This paper attempts to investigate the dynamic relationship between English nationality and masculinity represented in Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, arguing that Duffy’s unique portrayal of everyday discourses reveals the often-violent emptiness of implicit stereotypes about Britain’s national identity and masculinity ideals. One of Duffy’s main concerns in her poetry was the construction of England’s nationality during the 1980s, when Thatcher’s government brought a number of economic and political changes. At the time of drastic social change, what the national discourse offered was a powerful vision of a strong England that pursued the most masculine and heroic virtues. However, Duffy was rather skeptical toward the public attempt to make a coherent English identity since she observed the fundamental contradictions and instability inherent in the construction of Englishness vis-à-vis heroic masculinity. While keenly observing how the hegemonic English nationality was being developed within everyday discourse, she shrewdly creates a social satire, utilizing the chance to criticize the publicly accepted gendered prescriptions of Englishness. Here, the poet’s use of laughter as a key element of her social criticism is worthy of attention since its universal and ambivalent character allows the readers to gain instant access to the counterculture.
1. Introduction
2. Over-determined English Culture and Its Oddly Insecure Masculinity
3. (Un)victimized Individuals in the Formation of the English National Identity
4. The Politics of Laughter in “The Laughter of Stafford Girls’ High”
5. Conclusion
Works Cited