The constitution of English literature : the state, the nation, and the canon / Michael Gardiner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gardiner, Michael, 1970- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature.

National characteristics in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (153 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Pub. plc, 2013.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"In this extended essay, Michael Gardiner examines the ideology of the discipline of English Literature in the light of the serious redefining work on England and Englishness that has been conductedin Political Studiesin the last decade. He argues that English Literature emerges from the development of the state and that consequently it has suppressed the idea of the nation. His claim is that English Literature has lost its form since its methodology and canonicity depended so heavily on a constitutional form which can no longer be defended. He calls upon those working in English Literature to recognise that they are not really participating in the same discipline, defined by the Burkean constitutional settlement, even if they think of themselves as writing 'within the canon'. His view is that a lack of appreciation of 'hard-edged' political factors have led to a 'continuant' and regressive form of English Literature which tends to hang on to stifling methodologies. In its place, he appeals for the creation of a more open-ended, inclusive, internationalist, and comparative 'literature of England'."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Editorial preface

Acknowledgements

The literary form of the British state

The Greenwich Meridian, Greenwich

Imperial sovereignty

Modernism as constitutional conservatism

Declaring bankruptcy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-3.0 Unported CC BY-NC 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode

ISBN:

9781472544384

1472544382

9781780931081

1780931085

OCLC:

854520556

Access Restriction:

Unrestricted online access