Irene Morra Knihy

Focusing on the role of popular music in shaping contemporary British identity, the book critiques the cultural and nationalist narratives that have emerged since the 1960s. It argues that popular music has eclipsed literature as a key expression of modern British culture, influencing various sectors such as media and politics. The study highlights two conflicting views of music: as a representation of indigenous English culture and as a voice for a revived British Empire. These perspectives limit the recognition of the nation's diverse cultural landscape, offering a comprehensive analysis of their implications on national identity.

Modern Verse Drama explores the emergence of the form at the turn of the century and its development into the twenty-first, offering key case studies of well-known verse dramatists alongside explorations of less-discussed but equally influential writers within the form.Dramatists discussed include T. S. Eliot, Gordon Bottomley, Charles Williams, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Ronald Duncan, Christopher Fry, John Arden, Anne Ridler, Tony Harrison, Ted Hughes, and Caryl Churchill. The book explores the negotiation of these dramatists with the changing position of verse drama in relation to constructions of national and communal audience, aesthetic challenge, and dramatic heritage. Key to the study is the self-conscious positioning of many of these dramatists in relation to an assumed mainstream tradition – and the various critical responses that that positioning has provoked.