Lesson about Regional Identity

1. Representation of Regional Identity

2. Regional Identity - What is it
 The notion that part of a person’s identity is
root not only in the country they are from but
also in the region that live in
 Stereotypical
 Can be offensive

3.  Regional Identity refers to the part
of the United Kingdom someone is
from. It could refer to a general area
such a “north” or “south”, a country
such as “English” or “Scottish” or
specific towns such as “London” or
“Manchester.”

5. There are several
regional stereotypes
widely seen on
television:

6. The Scots
 Tight fisted
 Hate the English
 All have ginger hair and very pale skin (with
freckles)
 Very Proud Heritage
 Bad Weather
 Associated with kilts, bagpipes and Whiskey

7.  Also often shown as being money obsessed,
won’t pay for anything, drinks a lot of alcohol,
loves the outdoors, wears kilts, eats haggis, quite
aggressive and violent

8. The Welsh
 Vast Countryside
 ‘Sheep shaggers’
 Very strong accent
 They all ‘live in the valley’
 Passionate about Rugby
 Leeks……
 Great singers
 Tight knit community

9. Pikeys
 Normally referring to Irish people
and not a favourable term
 Drunkards
 Gypsies
 A bit stupid (think of jokes)
 Associated with thieving and other petty crime
(esp fighting)
 Lower class
 a unintelligible language that "isn't English, it
isn't Irish, it's just Pikey" (Snatch)

10.  Irish – often shown as living in the countryside,
working in rural areas such as farms, being very
religious, being good at dancing and singing, very
friendly but less intelligent

11.  English – often shown as being racist, obsessed
with beer and football living in
London. Sometimes the stereotype goes in the
opposite direction of showing English people as
very rich, posh, happy, living in castles and being
very “royal.”

12.  London – There are 2 main stereotypes of
Londoners. One is that they are often shown as
being rich, posh, snobby, upper class, Hugh
Grant types from central or west london. The
other is that they often shown as being from
north, east or south London, poor, common, lower
class, criminalistic, violent “Kidulthood” style

13. Cockney
 From London – the east of London in particular
 Great contrast between Rich and Poor – Cockney
is mostly associated with working classes
 Associated with guns and stabbings
 ‘Top Boys’ who do con jobs
 Use of hoddies
 Cockney rhyming slang - "telephone" is replaced
by "dog" (= 'dog-and-bone'); "wife" by "trouble"
(= 'trouble-and-strife'); feet" by "plates" (= 'plates
of meat').

14. Scouser
 From Liverpool (and looks scummy)
 Strong Liverpool accent - "we do dat doe dont
we doe?"
 Big football Fans (often violent)
 Come with knives, tracksuits or shell suits
 High Crime
 Lower Class.
 Up for a laugh and parties

15.  Manchester / Newcastle / Liverpool – Often
shown as being “chavs”, wearing fake designer
labels, or tracksuits, drinking a lot, being
aggressive, uneducated, criminals

16.  Essex – often shown as being glamourous but
cheap, footballer’s wives, lots of partying, being
quite stupid

17.  Yorkshire – Often shown as living in rural
countryside, with rolling hills and cobbled streets,
being quite old fashioned

18.  Cornwall / Somerset – Often shown as being
“backwards”, living in rural areas, working on
farms

19.  South England – often shown as being the centre
of culture, modern, classy, clever, sunny, richer,
doing middle class jobs such as managers etc

20.  North England – often shown as being poorer,
bad weather, lower class, aggressive, less
culture, less clever, doing working class jobs such
as builders etc

21. Brummies
 From Birmingham
 Not very clever at all!!!
 Strange way of speaking
 Very common in the way they behave
 A bit ‘dodgy’
 The Original Chavs….

22. If you get “regional identity” as an
issue in the exam, you should be
thinking about the following things
when watching the clip:

23.  Can I identify where the characters are from within the
country?
 Are people from different areas shown as having
different interests, personalities, attitudes,
behaviours? If so, how?
 Is their regional identity represented as being
important in their life?
 Are people from particular regions portrayed as being
better, more powerful, than others?
 Are people from particular regions portrayed as being
abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others?
 How do other characters in the clip treat the
characters from different regions?
 What is the message the clip is trying to portray about
regional identity?

24. How has regional Identity Been
Represented In The Following Clip?