The Uses of Literacy

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Richard Hoggart died the other day. Born in Potternewton and raised in Hunslet, he was one of the most influential British intellectuals of the 20th century and was best known for his 1957 book The Uses of Literacy, which was a study of working class popular culture and its erosion as a result of commercial mass culture. If you haven't read it, you should. Here are a couple of extracts:

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[Filuwaúrdjan]

Good article on Hoggart here

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I've been meaning to read Hoggart for a while now, and I suspect that finally getting around to doing so will be the sort of thing that has a major impact on the way I think of (especially print) culture. Perhaps I should take this as an opportunity.