This study discusses the representation of class in poetry in English from Britain and Ireland between the fourteenth and twenty-first centuries, and the effect of class on the production, dissemination, and reception of that poetry. It looks at the factors which enable and obstruct the production of poetry, such as literacy, education, patronage, prejudice, print, and the various alleged revivals of poetry in Britain, and the relationship between class and poetic form. Whilst this is a survey that cannot be comprehensive, it offers a number of case-studies of poets and poems from each period considered.

Examines a broad historical range of poetry, from early modern to contemporary poetry Pays attention to upper- and middle-class poets in addition to the working-class poets usually examined Examines dialect and accent as well as making overt statements about language and power

Autorentext

Sandie Byrne is University Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Oxford and Director of Studies in English Literature and Creative Writing at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, UK. She is the author of a number of articles and books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century writing.

Klappentext

This study discusses the representation of class in poetry in English from Britain and Ireland between the fourteenth and twenty-first centuries, and the effect of class on the production, dissemination, and reception of that poetry. It looks at the factors which enable and obstruct the production of poetry, such as literacy, education, patronage, prejudice, print, and the various alleged revivals of poetry in Britain, and the relationship between class and poetic form. Whilst this is a survey that cannot be comprehensive, it offers a number of case-studies of poets and poems from each period considered.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Late Middle Ages.- 3. The Early Modern Period.- 4. The Eighteenth Century.- 5. The Late Eighteenth to Early Nineteenth Century.- 6. The Mid- to Late Nineteenth Century.- 7. The Twentieth Century: To the 1960s.- 8. The Twentieth Century: After the 1960s.