When one is poor and black, it is hard »to come into representation«

(Hall, New Ethnicities 164). Those on the margins of society are usually

talked and written about rather than given a voice of their own.

Young black men in particular are stereotyped as criminal and violent,

as dangerous threats to society. In this context the term ›underclass‹

comes up time and again in public discourse. It is a very controversial

label which masquerades as a scientific descriptor but actually fulfils

the ideological function of stigmatising the poor and justifying their

criminalisation and marginalisation.

Black British novels dealing with the ›underclass‹, such as Alex

Wheatle’s East of Acre Lane (2001) and The Dirty South (2008) as well

as Courttia Newland’s The Scholar (1997), put those living on the periphery

of British society at the centre of their narratives – as focalisers

or first-person narrators. Their stories provide a place where stereotypes

about ›black youth‹ are scrutinised and challenged.

Within the field of black British fiction, black ›underclass‹ subjectivities

seem to be somewhat overlooked in literary representations; and

they only appear on the margins of academic research. This study aims

at improving this situation by providing a comprehensive analysis of

the representational strategies employed by the selected black British

novels as well as discussing the conditions under which black British

authors and their work are perceived and marketed by the publishing

industry. The analysis draws attention to the way in which structural

racism, classism and sexism impact protagonists and authors alike.