Death Rituals and Britain’s Body: Antiquarianism, Scandinavia, and Cultural Politics

DEATHRIT aims to examine how language and imagery, borrowed from Norse tradition, contributed to shaping the concept of 'Britishness' in the eighteenth century.

This was a period when the British Isles were establishing emergent ideas of national identity and independent cultural artefacts by seeking vernacular literary traditions.

Through a historical-contextual analysis of British texts, DEATHRIT examines how British nations used ideas of historical and ethnic heritagespecifically that of Scandinavia and Icelandto affirm or transform their own cultural identity during the eighteenth century.

The project objectives are as follows:1.To situate eighteenth-century texts about Britains perceived heritage in Norse culture in relation to ongoing conversations concerning Britains relationship with Europe.2.To demonstrate that the appropriation and mediation of ancient Scandinavian death imagery was an important vehicle for conceptualising British identity during the eighteenth century.3.To establish a new approach to the body politic metaphor, one that accounts for death and death rituals as part of the function or dysfunction of a nation state.With these objectives, DEATHRIT aims to build on existing work within the fields of Eighteenth Century Studies and Norse Reception Studies.

In doing so, it will establish the role of cross-historical and cross-cultural exchange, specifically with Scandinavia, within Britain's identity and nation-building process.

It will draw on the theoretical fields of Disability Studies and Death Studies to provide an innovative framework to view the body politic metaphor.

By reviewing select eighteenth-century British antiquarian poetry, essays, plays, travel literature, and periodical reviews concerning Scandinavian-inspired death and ritual, DEATHRIT will establish Scandinavia's role in developing Britain's body politic on a local and European stage.