Regional Identity

AS Media - Textual Analysis - Representation

1. Regional and
National
Identity

2. What is Britishness?

3. Understanding Regional Identity
•Pick 3 of the following regions and stereotype
their regional identity:
–Northerners
–Southerners
–Essex
–Scottish
–Welsh
–Scousers
–Geordies
–Yorkshire
–Mancs
–Brummies
–Londoners

4. Northerners
•Stereotype
–‘Northern Monkeys’, Loud,
rude, drink a lot and of a
lower status
•Costume
–Track suit or cheap/casual
clothes
•Dialogue/dialect
–Vowel sounds over-
pronounced
•Make up
–Over the top or minimal
•Class/Status
–Low

5. Southerners
•Stereotype
–‘PoncySoutherners’ arrogant and posh
•Dialogue/dialect
–Well spoken
–‘The rain in Spain falls mainly on the
plain’
•Costume
–Suit and tie, tailored clothing and
dresses
•Props
–Brief case
•Make up
–Classy and to a minimum
•Class/Status
–Middle/Upper

6. Essex
•Stereotype
–Image conscious, unintelligent, love to shop and party
•Stereotype coined by TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex)
•Dialogue/dialect
–'Shut up’ & 'Oh my God' = common phrases
•Costume
–Girls= Revealing / OTT Boys: Fashionable
•Location
–Clubs, Boutiques & Hairdressers/Salons
•Props
–Expensive, flashy, tacky handbags, up to date mobile
•Make up
–Fake tan, fake eyelashes and hair extensions
•Class/Status
–Lower Middle

7. Scottish
•Stereotype
–Humourless, hate other nations, alcoholic and
violent, devoid of veggies
•Dialogue/dialect
–Strong accent 'och' 'wee’ (loud)
•Costume
–Kilt, Tartan, Tam o' Shanter
•Location
–Highlands, Cold & Vast open spaces
•Props
–Bagpipes, Haggis, Whisky
•Make up
–Ginger hair and freckles
•Class/Status
–Lower class (farmers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp-jVwBGUsI

8. Welsh
•Stereotype
–Small ,dark haired people who all play rugby, sing in choirs, herd
sheep or mine (coal)
•Dialogue/dialect
–Very ‘song-like’ and melodic, slow and exaggerated pronunciation,
lack of vowels in words
•Costume
–Rugby shirts
•Location
–Rugby pitch, church, pub, fields with sheep
•Props
–Sheep, daffodils, leeks, rugby ball, dragons
•Make up
–Minimal
•Class/Status
–Middle/Lower

9. Scousers
•Stereotype = Dangerous; ‘Why
does the river Mersey run
through Liverpool? If it walked it
would get mugged’
•Dialogue/dialect = Flemmy,
difficult to understand; 'like'
prominent k's
•Costume = Tracksuits, very casual
cheap looking clothing
•Location = Pub/home
•Props = Cheap looking jewellery
•Make up = Minimal, or OTT
•Class/Status = Low
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIvNjWobzA

10. Yorkshire
•Dialogue/dialect = 'Eyup’,
‘An' Ah'lltell thithat fer
nowt’, don’t pronounce
‘t’s’
•Costume = Flat caps,
tweed jackets
•Location = Open fields,
country pubs, Local shops
•Props = Whippets/
Yorkshire terrier and
Yorkshire puddings
•Make up = Minimal/Pale
•Class/Status= Low
(farmers)
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=jzAD2GLfaNU

11. Geordies
•Stereotype = Loud, swear a lot,
party animals and binge drinkers
(help coined by Geordie Shore)
•Dialogue/dialect = ‘way eye
man’, difficult to understand
•Costume = Revealing, tight
clothing
•Location = Busy town centres,
clubs, urban areas
•Make up = Over the top, fake
tan, dark hair
•Class/Status = Lower middle/
middle

12. Mancs
•Stereotype= Loud, rude, funny and fond of
fighting (Helped coined by Oasis)
•Dialogue/dialect= ‘Oh, aye’ ‘Nowt’
•Costume= Manchester United
•Shirt
•Location= Busy town centres
•Class/Status= Low/lower
•middle

13. Brummies
•Stereotype = Unintelligent and
unfriendly
•Dialogue/dialect = 'Yow' heavily
pronunciation the 'ow' of 'You'
•Costume = Casual
•Location = Busy, industrialised
centres
•Make up = Greasy hair
•Class/Status = Low

14. Londoners (Northern)
•-Dialogue/dialect= Well spoken, range of
vocabulary
•-Costume= Cashmere jumpers/sweaters and
suits
•-Location= Skyscrapers, swanky bars, posh
homes
•-Props= Briefcase
•-Class/Status= Middle/upper

15. Londoners
(Cockney / South London)
•-Dialogue/dialect = ‘Gorblimey’
–Rhyming slang ‘apples and pairs = stairs’,
–dropping ‘t’s’
•-Costume= Flat caps
•-Location= Busy streets, market stalls
•-Make up= Minimal
•-Class/Status= Low

16. Mind Mapping
•TrainSpotting
•Braveheart/
•Monarch of the Glen
•Emmerdale
•Shameless
•Doc Martin
•EastEnders
•Gavin & Stacey
•Broadchurch
•The Replacement
•Peaky Blinders
•Downton Abbey
•Skins
•Waterloo Road
•Corrie
•Misfits
•Sherlock
•Dr.Who
•Torchwood

17. TEXTUAL Analysis
1. Cinematography
2. Mise-en-Scene
Characters &
Costume, Props,
Setting/Location
3. Editing
4. Sound
Diegetic Sound
(Dialect,
Colloquialisms)

18. The satellite map shows us a city sprawl
so we know that the programme is set
in an urban area. However it is the
River Thames than reveals the specific
location as being London.
Regional Identity can be seen
by the views we see in the
picture. We can see the
countryside in the distance
and we can also see an old
vehicle of which is only used in
the countryside.

19. You can tell that this is
set in the country also
because the
background of the first
picture is the country
and in the second
picture the house is
styled as a country
house. Also, what the
characters are wearing
symbolises ‘the
country’
You can tell that this is set in an estate as
there are flats in the background and the
people look like they aren't of a high class
because of the clothes they are wearing
therefore we would expect them to live
there and if there is a show about them
then it would be set here.

20. Manchester -Mancunians, or Mancs
Liverpool –Scousers
Task: As you watch, write notes and then write
one P.E.E for each of the following clips

21. As you watch, consider:
•Setting
•Accents
•Dialogue
•Props
•Make up
•Class of characters
•Costumes

22. Revision Clips
•(middle class/upper class characters do not have regional accents and are
presented ‘as intelligent’ while the locals are ridiculed –links to Marxism).

23. Key Theorists
•Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; “Identity is generally understood to be the
shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space
–this can be a particular nation or region.”
•Benedict Anderson (1983) maintains that the media play a vital role in constructing
a national/regional identity as in reality the nation is too big for everyone to know
each other yet they often have shared values ; “The unification of people in the
modern world is achieved not by military but by cultural means, in particular the
media system enables people (of a nation or region) to feel part of a coherent,
meaningful and homogenous community.”

24. Higson (1998) claims that many TV dramas (such as
Eastenders, Corrie etc.) demonstrate the
importance of community and patriarchal values;
“Social and cultural differences seem less significant
when shared. The common purpose pulls the
individual characters of the drama together, forges
them into an organic, self-functioning community
and ensures that each person has a clear role in the
community. This small, self-contained functional
community can then be read as standing for the
nation, which is thereby imagined as a consensual
gathering together of the diverse interests of
individuals who make up that community.”

25. Higson(1998) and Corrigan (1992) argues that TV drama does
not always present communities like this, “Identity is fluid,
unstable and contingent on circumstances” (Corrigan 1992)
“Allegiances are forever being made, unmade and remade;
community cannot be taken for granted; they are insecure
and often self-destructive…Tension of race, gender, sexuality,
the family and generations represent not simply as
multicultural but in disarray”(Higson1998).

26. •In short, as Higsonsummarised; “Images of social and cultural
disturbance and fragmentation are more prominent than images of
consensual community” this obviously paints a slightly negative
image of multicultural Britain.
•Higsongoes onto argue that TV drama has to find ways of
representing hybrid identities in multicultural Britain; “As Britain
becomes visibly multicultural, so the makers of media texts have
attempted to deal with plurality, to find space in representation for
cultural minorities, ethnic or otherwise. In doing so, the cultural
boundaries of the nation have been redefined, and a wider, more
extended and hybrid national ‘community’ imagined.”

27. Constructing images of
Regional/National identity:
•According to Higson(1989) there are two ways in
which the process of constructing images of
national/regional identity should be understood; “The
first involves an inward looking process, defining the
nation in terms of its own cultural history. The second
is a more outward-looking process, defining the nation
in terms of its difference from others.”

28. In other words, stereotypes play a large role in constructing
images of identity and these can either reaffirm notions of a
nation (historic/culture) or contradict them. For example, as
Higson(1998) states; “Film like Trainspotting (1995) deal with
quite specific cultural traditions, including working class
traditions, youth traditions, all of which can be subsumed under
the umbrella term Britishness.” In other words, Trainspotting
taps into traditional stereotypes of Scotland while illustrating
what these stereotypes mean to working class youths (social-
realist interpretation). Interestingly, this film changed the way
this film represented Scotland changed outward perceptions of
the nations (negatively).

29. Higsonalso argues that; “Representations of
national/regional identity are constructed as the
narrative of the text unfolds, as characters are
pitted against one another, so a sense of identity
emerges…but at the same time producers often
resort to stereotyping as a means of establishing
character and identity.”

30. •Higson goes on to say; “Stereotyping is a form of shorthand, a way
of establishing character by adopting recognisable and well
established conventions of representation…the stereotype reduces
characters to the most basic form and attempts to naturalise them
and the more widely recognisable they become the more readily
they are accepted. Except that if a stereotype becomes more widely
recognisable it becomes comic”.
•Higson adds; “No wonder then that a particular characterization
may be criticised for being stereotypical, meaning it lacks a realistic
dimension, it fails to match up to the reality of identity.”

31. •As Higsonpoints out, it is always important to
analyse:“Identities and alliances, in particular
relating to class, ethnicity, religion, class and
gender.” In other words, how does a certain
region seem to view these things and what does
it imply the producer wants you to think about
this region and its views.

32. In terms of regional identity, it is again important to
remember Medhurt–think about who the dominant
producers are because it is often the case they stereotype
those ‘not like them’ (working class ‘Cornish Carrot
Crunchers’ etc.). Also, it is worth noting that if middle
class white men appear in regional TV dramas (e.g. Dr
Martin/Vicar of Dibley) they are usually made out to be
educated and reasonable unlike the locals.