Introduction: Imagining the North of England

Abstract

Mazierska sketches the dominant narrative of the North of England as that of an ‘oppressed region’, subordinated to the economically and politically powerful South of England, hence bearing similarity to the narratives of colonialism It also argues that there is an expectation that the story of the North will be presented through the lens of realism. This especially refers to film: the most famous films and television programmes about the North of England are regarded as realistic and dealing with the plight of the working class. The introduction charts their history and locates this collection against the background of the existing research, promising to interrogate the ‘master narrative’ and add nuance to it, by ‘breaking up’ the North into smaller units on the one hand, and connecting them with more universal problems, on the other.