The Burger in Britain: A Symbol of Americana

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This thesis will focus on the history of the American burger to evaluate the intercultural relationship between the US and the UK since the Second World War, including the impacts this dish has had on the health, identity, and culture of Britain. It will use newspapers, advertisements, cookbooks, company records and site visits to British-American diners to investigate the extent to which the burger has been integrated into British culture. Food is a powerful tool in nation-building, and it is representative of a unified national history, ambition, and community (Vester, 2015). The presentation of the burger in popular media communicates these ideals and by studying them historically within an interdisciplinary framework, a critical analysis can be made on how individuals interact with culture, be it foreign or their own. Through this process the proposed thesis seeks to explore the power of corporate fast-food chains and the expansion of Americana into modern British society over a seventy-five year period.