Cornwall UK - Place on the Margin - Research Paper Example

Cornwall – (UK) Place on the Margin Introduction Cornwall, England has one of the most beautiful coastline scenario and beaches that has made it an attractive tourist destination, since 1950. However, its heritage and the history related to it has kept it on the margins always, as the history of Cornish heritage is contestable. Therefore, new tourism marketing initiatives have thus resulted in controversy as the ways of representation of Cornish heritage and who really represents it; have been debatable, all along. This has resulted in the protests of many elements within the Cornish nationalists, against the centralized heritage promotion and its operators. Amy Hale has argued that the new tourism initiatives have changed the Cornish heritage due to highlighting of international awareness of Cornish identity against the English heritage. This has resulted in the increased awareness on industrial Cornish heritage, as mining has become the central point of this heritage.....(Hale) Cornish Revival Cornwall was in the prime of its mining and fishing business in the 1800s, while there has been the planned effort to shift this industrial heritage and importance of Cornwall to the tourist attraction and an economy dependant on tourism industry. As there have been many factors responsible for this type of Cornish revival, which occurred mainly during the period of 1900 to 1950, the daily life of an ordinary Cornish citizen has also been affected by such revival. The revivalists looked back, according to Payton, to the old heritage of Cornwall, as they wanted to have the Cornish language for the people of Cornwall, while moving towards the greater attributes of Cornwall’s romantic traditions, instead of its industrial past. For the purpose of preservation of Celtic remains in the Dutchy of Cornwall, the first revivalist movement came by the name of Cowethas Kelto-Kernuak, in 1901, whose primary aim was to establish the Cornish language as the spoken. Then came the Old Cornwall society in 1920, whose aim was to put together all the parts of old Cornish legacy, so that nothing is lost. While they tried to reach to the ordinary Cornish people, they could not reach their goals of attaining pre-industrial glory for Cornwall, as its people were still struggling to bear the loss of their industrial identity. As Cornish Gorsedd was founded for the promotion of Cornish Language, they also looked at the advancement of Cornish art and music. However, the success of this movement could not be ascertained as very little is known today on the Cornish art or literature. This is reflected by the number of Cornish speaking people to be just 100, as given by Brown in 1981........(Suzylou, 2007, para 2-5) However, there is conscious effort now to promote Cornish language as can be seen by the naming of streets and towns as well as signboards in Cornish to welcome tourists and visitors. The steps taken by the 1998 County Council is seen in this perspective for the promotion of Cornish culture. Similarly, the revivalists accounted for the Cornish revival coming closer to the Celtic revival with the creation of “Cornish Tartan”, which is the symbol of Cornish identity and scan be seen on celebrations and festival occasions of Cornish people now. The revivalist also reintroduced the flag of St. Piran , as the Cornish people are now displaying it as their symbol of identity,which can be observed by its display on council buildings, cars, while becoming the logo of many church organizations, and businesses like Ginsters......( Suzylou, 2007, para 5-8) There is a revival of festivals also as seen in the modern Cornwall,. The celebrations of midsummer feast of St. John , revived in 1990 has now become a 10 day long fstival. The old tradition of dancing around the maypole and “snail creep” dance are again gaining popularity, due to the revivalist movement. National Anthem of Cornwall Perhaps the greatest success of the revivalists has been the adoption of “Trelawney”, as the national anthem of Cornwall. As this song of the western man was authored by Rev R.S. Hawker in 1832, it has remained a symbol of Cornish group identity, while the people of Cornwall take pride in their cultural heritage, that is depicted in this folk lore. While Cornish revival is closely linked with the Celtic revivals, there is now an exchange of programs between the Cornish and Breton schools. However, according to Tregidga(1997), Cornwall was slow in its development as a true nationalist movement, as religious and economic conditions never allowed the Cornish people to go for a kind of home rule. This may have been the reason for the absence of a viable political party in Cornwall like the Scottish National party founded in 1928 or Plaid Cymru of 1925. While the first semi-political movement for Cornwall was formed in 1930s, it had to wind up during world war. The association of young Cornish people in Oxford in 1940s, who influenced the lawmakers and Cornish MPs to show concern towards the economic and other conditions of the Cornwall, followed this.....( Suzylou, 2007, para 9-13) Cornish revival and Tourism Industry As Cornish identity was associated to the mining and fishing industry for many centuries in the past, the romantic flavor to the place called Cornwall was brought to lime light by the Great western Railways that have been attempting to revive the tourist industry in the exotic and natural beauty of Cornwall. As it was in the nineteenth century that the identical shift began towards the natural and exotic background of Cornwall, the earlier industrial set up has left its image, which will take long time to go. While the Cornish nationalists have been in favor of the people exploiting natural assets of the place, its industrial heritage is getting slowly replaced by the natural picturesque......(Hale, 2001, Tourist Studies, para 3-4) The non-Cornish people run many tourist businesses; the idea of tourism construction has not been a natural idea to the people of Cornwall. Since most of the enthusistists of tourism, revival has been new immigrants and outsiders to establish businesses in Cornwall. However, their interest lies in the promotion of language and display of Cornish flags, more than the original Cornish residents do. The heritage of Cornish people lies in the natural tourism like the traditional sea side holidays, apart from the industrial background that reflected its culture and traditional heritage as well. However, there is political difference within the Cornish people as many think that they are different from English and as such there is a growing feeling of Cornish citizen, as being distinct from an English one. This has resulted in certain movements of resistance to what some call Anglicization of Cornwall and certain new Heritage issues have come up that oppose the centralization of authority.....( Hale, 2001, Tourist Studies, para 5-8) Therefore, tourism could not affect locals in a major way, as they see certain efforts to promote tourism as the commoditization of Cornish culture and heritage, which has certain tourist attractions that are not considered authentic by the local people. Hence, the need for improvement in heritage tourism is felt by certain elements that are in favor of revival. Certain national bodies like English Heritage and National Trust have utilized Cornish interests to inculcate the Cornish heritage that has an element of Currishness in it. While the English Heritage have begun running and monitoring of many sites in Cornwall, some critics have observed their actions as unauthentic and branded them as centralist or monarchist. While Hale has written in her thesis about the Cornish cultural activists and other nationalists, there are records of demonstrations like the one in 1999, related to this issue. The aim of such protest was the tourism industry, visa-vis the English heritage and politics of culture, although the culture of middle class Cornish working people was seen as minimal, in its contribution to construction of tourism at many such sites. Trevithick Trust While the new cultural heritage tourism based on exotic and romantic image of Cornwall is gathering momentum, several groups like the “Trevithick Trust” are trying to encourage the industrial past and glory of the industrial Cornwall. The Cornwall Archeological unit and English heritage in preservation of mining districts in Cornwall have helped them, as attempts have been made for similar mining areas to be declared as world heritage sites, By UNISCO. While doing so the association has also brought to the attention of Cornish people the impact of decay in industrial and mining activity in the form of skilled force migration to Australia, USA and other places. This has created a vibrant and sizable section of Cornish people outside Cornwall whose interest lies in the revival of Cornish heritage in terms of its mining and fishing glory. These Diaspora of Cornish non-residents have added new dimension to the tourism industry of Cornwall. However, according to Hale, this industrial past needs some rectification and correction to make it as a romantic heritage of the Cornish people. Therefore, she sees the use of Celtic difference as a marketing strategy in the perspective of the actions taken in the past by Great Western Railways. In this direction, the recent marketing strategy formulated in 2000, that stressed on the Cornish difference, is worth mentioning, as per Hale. However, the affects of such strategies is not visible as the difference is not clearly highlighted, which leaves the original primitive of Cornwall confused with the challenge of Celtic industrialization. Hence, Hale is of opinion that the industrial past is still open to rectification in terms of making it more romantic.... (Hale, 2001, Tourist Studies, para 8-13) Tourism and Cornwall’s industrial past According to Philip Payton (2002), both the revivalists and the promoters of Cornwall tourism did not want to highlight the industrial past of Cornwall, as they preferred to publicize the place as an exotic land of myth and magic. While payton has been in the favor of retaining the industrial past and mining glory of the place, he is of the view that the unique Cornish industrial identity must be preserved. However, he is of the view that many cultures and identities can flourish simultaneously, over a period. In addition, he opines that the Cornish industrial past cannot just vanish due to the later constructed identities, mainly for the purpose of tourism promotion. While in “The making of Modern Cornwall”, Payton has stressed on the model of Sydney Tarrow, to be used towards the healthy explanation of the Cornish industrial past, he has detailed the phases of peripheriality that can explain the idea well. While further elaborating on these ideas, Payton says that the older generation, before the industrial phase were happy with their fishing and farming trade as they were isolated from the mainstream English politics. Such activities served as the commerce for the local community only, instead of serving any international or even the national trade. Payton highlighted the economic and social marginality of Cornwall, while detailing his second phase of peripheriality, as the concentration of mining industry in the area did not allow total industrialization of Cornwall as other industries did not come up in the area. This led to immigration of other useful talent, depopulation and ultimately the structural decay. He opines that the transformation from first phase to the second was slower as it saw the emergence of new breed of Cornish people that engaged in industrial activities and technological innovations, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This also emphasized on the adoption of industrialization by independent Cornish people, with hope and excitement.....(Suzylou on Payton’s Cornish identity, para 2 – 15) However, as Payton has explained in his works, ”The making of modern Cornwall” that the industrial revolution in Cornwall had a wider impact on its history, the cultural and political association of Cornish people cannot be ignored as Cornwall had relation with rest of Britain that helped in shaping the identities of the region. However, as per Hale, the Cornish industrial experience saw the more powerful “industrial Celt”, which encouraged the revivalists to promote the Cornish identity on the past industrial experience, while amalgamating same with modern day Cornish constructs. Payton is of the opinion that the industrial expansion, particularly in mining sector, perhaps was the reason for the Cornish language to vanish, slowly. This has given the chance to revialvalist for the revival of language also, post-industrial period, as Cornwall saw the efforts by these associations for promoting the Cornish Language in wake of highlighting the Cornish difference....( Suzylou on Payton’s Cornish identity, para 20-30) Payton, according to the information given by Suzylou, has described the isolation of Cornwall from rest of Britain to be the main reason for its marginality, in terms of politics and geography. However, other writers are of the view that Cornish people did construct their industrial identity during the boom period of Cornwall that saw Cornish prowess in mining industry along with the related technological innovations...( Suzylou on Payton’s Cornish identity, para 41) Cornwall and the new economy During the late 1800s, the Cornish business leaders felt the impact of declining tin and copper industries, and thus foresaw the decay of mining industry, which was the main economic activity in the postindustrial period of Cornwall. This prompted certain businessmen to relocate their interests, investments and business, to areas like tourism. There is a mention of Cornish magazine, which gave the details of the methods needed to combat this loss and turn to the new economic activity of tourism, named by many as the”experience economy” of Cornwall. These people saw the opportunity that was hidden behind the exotic landscapes and natural scenic beauty of Cornwall, despite its vast mining activity during past many centuries. The clean, natural and beautiful coastal line and beaches of Cornwall were seen as inviting this experience economy to happen. While “Celt” provided the fodder for exploration of exotic holiday resorts, Cornwall was getting ready for the new economy mainly with the support of revivalists who were opposed to industrial identity of Cornwall. This saw the creation of Celtic Tartan, Cornish flag and Gorsedd, as the Cornish language revived, during this period....(Willett, page 3) Cornwall’s experience economy saw the boom during the period when the railway line was being extended to Penzance, mainly with the purpose of transporting the plentiful produce of gardens in Cornwall. This saw the beginning of Cornish Riviera as promoted by Great Western Railways, following this connection. This laid the foundation of new economy for the Cornish people to experience as tourists in large numbers could be seen coming to Cornwall in late !950s, following the world war. With the sustained growth, the tourism also grew rapidly in Cornwall as tourists could identify it with the peace available at its scenic beaches and seaside landscapes, which they could buy as a leisure time for a week’s paid holiday. It was further helped by the increased car ownerships and improved road infrastructure, which helped the tourist to explore the past of Cornwall thorough its neglected but glorious nooks and corners. (Willett, page 4) The presentation of tourist brochures and bulletins highlighted the key attractions of Cornwall as an exotic place with unique cultural identity and an experience that is away from modernity. These marketing strategies were successful as many outsiders rushed to Cornwall to experience the spiritual peace within its seaside landscapes, while Cornwall experienced the taste of its new economy. This places Cornwall on the map as a place away from modernity, where one can retreat and go back to some period in life, depending on his or her definition of retreat and spiritual peace. However, it is based on the construction of Cornwall as we see it through the eyes of tourism. This has put the Cornish people on the “experience the new economy” theme which has the involvement of common people also....( Willett, page 5-7) Conclusion While Cornwall has always been on the margin, it saw its industrial glory, when its people took to the highly industrial activity of mining, retreating from the occupation of simple farming and fishing. This gave Cornwall a new identity called industrial identity, which saw the boom of technological innovations in the area, during eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, the decline in the copper and tin mining business compelled the entrepreneurs of this area to look at other avenues and economic activities. This prompted the new associations like revivalist movements to look at the old heritage of Cornwall and revive its language and other native traditions to keep the distinct Cornish difference alive, while being aligned to the other areas of Britain and world, though the prospects of natural tourism. This has kept the Cornish people on the margin again as they try to adjust to the new economy while keeping their old identity alive. Whatever, it may be, Cornwall is now exploring the natural scenic beauty of its landscapes, while experiencing the fruits of new “experience economy”. Works-cited In-text citation references Hale, (2001), Tourist studies, “Representing the Cornish. Contesting Heritage interpretation in Cornwall”, available at: http://www.arasite.org/cornhtage.html (accessed on 29th July 2009) Hale Amy, “Representing the Cornish”, available at: http://tou.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1/2/185 (accessed on 28th July 2009) Suzylou, April 2007, “Cornish Revival” , available at: http://www.cornishstudies.com/index.php?q=node/10 (accessed on 28yh July 2009) Suzylou on Payton’s “Cornish identity, .....” available at: http://www.cornishstudies.com/index.php?q=node/14 (accessed on 29th July 2009) Willett Joanie, University of Exeter, “ Cornwall’s experience of the experience economy”Available at: www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/2009/apr.../Willett.pdf (accessed on 29th July 2009) Read More