           |
|
Looking into England Papers
|
|
|
[ Home > Papers > Olga Zderadicková ] Class Identity in Britain, Its Firm Past and Hazy Future Olga Zderadicková teaches British and American Cultural Studies, English grammar and ESP (English for specific purposes) at the University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. * * * In the era of globalisation, the question of identity becomes more and more important, not only from the point of view of an individual, but also regarding groups, communities, societies, nations etc. In the following paper I would like to deal with a specific type of collective identity. Recognising the fact that collective identity is a multi-dimensional concept, one must necessarily pay attention to all the possible factors such as gender, region, ethnicity, religion and - for the purposes of this paper most importantly - class. (Smith, 1991:4-6) Class identity is always presented as extremely important in the British environment, which for a person coming from a country where the traditional class system does not exist any more is a source of amazement and evokes curiosity. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to show one possible way of perceiving British class from the point of view of the outsider, stressing mainly the role of education in shaping and maintaining class identity (using several examples of Tony Harrison´s poems from School of Eloquence) and, in the end, perhaps sketch out some possibilities for the future of class identity in Britain and in general. Although class is, from the sociological point of view defined as a position determined by one's occupation, education and income (prestige often being included), in the British context, education seems to be of very specific importance. Let me quote David Cody to support that the above statement was certainly valid in the past: "The old hereditary aristocracy, reinforced by the new gentry who owed their success to commerce, industry and the professions, evolved into an ´upper class´, its consciousness formed in large part by the Public Schools and Universities." (http://landow.stg.brown.edu) But even if we look into the much more recent past, the importance of education is evident. In 1960, a sociological research exploring social differentiation was carried out by P. Willmott and M. Young, and "It's education that counts" was among the most typical responses. (http://www.hewet.norfolk.sch.uk) Nowadays, of course, prestigious education is made available to a wider public by a substantial system of scholarships. Yet, this phenomenon only stirs the question of social differentiation and class mobility. Richard Hoggart devoted one of his papers to the question of so-called scholarship boys and the influence of education on one's class identity. The strong feeling of alienation from one's original social environment is represented in several aspects - linguistic, cultural etc. The traces of this alienation are also strongly present in the works of Tony Harrison. Starting with the very title of the collection: School of Eloquence, the importance of mastering the language is stressed. Interestingly enough, as Luke Spencer suggests, the necessity of eloquence goes hand in hand with the need of education. (Spencer, 1994:68) Yet it is education which in many of the poems proves to be the source of misunderstanding problematising Harrison´s identity (the details of which will yet be discussed). The fact that it is education alone which gives people the ability to articulate their ideas could be understood in the very first four lines of the collection where Harrison refers to his two uncles - a stammerer and dumb. A similar idea of how vague the direct link there is between one's background and achievement is expressed by Raymond Williams, when he claims that in the environment he characterises as working class he found: "...as much clear grasp of ideas within the range of experience as ... anywhere." (Williams, 1989:12). When education and language are considered together though, one certainly cannot miss several contradictions strongly present in Harrison´s poems. One of the most obvious is the inconsistency or even conflict between the local accent (clearly identifying the author's background) and the recognised standard English with references to other languages and thus, pointing at his education. This fact would probably not be problematic as such, if Harrison would not occasionally slip into a mockery of the educated language on one hand, and suggestions of the inadequacy of the accent on the other hand. Thus, on the one hand he mockingly writes about Dr. Litter - arum and Littererchewer, and on the other hand his work is full of references to literature and as he himself suggests in The Rhubarbarians that for the people of his own background his poetry is not appealing: "I´d like to be the poet my father reads!" (Harrison,113) Spencer also comments on this controversial idea of unifying universality of language, which is often proved unachievable by Harrison himself. (Spencer,1994:70) One of the other crucial points in the relationship of class and education which appears in the poetry of Tony Harrison is the assimilation of the institutions to the "ruling class". This idea appears in Classics Society where he speaks of the dreadful schism in the British nation or in the National Trust where he describes the stout upholders of our law and order. (Harrison, 120-121) Again we can find a similar idea expressed by Raymond Williams, when he claims that the English bourgeois culture is much too close to the centres of political power which are closed to most uneducated working people. (Williams, 1989:7) Another necessary feature of the class/education relationship is the change it brings about in terms of class mobility. Richard Hoggart characterises many features of this uprootedness, the sense of not belonging to the original social group, yet often not having the power to join the classless intelligentsia. (Hoggart,1957:300) The fact that this uprootedness is very much present in Harrison´s poetry is confirmed by Spencer's claim that the contradictions and misunderstandings appear whenever Harrison´s poem is autobiographical. (Spencer,1994:69) The author's hesitation about his identity is obvious in his changing attitude towards one or the other social group. In Them and /uz/ he clearly identifies with the working class culture opposing the rejection expressed and assimilation enforced by the "upper classes". In Study he shows the awareness of his own hesitation between the silence and education in: "my mind moves upon silence and Aeneid...".(Harrison,115) When comparing Hoggart´s account of the problems of the scholarship boys with Harrison´s poetry, the similar ideas are unmistakably resonating there. The ideas of the loss of motivation and creativity shown in Wordlists, the dislocation from the "boys world" in Me Tarzan or the emphasis on the brains in Me Tarzan, all of which are in detail analysed by Luke Spencer, show that the author is aware of the situation and his poetry is the proof of the strong need to analyse one's situation in order to clarify the uncertainty about himself (Spencer,1994:70) or to ease his anxiety about being accepted (Hoggart,1957:296) But what about today? What is the future of this certainly firm and traditional class system? The truth is, that with the "expansion" of Europe, which now includes the former socialist countries, came also the phenomenon of the so-called classless societies. In these, the traditional class system was erased and after the fall of the communist regimes class identity was simply reduced to "having or not having money". Similar tendencies are brought about by the process of globalisation, which according to sociologists will gradually lead to the destruction of the traditional classes and end in the very simplified division into the "moneyed class" and the "proletariat". Bibliography: Harrison, T A Selection of Poems. Hoggart, R 1957. "Unbent Springs...". The Uses of Literacy. Keller, Jan. 1999. Občanská společnost v období globalizace. Smith, A. D. 1991. National Identity. London: Penguin Books Spencer, L 1994. "The School of Eloquence...". The Poetry of Tony Harrison. Williams, R 1989. "Culture Is Ordinary". Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism. http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/history/Class.html 5.11.1999 |
|