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5. Lessons of History

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Masks of Conquest
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5 Lessons of History And so they who listened with rapture to the songs of the bards overran the provinces of those who were charmed with the fairy tale. -Asiatic Journal (1831), 32:142 THE ORIENTATION ofliterary study to the cultural heritage contained in a national past is a fairly new phenomenon, displacing an older rhetorical tradition. The inaugural lecture of A. J. Scott at University College, London, in 1848 is said to be the earliest instance of a formal academic plea for the study of literature as an expression of the culture of an age and as a reflection of society. By 1852 the historical study of English literature was firmly established in University College. In 1875 the alliance between literature and history was given institutional expres-sion with the merging of the chair of English literature with that of history. Never very stable or clear on the point of the relationship between language and literature, English as a discipline became even more blurred and confused when a separate chair was created for English language in that same year.

5 Lessons of History And so they who listened with rapture to the songs of the bards overran the provinces of those who were charmed with the fairy tale. -Asiatic Journal (1831), 32:142 THE ORIENTATION ofliterary study to the cultural heritage contained in a national past is a fairly new phenomenon, displacing an older rhetorical tradition. The inaugural lecture of A. J. Scott at University College, London, in 1848 is said to be the earliest instance of a formal academic plea for the study of literature as an expression of the culture of an age and as a reflection of society. By 1852 the historical study of English literature was firmly established in University College. In 1875 the alliance between literature and history was given institutional expres-sion with the merging of the chair of English literature with that of history. Never very stable or clear on the point of the relationship between language and literature, English as a discipline became even more blurred and confused when a separate chair was created for English language in that same year.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Preface to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition xi
  4. Acknowledgments xxv
  5. Introduction 1
  6. 1. The Beginnings of English Literary Study 23
  7. 2. Praeparatio Evangelica 45
  8. 3. ″One Power, One Mind“ 68
  9. 4. Rewriting English 94
  10. 5. Lessons of History 118
  11. 6. The Failure of English 142
  12. 7. Conclusion: Empire and the Western Canon 166
  13. Notes 171
  14. Select bibliography 189
  15. Index 199
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https://doi.org/10.7312/visw17169-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Preface to the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition xi
  4. Acknowledgments xxv
  5. Introduction 1
  6. 1. The Beginnings of English Literary Study 23
  7. 2. Praeparatio Evangelica 45
  8. 3. ″One Power, One Mind“ 68
  9. 4. Rewriting English 94
  10. 5. Lessons of History 118
  11. 6. The Failure of English 142
  12. 7. Conclusion: Empire and the Western Canon 166
  13. Notes 171
  14. Select bibliography 189
  15. Index 199
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