In my thesis, I explore and compare three films issued in the decades after the 1980s for their representation of neglected regional working-class memory – for which I use the term counter-memory...Show moreIn my thesis, I explore and compare three films issued in the decades after the 1980s for their representation of neglected regional working-class memory – for which I use the term counter-memory throughout my thesis – of Thatcher’s politics. Counter-memory presents the narratives of the people who struggle in the dominant culture. All three of the films in this corpus are directed by British filmmakers. The Commitments (1991), directed by Alan Parker, is set in Dublin, Ireland. Trainspotting (1996), directed by Danny Boyle, is set in Edinburgh, Scotland. Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot (2000) is set in County Durham, England. I critically examine how these films challenge or reinforce the capitalist hegemony of the 1980s and how their critique of society influences the memory of that era. Overall, I argue that the abovementioned films represent different sides of working-class counter-memory in a kaleidoscopic view of the same: counter-memory of the socio-economic effects of the political strategies in Britain and Ireland of the 1980s.Show less
In this thesis I have argued that Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy forms a sandbox for Young Adults to consider and play around issues of social justice. I have linked the events in the books to...Show moreIn this thesis I have argued that Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy forms a sandbox for Young Adults to consider and play around issues of social justice. I have linked the events in the books to events in historical or contemporary societies and have done so by making use of Foucault's political theory of a control and disciplinary society.Show less
