Cultural Representation Of Britishness

This thesis,taking the British national dish Fish&Chips as the research object,with the Stuart Hall’s representation theory,will try to argue the Britishness reflected by this cultural symbol,namely,based upon this dish,Britishness is represented by the three aspects: inventiveness,independence,and intercommunicability to illustrate the characteristics of the British people.Britishness is the state or quality of being British and is used to cohere and distinguish the British people,forming the basis of their unity and identity.In a cultural sense,it is the expression of British culture and is embodied in every aspect of Great Britain.Fish&Chips is a representative cultural phenomenon in the UK.This thesis aims to elaborate on the unique Britishness reflected in this dish.Apart from the introduction and conclusion parts,the body of this thesis is composed of three chapters.In the first chapter,the author will analyze Fish&Chips,as a barometer reflecting the British economy,representing the inventive spirit of British people in economic development through this cultural symbol.The second chapter,from the perspective of social life,reflects the changes in British social life through Fish&Chips,and through this cultural symbol will reveal the independent disposition of British people.The third chapter is designed to represent the intercommunicability of British people through Fish&Chips,starting from the detail that President Xi’s eating Fish&Chips,to analyze that Fish&Chips as a medium to boost social interactions can build a cultural bridge between China and Britain for the cultural exchanges more acceptably and understandably.To sum up,this thesis will construct a kind of Britishness represented in British people’s minds through a unique British cultural symbol: Fish&Chips.