As a book on allusion, this has interest for both the traditional literary or cultural historian and for the modern student of textuality and readership positions. It focuses on allusion to folksong, and, more tangentially, to popular culture, areas which have so far been slighted by literary critics. In the nineteenth century many authors attempted to mediate the culture(s) of the working classes for the enjoyment of their predominantly middle-class audiences. In so doing they took songs out of their original social and musical contexts and employed a variety of strategies which - consciously or unconsciously - romanticised, falsified or denigrated what the novels or stories claimed to represent. In addition, some writers who were well-informed about the cultures they described used allusion to song as a covert system of reference to topics such as sexuality and the criticism of class and gender relations which it was difficult to discuss directly.

Includes songs from thirty-six countries all over the world.

SOPRANO Glenys Groves has written this descriptive, often hilarious, account of her long, busy and incredibly varied career, which has encompassed virtually all aspects of a singer's working life and more - concerts, theatre, radio and recordings - from touring with the unique KATE BUSH through to membership of the prestigious ROYAL OPERA. Revealing all, this amusing and informative book charts her progress through the music business, with laugh-out-loud anecdotes recounting the pleasures - and pitfalls - of life as a PROFESSIONAL SINGER.