ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with a part dedicated to dialect in late 19th-century and early 20th-century poetry. It shows how, in a context when regional dialects were gradually devalued both in common speech and for literary purposes, dialect was in fact gradually shaped into a genuine art form and, in the process, carried political implications. The book introduces two contemporary organizations: the Yorkshire Dialect Society and The Poetry Business. It also shows how dialect words, rhythms, and verbal patterns were foundational to Hughes’s poetry and contributed heavily to the effectiveness of a major poet’s enduring work, addressed to a wide audience. The book explores the poetic production of female strike supporters during the 1984–5 UK miners’ strike. It describes how the use of dialect in Tony Harrison’s poetry is a source of linguistic and aesthetic authenticity.
