Richard Hoggart And His The Uses Of Literacy

Richard Hoggart is one of the icons in the field of early British cultural studies. His The Uses of Literacy, together with Raymond Williams’ Culture & Society: 1780-1950, The Long Revolution and E.P. Thompson’s The Making of The English Working Class, named as cornerstones of the British cultural studies by Stuart Hall. In 1964, the establishment of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) University of Birmingham starts its tradition of cultural studies. Richard Hoggart was one of the main founders of the CCCS and severed as its first director as well. However, Hoggart and his The Uses of Literacy did not attach due attention by domestic academic circles because of various reasons.Therefore, taking its content, style, and keyword as an entry point, this thesis commences a case study on the text of The Uses of Literacy, by putting which into the particular social context at its time to discuss Hoggart’s succession and transcendence of the British literary, cultural, and civilizational tradition, state the possibility of its cultural studies and "cultural turn", and strive to forma holistic understanding on The Uses of Literacy.The outline and main ideas of this thesis are as follows:The first chapter introduces Richard Hoggart and his social background. Starting from the establishment of "welfare state" system and the surging of British New Left, this chapter discusses the possibility of British cultural studies rising in the early stage and the imprints which imposed by Hoggart as a pioneer with his engraved time and personal experiences.The second chapter interprets the content of The Uses of Literacy. The former part expresses the author’s nostalgia and praise of the 1930s’British working-class culture through his great detailed description on their daily life and literacy. While the latter part criticizes the 1950s’ mass culture led by the United States.The third chapter turns into the interior of the text This chapter analyses the continuity and fragmentation of Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy through the inextricable tension, the binary oppositional pattern constructing via bifocal cultural outlook, and the reconciliation between literary studies and cultural studies. It further states the incorporation and transcendence on British ideological tradition, and the predecessor’s influence such as Arnold, F. R. Leavis.The forth chapter discusses the keywords. This chapter exposes several keywords through two sections integrating the "linguistic turn" in academic circles of the 20th century. Refining nine keywords from The Uses of Literacy, the chapter attempts to further interpret the text from point to a new dimension by together presenting Raymond Williams’ further exploration to "keywords".The last chapter is a conclusion. This chapter summarizes the extensive and far-reaching influences on the later cultural studies and "cultural turn" by Hoggart and his The Uses of Literacy from the aspects of "culture" backwash, youth subculture research, and interdisciplinary research etc.