The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of working-class life, with special reference to publications and entertainments PDF
Preview The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of working-class life, with special reference to publications and entertainments
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • • • • • 1• I• 1···············································1 I I i i · i i USES OF Literacy I • • • ! • • ! • • : • • • • • • : • • • • • • • • • : • • • • • • • • • • : • • • • • • :•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••t \Vearesometimestold thatwe do notknow how'theotherhalf'lives.No readerofMr Hoggart'svivid and thought-provokingbook can be thusaccused. Settingouttoanalyse popularliteratureandsong, theauthor found thatsuch analysisneeded to berelated to the lifeand assumptionsofthepeoplefor whom it was written. Andso,in displaying,partlyfrom hisown boyhood experience, the Northern working-classpeople, he givesa broad, detailedand perceptivedescription ofa large sectionofthe community-itsculture,its habits, its traditions. Mass literacyhas opened newworldstonew readers. Howfar has it alsobeen exploited to debaseourstandardsand behaviour? Magazines, books, filmsfor themillions-has oursocietybenefitedonbalanceor not? 'Packedwithvivid detailand writtenwith deepfeeling ... absorbing and important.' RAYMOND MORTIMER 'Requiredreadingfor anyoneconcerned with the modernculturalclimate.' TimesLiterarySupplement 'A serious, disturbingand admirablywritten book.' ManchesterGuardian 'Unusualandimportant ... I urgeyou to read this book,which iswiseand courageous.' JOHN CONNET.L 'Highlystimulatingandcandid .. .Mr Hoggarthas shownusa new and fruitful way forward.' NeioStatesman 'A challengingattemptto answer several trickybutimportantquestions on theway we live.' BASIL DAVIDSON Seventh Impression Also byRichard lloggart AUDEN An Introductory Essay 'Itisdifficult toimagineit betterdone.' The Times £1.50 net £2.25 net THE USES OF LITERACY BythesameAuthor * AUDEN AnIntroductaryEssay SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER Volume I : About Society Volume 2:About Literature THE USES OF LITERACY Aspects ofworking-class life, with special referencestopublicationsandentertainments Richard Hoggart 1971 CHATTO AND WINDUS LONDON PUBLISHED BY CHATTO AND WINDUS LTD LONDON * CLARKE, IRWIN AND CO LTD TORONTO ° ISBN 701I 0763 4 FIRST PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 1957 REPRINTED MARCH 1957 REPRINTED APRIL 1957 REPRINTEDSEPTEMBER 1957 REPRINTED MARCH 1959 REPRINTED SEPTEMBER 1966 REPRINTED APRIL 1971 © Richard Hoggart 1957 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in anyform,electronic,mechanical,photo copying, recording or otherwise, with- outtheprior permissionof Chatto & Windus Ltd. Reproduced and Printedin GreatBritain by Redwood Press Limited Trowbridge & London To Mary, with love CONTENTS Preface page I I Part One: An'Older' Order I WHO ARE 'THE WORKING-CLASSES'? 15 a QuestionsofApproach b ARoughDefinition 11 LANDSCAPE WITH FIGURES-A SElTING 27 a An Oral Tradition: Resistanceand Adapta- tion:AFormalWayofLife b 'There's NoPlaceLikeHome' c Mother d Father e The Neighbourhood III 'THEM' AND 'US' 62 a 'Them': 'Self-Respect' b 'Us'-theBestand theWOI'St ofIt c 'PuttingUp withThings' : 'Livingand Letting Live' IV THE 'REAL' WORLD OF PEOPLE 86 a The Personaland the Concrete b 'Primary Religion' c IllustrationsfromPopular Art-PetsPaper V THE FULL RICH LIFE IIO a The Immediate, the Present, the Cheerful: Fate and Luck b 'The BiggestAspidistraintheWorld' : Excursionsintothe 'Baroque' c IllustrationsfromPopularArt-Club-Singing 7 CONTENTS Part Two: Yielding Place to New VI UNBENDING THE SPRINGS OF ACTION page 141 a Introductory b Toleranceand Freedom c 'Everybody'sDoing It Now' or 'The Gang's All Here': The Group Sense and Demo cratic Egalitarianism d Livingin thePresentand 'Progressivism' e Indifferentism: 'Personalisation' and 'Frag mentation' VII INVITATIONS TO A CANDY-FLOSS WORLD: THE NEWER MASS ART 171 a The Producers b TheProcessIllustrated: (i) WeeklyFamily Magazines c The ProcessIllustrated: (ii)Commercial Popular Songs d TheResults VIII THE NEWER MASS ART: SEX IN SHINY PACKETS 202 a The Juke-Box Boys b The 'Spicy'Magazines c Sex-and-violenceNovels IX UNBENT SPRINGS: A NOTE ON A SCEPTICISM WITHOUT TENSION 224 a Scepticismto Cynicism b SomeAllegorical Figures X UNBENT SPRINGS: A NOTE ON THE UPROOTED AND THE ANXIOUS 238 a ScholarshipBoy b The PlaceofCulture: ANostalgiaforIdeals 8
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