Nonfiction

The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class

The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class

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  • Create Date：2021-08-30 07:51:25
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Cynthia Cruz
  • ISBN：1912248913
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Summary

What does it mean to be working-class in a middle-class world？ Cynthia Cruz shows us how class affects culture and our mental health and what we can do about it — calling not for assimilation， but for annihilation。

In The Melancholia of Class， Cynthia Cruz describes with clarity and precision what class is， its various and often nuanced manifestations， and the violence it inflicts upon the working-class while， simultaneously articulating an alternative to assimilation， which can only mean annihilation。

Utilizing Freud's concept of melancholia as a starting point， Cruz examines working-class writers， artists， filmmakers and musicians， looking at the melancholia that ensues when the working-class subject leaves her working-class origins to "become someone，" only to find that she loses herself in the process。

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Reviews

Ryan ，

A frustrating and slightly disappointing read despite existing in and concerned with an intellectual lineage of figures I have much interest in and respect for including Mark Fisher and Walter Benjamin。 Still， this rarely goes beyond the surface and when it does， it doesn't quite land。One major qualm and one I'm seeing more often in recent texts， is an overly fluid notion of class politics。 The Rosetta Stone that Cruz finds early on is a realization that she is working， rather than middle class。 A frustrating and slightly disappointing read despite existing in and concerned with an intellectual lineage of figures I have much interest in and respect for including Mark Fisher and Walter Benjamin。 Still， this rarely goes beyond the surface and when it does， it doesn't quite land。One major qualm and one I'm seeing more often in recent texts， is an overly fluid notion of class politics。 The Rosetta Stone that Cruz finds early on is a realization that she is working， rather than middle class。 This point gets expanded on ad nauseum， as Cruz， with the zealotry of the recently diagnosed， uses this concept as the spine of much of the book， sometimes returning to it to the point of parody。 Cruz specifically says she intends to conflate middle， upper and bourgeois labels and this conflating does no favors to her argument。 Much like the recent discourse on the 'Professional Managerial Class' （nowhere more prevelant than the recent book 'Virtue Horders' by Catherine Lui， the conflating of all abundantly precarious classes together creates a class character that feels both incoherent at times and bound for failure。That said， I see where the text shines through at times in it's cultural analysis。 It's best moments show great promise。 But it feels bogged down by a lot of unneeded baggage and some repetitive argumentation， which often is less convincing as it goes along。 。。。more

Andrew ，

I feel…deeply ambivalent about this。 On the one hand， the book is a wonderfully personal， and importantly affective description of what life is for so many of us。 Being given a total and dismissive “no” by a supposedly trusted and caring academic mentor upon expressing interest in a PhD thanks to class disjunction was so deeply relatable I had to put the book down for a bit。 Further， Cruz’s careful elucidation of how it feels to never be able to escape your class， along with the destructive and I feel…deeply ambivalent about this。 On the one hand， the book is a wonderfully personal， and importantly affective description of what life is for so many of us。 Being given a total and dismissive “no” by a supposedly trusted and caring academic mentor upon expressing interest in a PhD thanks to class disjunction was so deeply relatable I had to put the book down for a bit。 Further， Cruz’s careful elucidation of how it feels to never be able to escape your class， along with the destructive and futile drive/demand to try， as well as the call for class solidarity， is deeply powerful。 And yet。 First， there is no attempt to actually define class， or working class， or middle class。 Cruz even notes that she’ll use middle class， bourgeoisie， and ruling class interchangeably despite the fact that these are very much not interchangeable things。 Is class something you inherit by birth？ An identity？ A material social position？ Maybe， and yet there’s no attempt to actually clarify this。 Is class mobility possible？ Who knows？ From this text you’d get the idea the middle class just sort of sprang into existence in the past and is a self-contained hereditary aristocracy。 Is current Bruce Springsteen working or middle class？ （？？？？） The inclusion of police officer in a list of working class professions only serves to seriously deepen the mistrust of what’s going on here， and what is obscured by the lack of clear definition。 Second， oof， race。 While Cruz very much directly acknowledges that the concept of working class as exclusively white is a racist construct and absurd on its face， the text itself never bothers to challenge this in practice。 Literally every single cultural example in the work is white， and there is certainly no attempt to acknowledge the Black roots of the predominantly rock-derived music she used as examples。 This also leads into an issue that very much stood out for me but may not be such an problem for others， which is the sheer and overwhelming Anglophilia throughout。 Again， Cruz’s discussion of going mod in high school as a form of working class rebellion was deeply personally relevant， but the attempt to extrapolate a whole critique from this looks awkward。 I highly doubt that The Jam are really literally the only rock band to espouse a working class ethos is pretty damn suspect， and the failure to even acknowledge the existence of whole genres like rap make it look just sort of absurd。 The attachment to Anglo language （“whilst”）， culture， and criticism to the extreme exclusion of literally any non-white culture or experience （other than Baldwin on why he had to go to Paris） does not， I would argue， make for a very inclusive or compelling manifesto for a working class that doesn’t conform to a JD Vance situation with better （aka more English） taste。 I’m sure there’s more here to wonder about， but。 。。。more

Stefan Szczelkun ，

I identify with Cruz in that I was a mod and my young sister died of anorexia。 BUT mostly the book is thinking about class oppression with a raw power and clarity I’ve not seen before。 Written from her POV as a working class intellectual who found she had no choice but to inhabit a middle class world that refused to allow her to do what she wanted to。 At all costs it didn’t want her to be a ‘working class’ intellectual。 She manages to convey the intense pressure， raw pain and rage that this caus I identify with Cruz in that I was a mod and my young sister died of anorexia。 BUT mostly the book is thinking about class oppression with a raw power and clarity I’ve not seen before。 Written from her POV as a working class intellectual who found she had no choice but to inhabit a middle class world that refused to allow her to do what she wanted to。 At all costs it didn’t want her to be a ‘working class’ intellectual。 She manages to convey the intense pressure， raw pain and rage that this causes。 How it can eraze people。 As an intellectual there is no going back to the working class community you came from。 She argues that the options are between an undead life （being someone you are not） and a life of melancholia in which we search in vain for the community we remember from our early life。 It’s a brutal book but it rings so true I couldn’t put it down！“Melancholia， too， is an unconscious desire to return to our origins， while simultaneously also a revulsion， a parallel desire to stay away。 We are without a home in the world and we are without a home in our psyche and body。 A ghost within a ghost， dead but still living。“ p。154 This is a book about the things that we haven’t been able to say about class oppression。 Cruz has found ways to say them， chant them and see how some working class artists have dealt with these impossible forces。 Her chosen artists whose life or work gives form to these struggles include: Paul Weller， Amy Winehouse， Ian Curtis of Joy Division， film-makers Barbara Loden， Joanna Hogg and Clair Denis， US musicians Bruce Springsteen， Jason Molina， Charlyn Marshal （Catpower） and Mark Linkous， writer Clarice Lispector and London based artist Laura Oldfield Ford。 She decodes the work and lives of these artists in the light of her insights and theories about the alienation we face。 At times it’s an unrelenting and brutal book， but it always rings true。 Logically class oppression is not a trifle。 Logically the mechanisms of oppression are not going to be laid out like surgical instruments before an operation。 Logicaly its got to be covert， and ITS GOT TO HURT LIKE FUCK。 Written in a punchy and crystalline prose she takes ideas I have held onto as vague feelings and nails them to the page。 There are plenty of quotable moments when you shout: ‘Yes that’s it！’And yes， as well as understanding my rage better I also see my sister in a new way。 She starts off by thinking about her own class struggle as a working-class intellectual。 The constant barriers and put downs she faced。 From these insights she formulates a dramatic theory。 We working-class intellectuals are the undead。 We have to hide our true selves in the middle class environments we have risen into， and it’s killing us。 It’s dramatic， but it rings true。 Not just that but it feels like a breakthrough in acknowledging just how violent and damaging our exclusion is。 The language of aspiration completely normalises this violence and dresses it in the clothes of glamorous opportunity， with a reverse side of abject personal failure should you not agree to the terms and conditions。 All I can add to this book is that we are forced to leave the communities we were born into because there is no intellectual working-class culture。 There is no place for us to flourish as artists and writers within working-class communities。 Class oppression demands that working-class people in general see themselves as of lesser intelligence and without taste。 There is embarrassment when asked to discuss philosophical or poetic ideas。 We don’t have the self-confidence to say why we like or don’t like certain art works， and so forth。 All that is set in stone， or rather in lack of concrete institutions。 There are no art galleries on council estates。 …It’s no good wanting to return to the place of our origin， if that place has no intellectual or cultural institutions to nurture and accommodate us。 There is no point in tethering ourselves to our origins （page 146） if those origins have no intellectual discourse。 For the melancholia to end we have to build a working-class （intellectual） culture on our own terms。 But anyway the place we yearn for is a memory from our formative years。 The memory stands in for the experience of being torn away from our people。 We cannot return to a memory， we can only grieve the loss associated with it。Existing cultural institutions will have to become pervious to the working-class communities that usually surround them。 That means working class people being part of acquisition， show planning， and critical evaluation and not in a nominal way！My own way of surviving was to join outlier artist collectives。 The discussion in this book is mainly about individuals。 But she ends with a collective appeal:“We have learnt to survive， just barely， in the spaces between – between worlds， between deaths – in an endless waiting。 Is it not possible for us to navigate together， in an act of resistance against the system that would like us dead， or if you’re not dead， alive， but just barely？” p。196 Stefan Szczelkun July 2021Szczelkun is author of ‘SiLENCE！ the silencing of working class culture in the C20th’。https://stefan-szczelkun。blogspot。com。。。 。。。more

Reference

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