Stigmatising the BBC in letters of support to Enoch Powell (1968)
Résumé
This article addresses one very specific aspect of the Enoch Powell moment of 1968: how, in the letters of support that the radical right leader received in the wake of the so-called ‘rivers of blood’ speech, Britons vituperated against the Elites as embodied by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC was in the eyes of Powell’s supporters hell-bent on promoting a multiracial Britain that they were averse to, as well as striving to silence the voice of disgruntled ordinary Britons, who construed their collective identity as that of a ‘silenced majority’. The BBC was also blamed for being a key player in the British ‘permissive society’ of the 1960s. Eventually, this paper ventures a few reflections on the afterlives of Powell’s moment as covered by the BBC, be it in 2008 (‘The White Season’) or in 2018, when BBC4 broadcast Powell’s infamous speech amidst fresh controversy.
Domaines
Sciences de l'Homme et SociétéOrigine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
---|