On the edge of Britishness: the rupture of a national identity

St Helena is a British Overseas Territory. This paper investigates how an imagined and ideological link between Britain and the island was created, maintained and eventually weakened. British citizenship was removed in 1981. Since its return in 2002, many St Helenians have migrated to the UK. Whilst a sense of Britishness has weakened, a sense of lived Britishness has simultaneously occurred. Investigating the feelings, emotions and cultural values within this migrant community, the islanders are far from deluded about their downgraded national identity and, as a community, are willing to articulate their mixed emotions.