Race, nation, class and language use in Tom Leonard's intimate voices and Linton Kwesi Johnson's mi revalueshanary fren

This chapter challenges the typical reception of poetry by Tom Leonard and Linton Kwesi Johnson. While these authors are usually read through the lens of Scottish nationalism or British race politics, this chapter asks that their poetry be re-read through the lens of class relations in the UK. It suggests that the linguistic experiments of both authors have similiarities in the ways that they build ideas of community or coalition around working-class identities. The chapter suggests that this reading of Leonard and Johnson lends weight to postcolonial methodologies that are rooted in a material understanding of power rather than in the more abstract langagues of colony or empire.