Anglo-Saxons: Immigrants in a diverse Postcolonial Society; Beowulf as Diaspora Storytelling; Decolonising the Curriculum

An interesting article by Mark Bridge in The Times, February 16, 2019; "Anglo-Saxons rebranded as migrant success story"

"The Anglo-Saxons are often thought of as brutish invaders who put native Brits to the sword and shunned Roman-style civilisation in favour of mead binges and brawls in drafty wooden huts. However, according to a popular historian, the forebears of the English should be viewed more kindly — as immigrants who forged new identities in a diverse postcolonial society".

Some tweets:

Prof Catherine Clarke @CathAMClarke

Indeed, @holland_tom, this is how I always introduced the #AngloSaxons to my first-year UGs: as recent #immigrants in a #postcolonial space, and considering texts such as #Beowulf as #diaspora storytelling, etc. Of course, this is of interest to all, not just #BAME students 

Tom Holland @holland_tom

It should not be beyond the wit of competent teachers to render the Anglo-Saxons - immigrants who, living amid a post-imperial order, fashioned new cultural, political and religious identities for themselves - a topic of interest to BAME students …


These tweets do not appear to be in response to calls to "decolonize the curriculum" (a campaign supported by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex), but they do contribute to that debate. See also an opposing view.


Refugees and migrants who have risked their lives crossing the channel might well have a deep understanding of  "The Seafarer"


Another translation of The Seafarer, alongside the original Anglo-Saxon


Previous posting on Anglo-Saxon poetry


The Exeter Book at Exeter Cathedral


Poems and Riddles in the Exeter Book


Images of sections from Beowulf