Writing Class

Working-Class Fiction

The working class have historically made up about three quarters of the population, although the representation of their experiences has been conspicuously absent in literature.
Britain is a still a class-ridden society. Class remains a determining feature of social life.
Material hardship has prevented working-class people from articulating their own history, having neither the time nor the literacy to write. Women have furthermore had to contend with housework and childrearing.
It is important to highlight writing by working-class people, to recognize their experiences and achievements, and to write them into history.

Working-Class Autobiography & Memoir

Upper and middle-class writers (mostly men) authored prominent memoirs and autobiographies of the Nineteenth Century.
Common sense notions regarding basic literacy and education, as well as the free-time required to reflect upon your past life, perhaps preclude the notion of the working-class autobiographer.
However, a large number of working-class people did actually write their life-stories, but many are unpublished.
There is a notable discrepancy in that of the working-class autobiographies that were written, few were written by working-class women.
The implication is that if we are to read autobiography as an account of past life and times, then a large part of history is ignored or unaccounted for.
It is important to seek out memoirs and autobiographies by working-class people, to recognize their experiences and achievements, and write them into history.