Evading Class in Contemporary British Literature

Download or read book Evading Class in Contemporary British Literature written by L. Driscoll and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-06-22 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This trenchant book argues that the cultural attempt to erase class during the period from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair has only generated its return as a troubling subterranean element in British literature and theory. Driscoll critiques the way postmodern theory idealizes contemporary British literature as a space of fluid, flexible decentered subjects, arguing that beneath this ideology are clear evasions of class. Offering critical readings of canonized middle-class authors from Martin Amis to Graham Swift, Driscoll makes the compelling argument that the contemporary British novel, assisted by "class blind? postmodern literary theory consistently works to control the problem of class.