
Mining the Meaning
Cultural Representations of the 1984-5 UK Miners' Strike
Katy Shaw(Author)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Published on 21. May 2012
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-4438-3785-9 (ISBN)
Description
This innovative study provides an exciting, challenging and accessible critical introduction to cultural representations of 1984-5 and analyses the ways in which these representations articulate an essential dialogic exchange of issues central to both the coal dispute and the development of literary and cultural studies over the past twenty five years. Focusing closely on the politics of form, the study interrogates the significance of the mode, means and function of strikers' writings, as well as alternative representations of the conflict offered by established writers, musicians, artists and film-makers in the wake of the coal dispute.These representations are worthy of study due to the critical interventions they offer, their evidence of the cultural pressures and forces of not only the strike period, but the post-strike years of industrial and labour change and their remarkable contribution to existing social, political and literary histories. Engaging with these works, many of which have never been subject to previous academic analysis, the study enables twenty-first-century readers to re-conceptualise paradigms of received wisdom concerning 1984-5.The significance of the competing representations offered by these very different cultural modes as they engage in a wider battle to 'author' the conflict is central to this study. Through a detailed analysis of these representations, as well as the socio-cultural contexts of their production and dissemination, this book explores a range of attempts to capture the sensibilities of late twentieth century society and contributes to an ongoing debate regarding cultural representations of this period in British history. Influenced by critical theory, the text is the first secondary resource concerning cultural representations of the 1984-5 UK miners' strike available to the reading public the world over.
Reviews / Votes
"For many years now, Dr Katy Shaw has been both the most knowledgeable and most accessible critic concerned with the literature of the 1984-85 miners' strike, both the words and writings of the miners and their families themselves and the words and writings about them. Dr Shaw's latest book is an astute and timely reminder of the continued relevance of the strike and its literature to Britain today."- David Peace, author of GB84"Katy Shaw's important, informative and provocative study is a powerful reminder that the great miners' strike was the definitive industrial, political and social conflict of post-war Britain. Through a skilful comparison of previously unknown 'front line' poems with mainstream literary, theatrical and televisual representations of the strike, Shaw exposes contemporary culture's failure to engage with the collective solidarity at the heart of embattled mining communities, an intellectual and creative flaw that reflects the collapse of socialist values in British politics and culture."- Prof Ian Haywood, University of Roehampton"The historical significance of the 1984-5 UK miners' strike has long been recognised. In this scholarly yet engaged study, Katy Shaw uncovers the rich cultural life and afterlife engendered by the miners' heroic struggle."- Dr Mike Sanders, University of ManchesterMore details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 212 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-4438-3785-9 (9781443837859)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
€106.79
Available for download
Person
Dr Katy Shaw is a leading authority on the literature of the 1984-85 UK miners' strike and twenty-first century writings. Her research interests include contemporary fiction, poetry and drama, working class literature, literatures of post-industrial regeneration and the languages of comedy. She is editor of C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings and Subject Leader and Senior Lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK.