As easy as ABC

I thought I'd ease my way back into semi-regular blogging with a fairly straightforward meme.

A - accent: A weird Southern English/Australian hybrid. It jumps around a bit. When I've been speaking to my mum or someone else from Australia for a while, I sound much more Australian.
B - breast size: I'm not entirely sure because, as with the accents, my brain can't work out the conversions between different measurement systems - and indeed, I'm not entirely sure which measurement system is used where.
C - chore you hate: Vacuuming.
D - dad's name: Jim (well, it's actually James, but only his two sisters call him that).
E - essential make-up item: Lip balm. I feel naked without it.
F - favourite perfume: Jo Malone Gardenia.
G - gold or silver: Silver
H - hometown: Canberra, Australia.
I - insomnia: I don't have it right now, but it's plagued me on and off for most of my adult life.
J - job title: Student, temporary lecturer, library invigilator. I wear a lot of hats.
K - kids: None, but I'd like some in the future.
L - living arrangements: I live with my boyfriend.
M - mum's birthplace: Sydney, Australia.
N - number of apples you've eaten: None today.
O - overnight hospital stays: Two if you count the day I was born.
P - phobia: None if you take the actual clinical definition of the word. I have things I'm very frightened of, but that's not the same thing.
Q - quest: Courage.
R - religious affiliation: Atheist.
S - siblings: Three younger sisters.
T - time you wake up: I wake up around 7am, but I don't usually get out of bed before 8am.
U - unnatural hair colour: I had red and mulberry hair when it was trendy at my school in the late '90s. I also had black, hennaed hair for about five years.
V - vegetable you refuse to eat: None, but I don't like avocado very much.
W - worst habit: Panicking.
X - x-rays you've had: Teeth, lower back, feet.
Y - yummy food you make: It feels boastful to say this, but I think I'm a pretty good cook.
Z - zany quirk: I jump a lot. I also tend to be rather vague.

This meme was stolen from msdillydally.

The dispossessed, taking possession

My brain sometimes takes weird turns. Last week, Matthias and I went to London to see Robyn in concert (which was amazing) and it got me thinking about her music. Its power lies, I think, in taking the words that are used against the powerless and dispossessed and using them as weapons or armour. Her lyrics are so sharp they could cut you, but you kind of don't notice it until some time later. Anyway, what with the Robyn lyrics and the fact that my PhD thesis is basically about dispossession and the creation of history and identity and the realisation that, like everyone, I have certain literary tropes that are like catnip to me (in my case, motley families that are made, not necessarily born, taking their power back) I have come to the conclusion that I am all about the dispossession.

With that in mind, I decided to compile a (provisional) list of texts (that I love) with this trope. That is, stories about the dispossessed finding strength in their dispossession and reclaiming the power that was always theirs. I emphatically do not mean 'dispossessed' people using the tools of their oppressors to save the world - Campbellian heroes have no place here. If you're the rightful king, and you defeat the evil, false king and replace him, you're not really dispossessed, even if you grew up on an isolated farm. A benign monarchy is still a monarchy.

( Was my Una icon ever more appropriate? )

What about you? Do you have texts that fit with this trope that you could recommend? Or do you have your own particular tropes which you want to read/watch again and again and again? Inquiring minds want to know.