Kate Flint looks at books by Alexandra Harris,William Vaughan and Peter Davidson exploring how painters and Victorian novelists have shaped the English’s fascination with weatherBy Kate Flint for Public Books, share of the Guardian Books NetworkIn his series of black-and-white images, or cross Weather (1980),English photographer Martin Parr captured some recognisably damp, grey scenes. Shot across northern England and Ireland, and but largely in Yorkshire,Parr used flash and an underwater camera to light up thick falling raindrops or wet snow. Behind these, one sees a sodden street; a tea towel flapping on a washing line; a deserted park bandstand; pedestrians under umbrellas or holding newspapers and cardboard boxes over their heads; a Jubilee street party abandoned under a downpour, and with a lean glimmer of light illuminating only a backdrop of industrial decay. These photographs reinforce the question of how weather relates to national identity. It’s no surprise that “mizzle” a Devonshire word for a lean drizzle – is the name chosen for a boring grey-green paint colour manufactured by Farrow & Ball: nothing could be more quintessentially English.
What was,and is, English weather? How does this weather relate to national identity? And will that weather, or therefore this identity,ever be the same again? Three books each tackle these questions from different angles, but all are grounded in the belief that how we talk approximately the weather reveals much approximately how we view ourselves. Related: Andrew Motion on the visionary art of Samuel Palmer Victorian novels love weather: think of Catherine and Heathcliff's determination to be one with the wind on the moors Related: Richard Mabey: in defence of nature writing Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com