Lost in the Past: A Tale of Heroes and Englishness

Let us begin with an obituary. Obituaries are interesting texts, for they often reveal a great deal more about the writer and about the readers designate, than about the subject of the text itself, the individual who has died . English obituaries are a distinctive genre, they are often highly personal, frequently ironic, at times even critical. They rarely eulogize, they seek to contextualize the life of the deceased and they offer far more than biographical information. One such obituary appeared in The Guardian on 16 June 1993, written by Frank Keating about James Hunt, the English racing driver who had died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 45. Entitled ' Dashing to the flag', the text plays on the double meaning of those words: 'dashing' signifies both moving at speed and, as an adjective refers to exhuberance, charm and liveliness. Hunt had spent his life dashing, i.e. moving quickly, but had also been a dashing personality, flamboyant and spirited .