ABSTRACT
The conscious learning process characteristic of what is emerging as the distinct field of British Cultural Studies (sometimes simply ‘British Studies’) is served by a range of resources, including visits, ‘expert’ native informants, textbooks, and audio-visual and multi-media materials. But these resources are different from each other in principle, and of variable usefulness in practice. ‘Natives’ of a culture, for instance (the term itself is problematic, though whoever it refers to is often considered an exemplary guide) may take deep, structural aspects of their own culture for granted, and highlight instead a collection of features which are of relatively little interest to the visitor or student. By contrast, although a student’s or visitor’s observations may not be accompanied by much self-confidence, the scope for contrastive analysis they allow may offer a far richer resource than the monocultural native’s perspective.
