Beyond Whataboutery: Rural Britain and Empire

With Corinne Fowler, Professor of Postcolonial Literature, University of Leicester

A Historical Association & University of Plymouth History Department talk

In this evening’s talk we will gain a fascinating insight into Professor Corrine Fowler’s specialist subject: rural Britain's colonial connections. Whilst this includes sites such as coastlines, moorlands, graveyards and villages, she has a particular interest in country houses which often have myriad and foundational links to empire.

More recently, her focus has been on how, and why, heritage sites' colonial stories are told or avoided; investigating the many barriers to incorporating significant colonial connections into on-site and digital interpretation.

Between 2019-2020 Corrine was seconded to the National Trust to conduct research tests on all aspects of curation, interpretation and training to lay the groundwork for telling these stories. Her project, 'Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted' (Heritage Lottery and Arts Council) is a child-led history and writing project which seeks to make historic houses' connections to the East India Company and transatlantic slavery widely known.