Cycnos | Numéros | Volume 25.2 - Britishness - Whence and Whither?

Résumé :

While British art has often been deemed provincial when it was trying to copy American trends, its sudden burst onto the international art scene at the beginning of the nineteen-nineties was accomplished by embracing its provincialism, its localism and the pleasures of popular culture. The world success of Young British Art and its representation of an extremely local popular culture allowed for new and unprecedented possibilities in culture and in art, far from the old imitation or philistinism. British art which was formerly defined by a heritage of rejection, self-consciousness and of vernacular interpretations of foreign art was suddenly applauded for the acceptance of its insularity and the delight it was taking in exploring its national popular culture. This article tries to demonstrate how British artists have recently avoided nationalistic pitfalls by giving plastic form to a new post-colonial conscience open to national banners and symbols (English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish). The Britishness of Young British Art does not sideline it as eccentric and therefore marginal, but celebrates a striking eccentricity which has made it a world phenomenon and a world success.

Mots-clés : Boundary, region, Thatcher, New Labour, stereotypes

Date de publication : 2010-03-11