Memoirs of a Leavisite : the decline and fall of Cambridge English / David Ellis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ellis, David, 1939- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Leavis, F. R. (Frank Raymond), 1895-1978.

Leavis, F. R.

English literature--Study and teaching (Higher)--England--Cambridge--History--20th century.

English literature.

English literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

English teachers--Great Britain--Biography.

English teachers.

Critics--Great Britain--Biography.

Critics.

Cambridge (England)--Intellectual life--20th century.

Cambridge (England).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 151 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the second half of the last century, the teaching of English literature was very much influenced and, in some places, entirely dominated by the ideas of F. R. Leavis.What was it like to be taught by this iconic figure? How and why did one become a Leavisite? In this unique book, part memoir, part study of Leavis, David Ellis takes himself as representative of that pool of lower middle class grammar school pupils from which Leavisites were largely recruited, and explores the beliefs of both the Leavises, their lasting impact on him and why ultimately they were doomed to failure.At the heart of this book are questions about what English should and can be that are by no means finally settled.

Contents:

Holloway

First Impressions

Sanctimonious prick?

Close reading

Time out

QDL

Class

Politics

France

The Richmond lecture

Loose end

Research

Theory

Australia

Shakespeare, Stendhal and James Smith

Teaching in the UK

Lawrence

... and Eliot

Epilogue.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Aug 2017).

ISBN:

1-78138-932-2

1-84631-802-5

OCLC:

875241067