Tóra Djurhuus vart ph.d. við Københavns Universitet

Fríggjadagin 3. juni vardi Tóra Djurhuus ph.d.-ritgerð sína um bretska euroskepsis og endurminningina um heimsveldið við Københavns Universitet.

Ritgerðin er tvørvísindalig og sameinir hugtøk og teori frá ymiskum akademiskum økjum so sum memory theory, British Euroscepticism, national identity og narrative discourse analysis. Hesi verða øll nýtt í eini nágreiniligari analysu av gjølla útvaldum euroskeptiskum keldum. Ritgerðin kannar hvussu, og í hvønn mun, endurminningin um bretska heimsveldið hevur ávirkað bretska euroskepsis og hvussu hetta kom fram undir Brexit atkvøðuni í 2016. Ritgerðin kemur til tað niðurstøðu, at bretska heimsveldið ofta varð nýtt sum grundgeving ímóti evropiska samstarvinum í 1960num og 70unum, men at hesar grundgevingar hvurvu eftir fólkaatkvøðuna í 1975. Tað var ikki fyrrenn eftir at David Cameron lovaði eina nýggja fólkaatkvøðu í 2013, at bretskir euroskeptikarar aftur byrjaðu at nýta endurminningina um heimsveldið. Tó kom hendan nútíðar útleggingin av heimsveldinum einamest til orða ígjøgnum tilvísingar til altjóða sambond og altjóða fríhandil.

Verjan gekk sera væl. Tóra Djurhuus fekk nógv rós fyri bæði framløguna og sjálva ritgerðina, ið varð mett at hava stóran empiriskan týdning fyri framtíðar gransking í bretskari uvroskepsis og Brexit.

Tóra Djurhuus hevur verið innskrivað á Institut for Engelsk, Germansk og Romansk á Københavns Universitet.

Vegleiðarar hava verið:

Sara Dybris McQuaid, lektari á Aarhus Universitet
Astrid Rasch, lektari á Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Stuart James Ward, professari á Københavns Universitet

Í metingarnevndini vóru:

Peter Leese, lektari á Københavns Universitet, formaður
Mark Eaton, lektari á Aarhus Universitet
Elizabeth Buettner, professari á University of Amsterdam

Robert Rix, lektari á Københavns Universitet, leiddi verjuna.

Heitið á ritgerðini er: “The Legacy of the Past in Brexit Britain - A study of the influence of the cultural memory of empire on British Euroscepticism”. Ritgerðin kann lesast her

Tóra Djurhuus arbeiðir nú sum fulltrúi á Sendistovu Føroya í London

Abstract

Although the British Empire came to a rapid conclusion in the decades following the Second World War, the memory of empire has continued to influence ideas of national identity and purpose and has certainly also shaped Britain’s approach to European cooperation. This thesis brings together ideas from memory studies and British Euroscepticism, as it examines how the cultural memory of empire has been used in political and cultural debates in Britain to create a narrative of national identity, especially in relation to the European Union, and, in turn, what this means for Britain’s ability to carve out a future role for itself outside the EU. In terms of memory theory, I rely on the terms ‘pre’ and ‘remediation’ which describe the process through which cultural memory is generated, maintained, and, yet, constantly reconstructed according to contemporary times and challenges.

The thesis takes its point of departure in written material produced by key political players in the Eurosceptic/Brexit debate such as Boris Johnson and Daniel Hannan and texts from the editorial and comment sections of the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph, and the Daily Mail.

Based on an analysis of recurring tropes in the primary source material (from 1995-2017), my argument is twofold: Firstly, I argue that references to the British Empire were common in the debate on Europe in the early 1960s, yet that these disappeared following the 1975 referendum, only to be resurrected – in a completely different and reimagined form – in the immediate years leading up to the Brexit referendum. Secondly, I argue that pro-Brexit actors mobilised the cultural memory of empire when making their respective arguments against membership of the European Union. Yet this mobilisation occurred in coded form. In other words, what I refer to as the ‘imperial dimension’ of British Eurosceptic rhetoric manifested itself largely in the way in which Eurosceptics talked about Britain’s global connections and free trade. In this sense, in British Eurosceptic debate, ‘the imperial dimension’ functioned as a readymade rhetorical resource through which an alternative, better future for Britain outside the EU could be articulated.