Synopses & Reviews
The current debate about the nature of English studies has questioned the status of English as a discipline. Josephine Guy and Ian Small set this so-called "crisis in English" within the larger context of disciplinary knowledge. They examine the teaching of English and literary studies in the United States and Britain, and argue that the attempt by some radical critics to politicize the discipline has profound consequences for the nature of English studies. In the process they demystify issues and arguments that have often been obscured by jargon and polemic.
Review
"Josephine Guy and Ian Small are extremely skilled in the arts of analysis and argumentation. Their book is a densely argued inquiry into what happens when people within English studies come to the conclusion that all literature is political, and that all judgments about literature are political as well." John L. Kijinski, English Literature in Transition
Synopsis
The impact of the 'theory industry' on English studies, and its implications for the future.
Synopsis
The current debate about the nature of English studies has questioned the status of English as a discipline. Josephine Guy and Ian Small set this so-called "crisis in English" within the larger context of disciplinary knowledge. They examine the teaching of English and literary studies in the United States and Britain, and argue that the attempt by some radical critics to politicize the discipline has profound consequences for the nature of English studies. In the process they demystify issues and arguments that have often been obscured by jargon and polemic.
Table of Contents
1. Preliminaries; 2. The nature of disciplinary knowledge; 3. Authority and value; 4. Value in literary history; 5. Value in text-editing; 6. The discipline of English.