| Out of Place: Englishness, Empire, and the Locations of Identity Subjects: English literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism; National characteristics English in literature; Commonwealth literature (English) -- History and criticism; English literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism; Great Britain -- Coloni; In a 1968 speech on British immigration policy, Enoch Powell insisted that although a black man may be a British citizen, he can never be an Englishman. This book explains why such a claim was possible to advance and impossible to defend. Ian Baucom reveals how "Englishness" emerged against the institutions and experiences of the British Empire, rendering English culture subject to local determinations and global negotiations. In his view, the Empire was less a place where England exerted control than where it lost command of its own identity. Ian Baucom is the Dean of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. |