COUNTER CLASS AND COUNTER IDENTITY: CONFRONTATIONS OF POWER IN TONY HARRISON'S POETRY
Vol.7, Issue 2, 2021, pp. 245-260 Full text
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.21.2.7
Web of Science: 000737013000007
Author:
Younes Poorghorban https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7631-0433
Affiliation: University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran
Abstract
Tony Harrison is a contemporary British author whose poetry is highly influential in encountering the issue of identity and class struggles. As a working-class student, Harrison was subject to prejudice and discrimination for his working-class accent. This paper investigates two of his highly admired poems, "On Not Being Milton" and "Them & (uz)" from a cultural standpoint, mainly concentrated on John Fiske's theory of power and language. The role of language in the context of his poems is probed. The multiaccentuality of language is represented in his poetry and these two poems become the site of struggle for the imperialising and the localising power. It is intended to illuminate the sought space of identity which Harrison is constantly referring to as a member of the English working-class society. Lastly, the social and personal relationship between Harrison and Milton has been explored positing Harrison in a transcendental context in his relationship with Milton.
Keywords: Tony Harrison, Cultural Studies, On Not Being Milton, Them & (uz), Imperialising Power
Article history:
Submitted: 19 July 2021
Reviewed: 20 September 2021
Accepted: 30 November 2021
Published: 30 December 2021
Citation (APA):
Poorghorban, Y. (2021). Counter Class and Counter Identity: Confrontations of Power in Tony Harrison's Poetry. English Studies at NBU, 7(2), 245-260. https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.21.2.7
Copyright © 2021 Younes Poorghorban
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