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A Cultural History of the British CensusIntroduction: Envisioning the Multitude

A Cultural History of the British Census: Introduction: Envisioning the Multitude [In 1854, a British journalist reviewing the recently published 1851 census report declared that “the full and clear delineation of the state of our nation, presented by these books, carries back the thoughts irresistibly to the first recognized days of its existence.” The writer went on to provide a survey of population, politics, and society in Britain since prehistoric times, following the story from the Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman periods through to the mid-nineteenth century. The reviewer understood the “nation” and the “race” as ancient and continuous, and referred repeatedly to a “we” that had existed for more than 2,000 years. Such a depiction of the country’s history is a perfect example of what scholars have recognized as national “imagined communities,” which in Europe found their origins and heyday during the nineteenth century. But why was it the census that inspired such ruminations about the primordial nation?] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Cultural History of the British CensusIntroduction: Envisioning the Multitude

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Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2011
ISBN
978-1-349-29824-2
Pages
1 –14
DOI
10.1057/9780230337602_1
Publisher site
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Abstract

[In 1854, a British journalist reviewing the recently published 1851 census report declared that “the full and clear delineation of the state of our nation, presented by these books, carries back the thoughts irresistibly to the first recognized days of its existence.” The writer went on to provide a survey of population, politics, and society in Britain since prehistoric times, following the story from the Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman periods through to the mid-nineteenth century. The reviewer understood the “nation” and the “race” as ancient and continuous, and referred repeatedly to a “we” that had existed for more than 2,000 years. Such a depiction of the country’s history is a perfect example of what scholars have recognized as national “imagined communities,” which in Europe found their origins and heyday during the nineteenth century. But why was it the census that inspired such ruminations about the primordial nation?]

Published: Nov 15, 2015

Keywords: Nineteenth Century; Eighteenth Century; Cultural History; Political Representation; National Unity

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