The Tramp in British Literature, 1850—1950

Book excerpt: The Tramp in British Literature, 1850–1950 offers an account of the emergence of a new conception of homelessness in the mid-nineteenth century, which it argues reflects the evolution of capitalism and disciplinary society in this period. In the process it uncovers a neglected body of literature on the subject of the tramp written by thirty-three memoir writers and eighteen fiction writers, most of whom were themselves homeless. In analysing these works, The Tramp in British Literature presents select texts as a unique and ignored contribution to a wider radical discourse defined by its opposition to a societal fixation upon the need to be productive.