ABSTRACT
HistoriansoftheEnglishnoveloftenemploythelabel'Cockney School'tocoverallofthosenovelistsintheninetieswhowrote aboutEastEndworking-classlife.Herethetermisusedmore specifically.WehaveseenthatintheearlyworkofRudyard Kiplingtwoimagesoftheworkingmanemerge.Ontheonehand thereistheviolentcockneyof'BadaliaHerodsfoot'wholooks backtothedebasedworking-classtraditioninfiction,andforward toArthurMorrison;ontheother,thereisTommyAtkinswho isacompositeportraitoftheLondonworkingclasses,anew cockneyarchetype.Helooksbacktotheage-oldtraditionofstreet types,andforwardtothesmallgroupofwriterswho,insofar astheywroteaboutthesamesubjectinasimilarmanner,can becorrectlydescribedastheCockneySchool.Thewritersinfluencedby'BadaliaHerodsfoot'paintedaspirituallycramped, narrow,andone-sidedpictureofworking-classlife;theCockneySchool,amoreoptimistic,happyandculturallyinclusive portrait.
