Literature and learning : a history of English studies in Britain /
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford :
Oxford University Press,
[2025]
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Abstract: | "The study and teaching of English literature is generally regarded as one of the central disciplines in the modern university, yet for much of its history it struggled to gain academic legitimacy and was frequently derided as 'a soft option'. Its early professors responded by emphasizing its scholarly character, foregrounding philology and literary history in ways that marked the syllabus far into the twentieth century. This deeply researched book provides the first full account of this development from its late eighteenth-century beginnings up to the early 1960s. It pays special attention to the institutional settings, challenging assumptions about the character of universities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the detailed exploration of syllabuses, exam papers, and other institutional records, the impact of literary criticism is revealed to be later and more partial than is commonly assumed. Rather than seeing the early teaching of English literature as 'a substitute for religion' or 'a means to soften class conflict', Collini emphasizes the role of ideals of learnedness and scholarship, as well as of external factors such as opportunities for employment in the civil service and secondary-school teaching. There are full discussions of the parts played by such figures as John Churton Collins, A. C. Bradley, George Saintsbury, and Walter Raleigh, together with sceptical analyses of the decisive significance usually attributed to Matthew Arnold, T.S. Eliot, I. A. Richards, and F. R. Leavis. Separate chapters are devoted to neglected aspects of the story such as the role of Classics, the importance of the subject for women's higher education, and the connections with English teaching in schools"-- Oxford Academic. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource. |
| Audience: | Specialized. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780191839993 019183999X 9780192520739 0192520733 9780192520722 0192520725 |