I have always greatly admired Tony Harrison (1937-), a vehemently working-class poet from Leeds. Harrison has unmistakable talent and, which is rarer, moral integrity. His work avoids the lofty obscurantism of so much modern poetry. The subject and meaning are clear, and there is a total absence of pretentiousness. There is a vivid social conscience and wry observation of contradictions, ironies and uncomfortable truths. But he is not
I am not familiar with Tony Harrison, but from reading your article and going by the information provided, he seems just another exemplar (at least to me) of the species known as Liberal Man. In other words, he comes across as the archetypal virtue signalling hypocrite.
No, he isn't nearly as bad as that. If I have unwittingly conveyed him in that way, it is inaccurate and I hope that will be ameliorated in later chapters.
As I say, I am not familiar with him, so I can fully accept that I may have the wrong idea about him. However, where you list his positions on certain issues such as him being anti-religion and censorship, anti-America, anti-British Empire and anti-racist etc, while at the same time he is for education (presumably only "education" of the right sort i.e. education that reinforces his worldview) and pro civilization, pro EU, pro feminist, pro gay, pro multiculturalism etc, it is all rather contradictory of him. It appears to me he either wasn't as deep a thinker as he is portrayed or it was all just, as I say, virtue signalling. I find it untenable that this man - who is against the British Empire, but pro EU, against America, but in favour of ideologies that have been aggressively pushed by American "elites" (feminism, pro-gay, multi-racialism), against religion, but pro education (he fails to understand that religious schools were some of the first to offer education) pro miners and local working class jobs/communities but globalist in outlook - is someone to take particularly seriously. I'll certainly read your further installments to see if my impression of him changes.
A disciple of ‘The Left’ actually pre-occupied with the plight of the British working class. Hard to imagine that such a person ever even existed now. I remember Harrison’s film-poem ‘Prometheus’ being broadcast on Channel 4, way back in 1998, as Blair’s New Labour were setting about their business of dismantling Great Britain. The film begins in a post-industrialised wasteland in Yorkshire - a clear reference to the miners’ strike of 1984. It’s a hugely powerful piece. I lived in the part of Yorkshire worst affected by the mjners’ strike for a number of years. When Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, locals burnt an effigy of her in the old village square.
If the working class thought they had it bad under Thatcher, they’d no idea what ‘the new Left’ had in mind for them. I’d love to know what Harrison makes of Starmer and his cronies. Harrison is 87 now - perhaps he doesn’t care as he’ll ‘be dead soon so it won’t affect me’, the trite excuse made by a good number of that generation. Perhaps he despises the reptilian prosecutor Starmer as much as we do. I wonder what the remains of ‘the old Left’ in Britain think - are they pleased with how it’s all working out?
Our Friends in the North like Alan Bennett or Ted Hughes perhaps-famously Dennis Potter, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach further south
Artistic and creative types do tend to veer Leftward its true
I tend to file that under 'artistic license' if they producing work of high calibre, as with all the above.
Will have to check Mr Harrison's work but pretty sure I will prefer to Benjamin Zephaniah or similar 'modern poets'.
I am not familiar with Tony Harrison, but from reading your article and going by the information provided, he seems just another exemplar (at least to me) of the species known as Liberal Man. In other words, he comes across as the archetypal virtue signalling hypocrite.
No, he isn't nearly as bad as that. If I have unwittingly conveyed him in that way, it is inaccurate and I hope that will be ameliorated in later chapters.
As I say, I am not familiar with him, so I can fully accept that I may have the wrong idea about him. However, where you list his positions on certain issues such as him being anti-religion and censorship, anti-America, anti-British Empire and anti-racist etc, while at the same time he is for education (presumably only "education" of the right sort i.e. education that reinforces his worldview) and pro civilization, pro EU, pro feminist, pro gay, pro multiculturalism etc, it is all rather contradictory of him. It appears to me he either wasn't as deep a thinker as he is portrayed or it was all just, as I say, virtue signalling. I find it untenable that this man - who is against the British Empire, but pro EU, against America, but in favour of ideologies that have been aggressively pushed by American "elites" (feminism, pro-gay, multi-racialism), against religion, but pro education (he fails to understand that religious schools were some of the first to offer education) pro miners and local working class jobs/communities but globalist in outlook - is someone to take particularly seriously. I'll certainly read your further installments to see if my impression of him changes.
Wow. Very interesting stuff. I'm in Newcastle and I never knew about any of this
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Fascinating read.
A disciple of ‘The Left’ actually pre-occupied with the plight of the British working class. Hard to imagine that such a person ever even existed now. I remember Harrison’s film-poem ‘Prometheus’ being broadcast on Channel 4, way back in 1998, as Blair’s New Labour were setting about their business of dismantling Great Britain. The film begins in a post-industrialised wasteland in Yorkshire - a clear reference to the miners’ strike of 1984. It’s a hugely powerful piece. I lived in the part of Yorkshire worst affected by the mjners’ strike for a number of years. When Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, locals burnt an effigy of her in the old village square.
If the working class thought they had it bad under Thatcher, they’d no idea what ‘the new Left’ had in mind for them. I’d love to know what Harrison makes of Starmer and his cronies. Harrison is 87 now - perhaps he doesn’t care as he’ll ‘be dead soon so it won’t affect me’, the trite excuse made by a good number of that generation. Perhaps he despises the reptilian prosecutor Starmer as much as we do. I wonder what the remains of ‘the old Left’ in Britain think - are they pleased with how it’s all working out?