The Uses of Literacy

Aspects of Working-Class Life

Richard Hoggart, Simon Hoggart, Lynsey Hanley

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English

PENGUIN GROUP USA
09 November 2009

Literacy; History; Popular culture; Media studies; Social classes

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

'A vivid inside view of working-class culture and one of the most influential books of the postwar era' Observer

When a society becomes more affluent, does it lose other values? Are the skills that education and literacy gave millions wasted on consuming pop culture? Do the media coerce us into a world of the superficial and the material - or can they be a force for good?

When Richard Hoggart asked these questions in his 1957 book The Uses of Literacy Britain was undergoing huge social change, yet his landmark work has lost none of its pertinence and power today. Hoggart gives a fascinating insight into the close-knit values of Northern England's vanishing working-class communities, and weaves this together with his views on the arrival of a new, homogenous 'mass' US-influenced culture. His headline-grabbing bestseller opened up a whole new area of cultural study and remains essential reading, both as a historical document, and as a commentary on class, poverty and the media.

By: Richard Hoggart
Introduction by: Lynsey Hanley
Contributions by: Simon Hoggart
Imprint: PENGUIN GROUP USA
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume:
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 292g
ISBN: 9780141191584
ISBN 10: 0141191589
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 09 November 2009
Recommended Age: From 0 years
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , ELT Advanced , A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Hoggart was born in Leeds in 1918. He served with the Royal Artillery in North Africa from 1940 to 1946, after which he taught literature at the University of Hull, was visiting professor of English at the University of Rochester in America and senior lecturer in English at the University of Leicester. Professor Hoggart has been a member of numerous bodies and at different times was an Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, Chairman of the New Statesman and Vice-Chairman of the Arts Council. The Uses of Literacy, his most widely acclaimed work was partly autobiographical and drawn from his own boyhood growing up in the North of England.

Reviews for The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of Working-Class Life

Week after week two friends, Zachy and Tom, notice a beautiful young woman appear in church and then mysteriously disappear. On the seventh Sunday, Tom walks out of the church with her and Zachy follows and watches as they disappear into the stream that runs out to the sea. To his amazement, he sees that the young woman had a fish's tail. Zachy sees the merrymaid (mermaid) again one stormy night when she throws him a silver and gold shell. This is a delightful telling of a traditional Cornish tale of mermaids, evocatively illustrated in blues and greens. (Kirkus UK)