The issue of class in Zadie Smith's "NW"

Abstract

The thesis examines the representation of class belonging in NW, a 2012 novel by the contemporary British author Zadie Smith. As class can still be seen as a relevant phenomenon impacting upon individual lives in British society, the thesis focuses on a recent work of British fiction in order to see how the notion can be explored by a literary work. By analysing the novel from a class-conscious perspective, the author hopes to add to the scholarly discussion of class in contemporary British fiction. In order to set a clear framework for the analysis, the prism of the theoretical concepts proposed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is used. The thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters and the conclusion