Learning about aspects of early 20th century British culture using feature films

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to establish whether feature films can be used to introduce the aspects of early 20th century British culture. Can the characteristics of the people who lived during that time reflect the cultural aspects of their country to students? What are the factors that make it possible for films to project cultural nuances? The first chapter focusses on the definition of culture. Multiple definitions by different scholars who have given their input on the matter are presented. The aspects of culture that can be introduced using films are discussed. The second chapter presents an analysis of two sources – the feature film The King’s Speech and the TV-series Peaky Blinders in order to find the cultural aspects that might be useful for students to learn about British culture. The usefulness of the film and the TV-series for the purposes of culture learning is discussed.