Unlike classical studies (for the elite) or sciences (for utility), English could be taught across social ranks. It aimed to produce a common culture, to instill empathy, moral sensibility, and national identity. It was ideal for the emerging professional-managerial class and for training colonial administrators.
By focusing on "timeless truths," literature encouraged readers to ignore their immediate material conditions and political grievances. 2. The Ideological Shift of the 18th and 19th Centuries Terry eagleton the rise of english pdf
Eagleton focuses heavily on the early 20th-century critic and his journal Scrutiny . For Leavis, English was a "subtle, flexible, and delicate" moral discipline. The Leavisites taught students to discriminate between "life-affirming" (George Eliot, D.H. Lawrence) and "life-denying" literature. Unlike classical studies (for the elite) or sciences
Eagleton traces how the definition of "literature" itself shifted to serve the needs of the state: Terry Eagleton The Rise Of English Pdf For Leavis, English was a "subtle, flexible, and