ireland. Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland (Ulster) and the Irish Republic. The UK also includes more than 5000 smaller islands.
Politically speaking there are 2 states in the British Isles. The first is the Irish Republic or Eire, which governs the most part of Ireland and the other state controls the rest of the British Isles. Its official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Its geographical position is advantageous as it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the North Sea in the east. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover.
On the one hand the kind of isolation of the country makes its geographical position different from European countries; on the other hand it has influenced the formation of the main characteristic feature of British people. That is their love for privacy.
1.2 Names
The official name of the country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It has several shorter names:
The United Kingdom used at European vision of Song Contest, at the United Nations and in the European Parliament;
the UK used in every day speech;
Great Britain heard in the Olympic Games;
GB is written on stickers on cars;
Britain used in writing and speaking;
Albion a word used in some poems. It was the original Roman name for Britain. It may come from the Latin word albus, meaning white. The white chalk cliffs around Dover on the south coast are the first thing to be seen when you cross the sea from the European land.
Britannia the name that Romans gave to their southern British province (which covered the area of present-day England).
1.3 Statistics
The UK occupies the territory of 244 830 sq. km. Its population (statistical data of 2007) is 61 million people (table 1).
Table 1
Compare with the following data: population of Russia 142 mln; population of Germany 81,8 mln; population of France 65,4 mln.
Languages which are spoken in the UK are English, Scottish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish.
The capital of the UK is London. The largest cities are London (7,64 mln.), Birmingham (2,27 mln.), Manchester (2,250 mln.).
The UK is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the Queen Elizabeth II.
The currency unit is Great Britain pound (GBP), which consists of 100 pence. The statistics shows that the country is not large, but the majority of people lives in England (the part of island conquered by Anglo-Saxons) and speaks English. The other parts of the UK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are much smaller than the dominant one.
1.4 General knowledge about four countries and their people
There are 4 countries that the UK consists of. They are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England is the largest and most populated part of the UK. The capital of England and the UK is London.
Scotland is the most northern of four countries in the UK. It occupies the territory of about 80 thousand sq. km. and is not so densely populated as England. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh.
Another constituent part of the UK is Wales, situated along the western side of the island. The capital of Wales is Cardiff.
Northern Ireland is the smallest part of the UK and occupies the north-east of the island of Ireland, only one-sixth of its territory. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.
There are four nations on the British Isles: English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. They are different.
If you remember from history of Britain, the four nations were different racially. The people in Ireland, Wales and highland Scotland belonged to Celtic Race; those in England and lowland Scotland were mainly of Germanic origin. This difference was reflected in the languages they spoke. People in the Celtic areas spoke Celtic languages: Irish, Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh. People in the Germanic areas spoke Germanic dialects (including the one which has developed into modern English). The nations tended to have different economic, social and legal systems.
In 1800 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland became a single state when the Irish Parliament was joined with the Parliament for England, Scotland, and Wales in Westminster. However, in 1922, most of Ireland became a separate state.
Today these differences have not completely disappeared. People of 4 nations feel their identity very strongly. It is safest to use Britain when you talk about where they live and British as the adjective to describe their nationality.
The signs of national identity of people who live in four countries of the UK are the following (see table 2).
Characteristic names (both surnames and first names). The prefix Mac or Mc in surnames (such as McCall, MacCarthy, MacDonald) is always either Scottish or Irish. The prefix O (as in OBrien, OHara) is distinctly Irish. The prefix P can be found in many Welsh surnames (Prichard). A very large number of surnames (for example, Davis, Evans, Jones, Lloyd, Morgan, Price, Rees, Williams) suggest Welsh origin. The most common surname in both England and Scotland is actually Smith. The prefix Mac means son of and people with this name usually feel they belong to the same family or clan. O means the family of. The Prefix P comes from the Welsh word ар (or ab), which also means son of. Thus for example a Welsh surname Prichard is the same as English Richardson (the son of Richard).
First names can also be indicative. The Scottish form of John is Ian and its Irish form is Sean (although all three names are common throughout Britain).
There are also nicknames for Scottish, Irish and Welsh men. For example, you can address a Scottish friend as Jock, whatever his first name is. Irishmen are called Paddy or Mick and Welshmen are known as Dai or Taffy. If the person is not a friend the nickname can sound rather insulting.
National dress. Perhaps the most famous national costume in Britain is the Scottish kilt with its distinctive tartan pattern. The kilt is a woolen skirt with a lot of vertical pleats. The kilt is worn around the waist, with the pleats at the back and the ends crossed over at the front and secured with a pin. Each Scottish Clan or family has its own distinctive tartan pattern, made up of different colours.
Sometimes tartan trousers or trews are worn instead of a kilt.
Women do not have their own distinctive national dress in Scotland, although tartan fabrics are widely used in clothing, and the kilt is also worn by women.
Although England is a country rich in folklore and traditions, it has no definite national costume. The most well-known folk costumes are those of the Morris dancers. During the summer months people can see them in many country villages performing folk dances that once held ritualistic and magical meanings associated with the awakening of the earth.
The costume varies from team to team, but basically consists of white trousers, a white shirt, a pad of bells worn around the calf of the leg, and a hat made of felt or straw, decorated with ribbons and flowers. The bells and ribbons are said to banish harm and bring fertility.
Welsh National dress is not as famous as Scottish National dress. Still they do have a National womens costume, in fact there isnt really a National costume for men although recently a tartan has been created and tartan trousers or kilts are often worn.
The Welsh National Costume for women was designed by an influential lady, Lady Llanover, who lived in Gwent South Wales.
The Welsh costume consists of a tall hat, a long frilled white cap worn under the hat, a white blouse, a red flannel shawl, a long skirt made of wool with a black and white chequered pattern, a starched white apron sometimes edged with lace, black woolen stockings, and black shoes.
Early Irish dress, based on Gaelic and Norse costumes, consisted of trews for men, worn with a fringed cloak, or a short tunic for both men and women, worn with a fringed cloak. Saffron yellow is an important feature of Irish costume. This style of dressing was prohibited in the 16th century to suppress the distinctive Irish dress and so overcome Irish reluctance to become part of England. A strong tradition of wearing this folk costume is not observed in Northern Ireland today.
The traditional Irish costume is now associated with the bright flamboyant costumes worn by traditional Irish dancers.
National character. There are certain stereotypes of national character which are well-known in different countries.
British people are considered to be reserved, polite, well-bred and they love privacy. People of each country (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) have their own characteristic features that make them different from each other.
The English are said to be cold, polite, quiet, but possessing a great sense of humour, a special English type of humour, often difficult to understand for foreigners. The English are known to be very conservative in their political and social views.
The Scots have a reputation for being careful with money; they are more selfconscious about their nationality than the Englishmen. The Welsh are highly-gifted in the art of poetry and drama. They speak fluently and confidently. The Welsh are a nation оf singers. The Irish are supposed to be great talkers.
National musical instruments. The harp is a musical instrument of both Ireland and Wales. The bagpipes are regarded as distinctively Scottish (though a smaller type is also used in traditional Irish music). The Northumbrian small pipes are considered to be English.
The four nations who live in the UK differ from each other, perhaps that is why when they are asked who they are they are proud to answer at first they are the English (or the Welsh, or Scotsmen or the Irish) and only then they are the British or the citizens of the UK.
1.5 National symbols of the UK and four countries (the national flag; the Coats of Arms, the national anthem, national holidays and national emblems)
Flag is a visiting card of any country, which symbolizes its sovereignty and reflects its history. In the 14-th century the first national flag was St Georges cross a red cross on a white background, as St George is a patron saint of England.
The 17th century was time when relations between England and Scotland changed. These two countries were united by Jacob Stuart in 1603. The national symbols had to be changed. It was necessary to combine two crosses: a red cross on a white background of St Georges flag and a white cross on a blue background (St Andrews cross flag of Scotland). This new flag was created and became national in 1606 and was called Union Jack.
On the 1st of January in 1801 the union of England and Ireland was claimed. It was necessary to make changes in the National flag and Emblem. This time the flag got new red diagonal lines from St Patricks cross. Since 1801 the flag wasnt changed and its possible to see it on the flags of former British colonies.
So the national flag of the UK is The Union Jack. It is the combination of the cross of St. George, of St. Andrew, of St. Patrick.
The origin of the term Union Jack is uncertain. It may come from the name of Jacob Stuart (James I) who originated the first union in 1603. Jack is a short name of Jacob. Another alternative is that the name may be derived from a jack, a small flag at the bowsprit flown only by ships of the Royal Navy during the reign of Charles II (1660 1685); the term jack once meant small.
The Welsh dragon does not appear on the flag because when the first Union Flag was created in 1606, Wales was already united with England from the 13th century. Wales was a Principality instead of a Kingdom.