Poverty in Contemporary Literature: Themes and Figurations on the British Book Market (Palgrave Pivot)

Poverty and inequality have gained a new public presence in the United Kingdom. Literature, and particularly narrative literature, (re-)configures how people think, feel and behave in relation to poverty. This makes the analysis of poverty-themed fiction an important aspect in the new transdisciplinary field of poverty studies. Poverty and inequality have gained a new public presence in the United Kingdom. At a time of social cuts, new austerity measures and a rhetoric about 'broken Britain', poverty is present in the public imagination, and it is visible in the streets of British cities. Literature can (re- )configure how people think, feel and behave in relation to poverty. This study investigates life-writing, fiction and non-fiction with a poverty theme, produced in Britain from the mid-1990s to the present and contributes to the new transdisciplinary field of poverty studies Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-8 Premises and Concepts....Pages 9-16 Lifewriting....Pages 17-30 Popular Genre Fiction....Pages 31-57 Literary Fiction....Pages 58-80 Fiction for Children and Young Adults....Pages 81-93 Non-Fiction....Pages 94-102 Other Media....Pages 103-123 Conclusion....Pages 124-127 Back Matter....Pages 128-149