scholarly journals Basil Fawlty ja ”esithatcherilaisuus” sarjassa Pitkän Jussin majatalo

Author(s):  
Rami Mähkä

Basil Fawlty ja ”esithatcherilaisuus” sarjassa Pitkän Jussin majataloArtikkeli tarkastelee brittiläistä tilannekomediaa Pitkän Jussin majatalo (Fawlty Towers BBC, 1975, 1979) konservatiivisuuden representaatioiden näkökulmasta ja kysyy, miten sarjan päähenkilö Basil Fawlty (esittäjä John Cleese) ”esithatcherilaisena” hahmona auttaa ymmärtämään niitä prosesseja, joiden seurauksena Margaret Thatcher nousi pääministeriksi vuonna 1979. Suositun sitcomin komediallinen päähenkilö artikuloi samoja arvoja kuin Thatcher mutta tekee sen monimerkityksellisesti, sillä kyseessä on komedia.Artikkelissa Fawltyn ”esithatcherilaisuus” ymmärretäänkin ongelmattoman käsitteen sijaan Fawltyn artikuloimina arvoina ja asenteina 1970-luvun jälkipuoliskon Britannian poliittis-yhteiskunnallisessa historiallisessa tilanteessa. Vastaavasti konservatiivisuus ymmärretään artikkelissa diskursseina, ei dogmaattisina opinkappaleina. Tämä vastaa thatcherismin ambivalenttia ja ristiriitaistakin luonnetta.Artikkeli väittää, että Basil Fawlty ja hänen arvomaailmansa ovat sarjan tärkein komedian lähde ja naurun kohde. Hän edustaa myös Thatcherille Britannian kehitystä pitkään jarruttanutta taantumuksellista konservatiivisuutta. Basililla ei kuitenkaan ole sarjassa vain yhtä positiota tai identiteettiä, vaan ne vaihtelevat tilanteen mukaan. Oleellista on, että sarja, sen jaksot, kohtaukset ja yksittäiset vitsit toimivat komediana. Tämä selittää myös sarjan tiettyä ambivalenttiutta suhteessa konservatiivisuuteen ja luokkayhteiskuntaan. Basil Fawlty And ‘Pre-Thatcherism’ in Fawlty TowersThe article analyses the popular British situation comedy Fawlty Towers (BBC, 1975, 1979) as a comedic representation of conservatism and its lead character, Basil Fawlty (played by John Cleese), as a ‘pre-Thatcherite’. The article discusses how Fawlty and the series can help us to understand the processes which led to Margaret Thatcher winning the election in 1979 and becoming prime minister. Fawlty promotes similar values to Thatcher, but with ambiguity as the series is a comedy; comedy makes interpretation of ideological issues problematic as it is an alternative meaning-making system to non-comedic forms.The article understands conservatism and Thatcherism as discourses rather than political dogmas or programmes. Thatcherism, including its relationship with particular forms of conservatism, is ambivalent and in some cases contradictory. Basil Fawlty is a prime example of this. The article argues that Fawlty can be seen as a ‘pre-Thatcherite’. He is the main target of laughter and ridicule in the series, but because of his witty remarks and sarcasm we are also laughing with him, not only at him. Despite his old-fashioned conservatism, he also represents values, such as patriotism, which can be seen as identifiable across political and ideological lines. This is exactly what Thatcher accomplished in the late 1970s

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172098670
Author(s):  
Stephen Farrall ◽  
Emily Gray ◽  
Phil Mike Jones ◽  
Colin Hay

In what ways, if at all, do past ideologies shape the values of subsequent generations of citizens? Are public attitudes in one period shaped by the discourses and constructions of an earlier generation of political leaders? Using Thatcherism – one variant of the political New Right of the 1980s – as the object of our enquiries, this article explores the extent to which an attitudinal legacy is detectable among the citizens of the UK some 40 years after Margaret Thatcher first became Prime Minister. Our article, drawing on survey data collected in early 2019 (n = 5781), finds that younger generations express and seemingly embrace key tenets of her and her governments’ philosophies. Yet at the same time, they are keen to describe her government’s policies as having ‘gone too far’. Our contribution throws further light on the complex and often covert character of attitudinal legacies. One reading of the data suggests that younger generations do not attribute the broadly Thatcherite values that they hold to Thatcher or Thatcherism since they were socialised politically after such values had become normalised.


1985 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Nossiter

IN THE WESTERN MEDIA RECENT EVENTS IN INDIA HAVE OFTEN been trivialized by comparison with a soap opera called Dynasty. A more appropriate analogy would be the Greek tragedy: the rejection of Mrs Gandhi at the polls in 1977; her sweeping return to power in 1980; the death of her heir apparent, Sanjay, in 1980; the invasion of the Golden Temple in June 1984; and on 31 October her assassination. Greatness, tragedy, hubris and nemesis are all there.A fair assessment of Mrs Indira Gandhi's contribution to her country is far from easy, not least because she was regally enigmatic. Her friendships ranged from Michael Foot to Margaret Thatcher. Her presence was formidable yet both to old and non-political family friends she was a loving sister or aunt. Alone among Indian politicians she drew massive crowds and, Sikhs apart, her death was mourned by her opponents as much as her supporters. Indira had not expected to enter politics but by acting as her widowed father Pandit Nehru's hostess and confidante, and, in the late 1950s, as Congress General Secreta , she gained an invaluable apprenticeship in the techniques of political management and the art of statecraft. When Nehru's immediate successor as Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, died after less than two years in office, Congress chiefs found it easier to nominate Nehru's daughter as their leader than to agree on one of their own number, particularly since they all underestimated her strength of character and purpose.


Significance In a stream of videos posted over four weeks, Peker has accused former and current political figures, some close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of crimes including rape and murder. Silent for weeks, Erdogan has stood by Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Peker’s main target, along with former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Impacts The scandal may bring down Soylu, once the fuss has abated. The allegations will damage Turkey's reputation abroad as a stable polity. Erdogan’s rule-of-law record suggests elections will not be free and fair and could involve street violence.


1999 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 17-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. H. Green

Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party in November 1990, but both she and the political ideology to which her name has been appended continue to fascinate pundits and scholars. Indeed, since Thatcher's resignation in November 1990, curiosity about her political legacy has, if anything, increased, fuelled in part by the memoirs produced by the ex-premier herself and a large number of her one-time Cabinet colleagues. Since the early 1980s the bulk of work that has appeared on Thatcherism has been dominated either by what one might describe as the ‘higher journalism’ or by political science scholarship, both of which have been most exercised by the questions of what Thatcherism was and where it took British politics and society. In this essay I want to look at Thatcherism from an historical perspective and thus ask a different question, namely where did Thatcherism, and in particular the political economy of Thatcherism, come from?Given that Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative party in 1975 this might seem a logical starting-point from which to track Thatcherism's origins. Some have argued, however, that Thatcher's election in itself was of little importance, in that the Conservative party's leadership contest in 1975 was a competition not to be Edward Heath, and that Thatcher won because she was more obviously not Edward Heath than anyone else. This emphasis on the personal aspects of the leadership issue necessarily plays down any ideological significance of Thatcher's victory, a point often reinforced by reference to the fact that key elements of the policy agenda that came to be associated with Thatcherism, notably privatisation, were by no means clearly articulated in the late 1970s and did not appear in the Conservative Election Manifesto of 1979.


Author(s):  
Peter Thompson

Inverting the eyes and the mouth in a smiling face renders the expression grotesque. However, when this image is itself rotated through 180 degrees, the grotesque expression is no longer apparent—the smiling expression returns. This illusion, first shown with the face of the then UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has been explained as showing the detrimental effects of inversion on configural or holistic processing of faces. This explanation is, however, not entirely satisfactory and the illusion is still not fully understood. Variants and relevant parameters of the effect are explored, as are related concepts of inversion, expression, and face perception.


Author(s):  
Sally-Ann Treharne

Individuals and relations between leaders play a role in international politics. The broadly parallel leaderships of President Ronald W. Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher saw a revival of the Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship’ in the 1980s. The quality and intensity of their personal rapport is frequently assumed to have played a role in this. Deepening Cold War tensions and a strong anti-communist rhetoric also played important roles in drawing the two leaders closer. A commonality of many critical interests, along with cultural, linguistic, political and filial ties, underpinned their growing attachment and friendship. In addition, pre-existing intelligence cooperation, defence and nuclear interdependence (most would say British dependence on the US) helped to forge strong links between both countries....


2018 ◽  
pp. 121-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meryl Kenny

This chapter considers the place of women in British politics and how it has changed since the election of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. It examines how the issue of gender featured in the campaign and in parties’ manifestos, before analysing the different parties’ records on selecting female candidates. It describes how women increasingly hold leadership positions in British politics but concludes that, without further action in the form of quotas, full gender equality at Westminster is unlikely to be achieved any time soon.


2020 ◽  
pp. 113-136
Author(s):  
Rodney Brazier

In this chapter the various ways that a politician has become and can become Prime Minister solely through the actions of his or her party are analysed. A candidate for the premiership might be a clear heir apparent but bad luck or misjudgement by a premier might cause a party to choose someone else. A bad political blunder (such as David Cameron’s EU referendum that cost him the premiership) might open the door to a new leader, or there might be a party coup which ousts one Prime Minister and installs another (as, e.g. with Margaret Thatcher, or over a long period with Theresa May). The question of whether such a successor must seek an early General Election is explored. The rare instances of MPs supporting the formation of an emergency coalition, without an election, are analysed.


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