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RURAL MYTH "ALL TRUE" CLAIMS ACADEMIC
Controversial claims were made recently of the nature of the British
countryside. Dr David Evans of the Department of Geography, University of
Rotherham, speaking at the Royal Geographical Society conference in Belfast
earlier this month, argued that recent negative images of the British
countryside were a poor reflection of reality. Dr Evans argued that the
real English countryside was more akin to the apparently idealised images
found, for example, on calenders, chocolate boxes and decorative place mats.
While previously dismissed by academics as kitsch inventions or 'rural
myths', Dr Evans claimed that such images were, in fact, highly nuanced and
accurate representations of rural reality.
Dr Evans claims were based on extensive analysis of thousands of discourses
of rurality which included episodes of Heartbeat, the novels of Miss Read
and Joanna Trollope as well as more convention sources such as little China
cottages, available from Cotswold gift shops, and jigsaw puzzles, as well as
ethnographic research in such typically rural spaces as tea shops, national
trust gardens and cricket pitches located next to picturesque village greens
and duck ponds. Dr Evans' research found no evidence to support claims made
by its critics that the British countryside is impoverished, smelly and
boring. Dr Evans' presentation firmly concluded the British countryside is
a "nice place" populated by "well-fed labourers happy in their work" and
characterised by "bountiful harvests, deeply routed community structures and
an egalitarian social life".
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