Evading Class in Contemporary British Literature

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.

"Surveying an impressive range of recent fiction, film, and television, Driscoll reminds us that even in an era dominated by emergent ethnicities, sexualities, and hybrid identities, class remains in many ways the great and inescapable theme of British culture. Though most of the literature he discusses seeks to deny or transcend differences of class, it betrays through the very strenuousness of its evasions the persistent social and psychic costs of economic disadvantage. Any student seeking an overview of contemporary British literature will profit from consulting this book." - James F. English, University of Pennsylvania, author of The Economy of Prestigeand editor of A Concise Companion to Contemporary British Literature

"In his penetrating study Driscoll shows that the contemporary British novel operates as an unwitting prism for the new class-bound stratifications of post-Thatcher society. This is an important, radical book." - Richard Bradford, Research Professor in English, University of Ulster

"This book represents a mostimportant contribution to the field of contemporary British fiction, with some acute reading of key texts demonstrating the importance of situating the representation of both class as a theme and the class background and assumptions of British novelists. Recommended reading for all interested in such fiction." - Philip Tew, Professor of English, Brunel University and Director of the United Kingdom Network for Modern Fiction Studies

"This is an important book. Driscoll offers a powerful insight into the place of class in recent British fiction. He reveals how contemporary literature is bound up inextricably with the class cultural assumptions it so assiduously seeks to deny. This book places the importance of class at the center of literary study." - John Kirk, Senior Research Fellow, London Metropolitan University

LAWRENCE DRISCOLL is Professor of English at Santa Monica College, USA.