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 >underclassunderclassblack
youthunderclass< 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.
