The Ethics of Working-Class Realism in Poetry

Abstract

What happens when writing poetry based on personal working-class experience? Are there ethical issues to consider when including the experiences of working-class family, friends and neighbours? Should real people be exposed or hidden behind fictionalised characters? When writing poetry one wants to create an authenticity of experience, so what might be compromised if people’s identities are protected by creating composite characters or merging events? And how can the desire to depict working-class life as it is (sometimes grim and dysfunctional) be reconciled with an acknowledgement of the ways these kinds of representations might reinforce negative stereotypes? This chapter will explore some of the ethical dilemmas faced by a poet when choosing to write working-class social realist poetry.