Englishness And The Nostalgic Fantasy Of The British Empire In Julian Barnes’s England,England

England,England（1998）is one of the only two political novels in Barnes’s oeuvre.Its allusion to British political situations of the 1980s and 1990s and close interrogation of recent representations of Englishness makes it an unusual piece in Barnes’s writing,since Barnes is long known as a postmodern writer adept at depoliticizing and dehistoricizing.A study of Englishness in this novel demonstrates that Barnes is more politically engaged in his creation than is usually assumed.Though most criticism upon this novel centers around Englishness,the study of Englishness from the perspective of imperial history is relatively few.The importance and value of studying Englishness from this perspective have been evidenced by many cultural historians such as Stuart Hall.He maintains that the narratives of Englishness and the British Empire are so closely intertwined that it is impossible to speak of one without attending to the other.It might also help to approach his other works from perspectives other than a postmodern one.This thesis is mainly concerned with how Barnes interprets Englishness,or English national identity,at the end of the 20^th century when the English are struggling to define themselves in the face of many disturbances such as England’s declining status in international society.Because how to face the imperial past is of great significance in England’s current construction or pursuit of identity,the thesis intends to approach this question by focusing on the elements related to imperial history in the novel.The whole thesis consists of five parts.It begins with a review of current research about Julian Barnes’s interpretation of Englishness,and explains the rationality,feasibility and novelty of exploring this topic through the angle of the history of the British Empire.Chapter One focuses on three emotional attachments related to imperial history,i.e.,postimperial nostalgia,the absence of imperial guilt,and lingering national superiority.Chapter Two studies Barnes’s attitude towards these emotional attachments.Through analyzing the characterizations of Sir Jack and Batson,the parody of the Battle of Britain and the replay of colonial process,the thesis contends that Barnes satirizes and criticizes the emotional attachments to the British Empire.Chapter Three explores the purpose of Barnes’s satire and criticism.Firstly,Barnes’s focus on the imperial history in the novel is a refutation of conservative Englishness.It is deemed inappropriate to identify contemporary England as the preindustrial green countryside.Moreover,Barnes’s satire towards and criticism against the emotional attachments reveal his advocacy of postcolonial Englishness.The attachments to the British Empire and the inability to mourn the loss of empire are regarded as an obstacle to the construction of English national identity.For Barnes,the English nation should refuse the unreflective nostalgic construction of Englishness;Englishness should be considered with a serious reflection upon the imperial past instead of an evasion of it or a nostalgic longing for the imperial glory.The final part summarizes previous viewpoints and arguments,restates this research’s value,and puts forward some possibilities for future research.