From a Cornish Study

Is Cornish Studies just a fun subject? Or does it have a respectable academic presence? In this book Bernard Deacon, formerly Senior Lecturer in Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter's Institute of Cornish Studies, ponders on the theory and practice of Cornish Studies. The first three chapters bring together three articles originally published in the early 2000s. These explored the possibilities and problems involved in devising a distinct methodology for Cornish Studies. Chapter 1 looks at the role of spatial levels when studying Cornwall. Chapter 2 is a critical analysis of the New Cornish Studies. Chapter 3 proposed using critical discourse analysis as a method particularly suitable for Cornish Studies specialists. Postscripts have been added to each chapter looking back on that project with the luxury of hindsight. This part is completed by Chapter 4, which is an extended, up-to-date critical review of the academic literature on Cornwall since 2002. The second part of the book moves on to practical examples of a Cornish Studies approach. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on early nineteenth century Cornwall. The first of these makes use of microhistory to explore the conditions of underground and surface workers at Cornish mines in 1841, based on Charles Barham's contemporary parliamentary report. It asks how far such a source can bring us closer to understanding the lives of our predecessors. Chapter 6 is a major re-assessment of regional Chartism. Chartism has traditionally been seen as having little influence in Cornwall but this chapter argues a vigorous, if relatively small, band of Chartists were active in the towns of west Cornwall throughout the 1840s. It concludes that, far from being insignificant, Chartism in Cornwall maintained a more effective presence than in most of rural southern England. The final two essays focus on the discourse of Cornishness. The first homes in on two nineteenth century campaigns for special treatment for Cornwall. The unjustly forgotten Cornish Sunday Closing campaign of 1881-1883, which garnered impressive support, was ultimately unsuccessful, unlike the earlier campaign for a Cornish diocese separate from Exeter. Both campaigns made use of historical and 'Celtic' arguments to win support. However, the Sunday Closing campaign met its nemesis in the power of a discourse of Englishness in Cornwall. The chapter reveals the discourse of Cornishness that lay at the heart of these campaigns and the lessons they hold for twenty-first century campaigners for Cornish recognition. Issues of discourse are also the focus of the final chapter. This offers a long-overdue comparative academic analysis of Cornwall's nationalist party MK in the context of work on European ethnoregionalism. It identifies a unique combination of longevity yet electoral marginality and reviews an assortment of reasons for this, ranging from structural and institutional barriers to the ideology and organisation of the party.