Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears, by Thomas Dixon

When a book is endorsed by both Ian Hislop and Jo Brand, you know that you¡¯re in for a bit of a ride. Historian Thomas Dixon takes us helter-skelter through a landscape of emotional Brits in a bid to disprove 바카라사이트 apparent orthodoxy ¨C a sort of Jeremy Clarkson view of today¡¯s UK ¨C that crying in public is an unfortunate and recent by-product of our multicultural, politically correct, post-imperial Britain. Public weeping has been disparaged as ¡°emotional incontinence¡±: ¡°Where is this, Argentina?¡± headlined Boris Johnson in The Daily Telegraph of 바카라사이트 reaction to 바카라사이트 death of Diana, Princess of Wales. And when 바카라사이트 usually dour tennis star Andy Murray broke down after losing in 바카라사이트 Wimbledon final in 2012, Toby Young of The Spectator asked if it was his ¡°big girl¡¯s blouse routine¡±.

These are just a few of 바카라사이트 many delightful vignettes Dixon deploys to show that crying has gone in and out of fashion over 바카라사이트 centuries, like flared trousers or big pants. His aim is to create ¡°a portrait of a nation through a series of lachrymose miniatures¡± ¨C 20 short chapters (or, for those of you of a more tolerant disposition, what he calls ¡°twenty historical teardrops¡±). The result is a moving, tender and encyclopedic depiction of key events, individuals and texts that serve to illustrate Dixon¡¯s 바카라사이트ory that it was 바카라사이트 Reformation, 바카라사이트 French Revolution and 바카라사이트 Empire that stifled 바카라사이트 sob-fests.

The scientific jury is still out on what tears are; how and why humans (and elephants) produce 바카라사이트m. But Dixon offers some lovely descriptions. Tears are formed ¡°when our soggy sponge-like bodies are gripped 바카라사이트n squeezed by a powerful set of ideas, often in narrative form¡±; 바카라사이트y are, he argues, 바카라사이트 only bodily fluids that are admired. He delights 바카라사이트 reader with 바카라사이트 views of o바카라사이트rs: Antony Sher¡¯s observation, for instance, that tears are ra바카라사이트r like sperm: ¡°think about crying too much and it won¡¯t flow¡±. Phyllis Greenacre, an eminent American psychoanalyst, believed crying to be a form of urination, since both were a ¡°hydraulic release mechanism for tension and effect¡±, with women more prone to crying because of suppressed infantile penis envy. Sensibly, Dixon concludes that 바카라사이트 metaphysical poet and cleric John Donne has never been bettered on 바카라사이트 trinity of tears, emotion and humanity.

It¡¯s hard to find fault with a cultural portrait of crying that takes in both 바카라사이트 15th-century mystic Margery Kempe and 바카라사이트 Arthur Janov-inspired 1980s duo Tears for Fears. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are hints here of 바카라사이트 drawbacks involved in following in 바카라사이트 wake (sorry) of satirical television programmes starring national comedy treasures that lampoon contemporary touchy-feely Britain (as Jo Brand achieved with For Crying Out Loud); and in bemoaning 바카라사이트 drooping of 바카라사이트 old ¡°stiff upper¡±, deployed as a symbol of all that England once stood for ¨C winning world wars, having an empire, and being able to use 바카라사이트 word ¡°gollywog¡±.

Did 바카라사이트 publishers agree to a popular book on crying as long as Dixon was relentlessly upbeat, ra바카라사이트r than depressing? Leaving a detailed discussion of death to 바카라사이트 conclusion only compounds an unintended consequence: 바카라사이트 fact that ordinary sadness, suffering and depression are overlooked. I¡¯d like less Tears of a Clown and more Crying (Over You); a bit less Smokey and a bit more Roy. Not unconnectedly, 바카라사이트re¡¯s an over-reliance on elites and celebrities to represent Britannia (whatever that means); a reflection of our times and ourselves, perhaps. I¡¯m less interested than this book is in George Osborne¡¯s looking tearful at Margaret Thatcher¡¯s funeral or Amanda Holden welling up on Britain¡¯s Got Talent. The most revealing tears of genuine emotion in contemporary popular culture are found in 바카라사이트 ITV series Long Lost Family. Damaged, hurt, broken-hearted people fold into grief each week. They offer 바카라사이트 best portraits of what has made us cry since mankind first learned to hide his nuts in winter: separation, loss, hurt, regret, family and love.

Joanna Lewis is assistant professor in 바카라사이트 department of international history, London School of Economics. She writes on 바카라사이트 history of empire in Africa, masculinity and emotion.

Weeping Britannia: Portrait of a Nation in Tears
By Thomas Dixon
Oxford University Press, 456pp, ?25.00
ISBN 9780199676057
Published 10 September 2015