Miners, Marxism and Mise-en-scène. Narrative Patterns and Commodity Culture in Films about the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike

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2018-07-02
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en
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This thesis investigates the representations of the miners’ strike of 1984/5 in Brassed Off (1996), Billy Elliot (2000) and Pride (2014). The notion of class is preeminent in the reasoning behind this historical event, yet it is hidden in the narrative patterns of these films. With the methodologies of Marxist class analysis, consumerist strategies and mise-en-scène, the depictions of the class conflict are examined in the narratives of these films. This research will show that the film industry is influenced by the consumer culture yet complicit with the contemporary ruling classes. This implicates that historical events are fitted in a narrative pattern and genre that complies with the aspired representation of the hegemonic power and with the (inter)national consumer market. Keywords: Billy Elliot, Brassed Off, class conflict, commodity culture, Conservatives, consumer society, films, Marxism, miners, miner’s strike, mise-en-scène, narratives, Pride, working class
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