Celts, Romans, Britons: Classical and Celtic Influence in the Construction of British Identities

This interdisciplinary volume of essays examines the real and imagined role of Classical and Celtic influence in the history of British identity formation, from late antiquity to the present day. In so doing, it makes the case for increased collaboration between the fields of Classical reception and Celtic studies, and opens up new avenues of investigation into the categories Celtic and Classical, which are presented as fundamentally interlinked and frequently interdependent. In a series of chronologically arranged chapters, beginning with the post-Roman Britons and ending with the 2016 Brexit referendum, it draws attention to the constructed and historically contingent nature of the Classical and the Celtic, and explores how notions related to both categories have been continuously combined and contrasted with one another in relation to British identities. Britishness is revealed as a site of significant Celtic-Classical cross-pollination, and a context in which received ideas about Celts, Romans, and Britons can be fruitfully reconsidered, subverted, and reformulated. Responding to important scholarly questions that are best addressed by this interdisciplinary approach, and extending the existing literature on Classical reception and national identity by treating the Celtic as an equally relevant tradition, the volume creates a new and exciting dialogue between subjects that all too often are treated in isolation, and sets the foundations for future cross-disciplinary conversations.

Francesca Kaminski-Jones, Doctoral Candidate, Royal Holloway University of London,Rhys Kaminski-Jones, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies

Francesca Kaminski-Jones studied for a BA in Classics and English at Oxford, followed by an MA in Classics at UCL and (currently ongoing) a Classics PhD at RHUL, under the supervision of Dr Nick Lowe. Her research interests include simile theory, classical reception (especially modern receptions of Homer), and women's participation in the classics. Since November 2019 she has been the assistant coordinator of the London Hellenic Prize, which awards an annual prize of £10,000 to the best original work in the English language inspired by Hellenic civilization.

Rhys Kaminski-Jones's work focuses on connections between Welsh, English, and other Celtic literatures during the eighteenth century and the Romantic era, and on building links between Celtic Studies and other academic disciplines. Having studied for a BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, and an MA in Eighteenth Century Studies at the University of York, Rhys joined the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies as a doctoral student in 2012, researching the cultural significance of the Ancient Britons during the long eighteenth century.