Theory Before ‘Theory’—

Liberal Humanism

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH STUDIES

 Stop and Think

1. When do you think English was first taught as a

degree subject in England?
1428

1528

1628

1728

1828

1928
 Stop and Think

2. At which institution was English first taught as a

degree subject in England?
 Oxford University
 Cambridge University
 London University
 Southampton University
 Stop and Think

 True or False?

3. Until the nineteenth century you had to be a

member of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church and
male to take a degree in England.
 Stop and Think

 True or False?

4. Until the nineteenth century lecturers on degree

courses in England had to be unmarried Church of
England clergy.
 Stop and Think

 True or False?

5. Until the nineteenth century women were not

allowed to take degrees in England.
 Stop and Think

 True or False?

6. In the early twentieth century women could take

degree courses in England, but were not allowed to
receive degrees.
Higher Education in England until the early 1800s
 Ten Tenets of Liberal Humanism

1. Good literature is of timeless significance.

2. The literary text contains its own meaning within
itself.
3. To understand the text well it must be detached
from contexts and studied in isolation.
4. Human nature is essentially unchanging.
5. Individuality is something securely possessed
within each of us as our unique “essence.”
 Ten Tenets of Liberal Humanism

6. The purpose of literature is essentially the

enhancement of life and the propagation of
humane values.
7. Form and content in literature must be fused in an
organic way, so that the one grows inevitably from
the other.
8. Sincerity is a quality that resides within the
language of literature.
 Ten Tenets of Liberal Humanism

9. What is valued in literature is the “silent” showing

and demonstrating of something, rather than the
explaining, or saying, of it.
10. The job of criticism is to interpret the text, to
mediate between it and the reader.
 The Result

 Traditional English classes

 The Canon
 Advanced Placement reading lists
Things Start Changing: The 1960s - today

Photo by
Burk Uzzle
1969

Lecture Notes from Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory