#LiteraryTheory #TerryEagleton #EnglishLiterature #EducationHistory #CriticalThinking
The traditional English canon is a "selective tradition" that masks power relations.
It served as a ideological export to civilize colonized populations and maintain British rule. Terry eagleton the rise of english pdf
Critics like the Russian Formalists argued literature "estranges" language (making it "weird"). Eagleton counters that any language can be read as "poetic" depending on the context.
But according to literary theorist Terry Eagleton, that feeling isn't an accident. It’s a weapon. Eagleton counters that any language can be read
Eagleton’s central thesis is that the rise of English as an academic discipline was a pure, intellectual pursuit of beauty or truth. Instead, it was a political project designed to heal a fractured society.
The pivot point in Eagleton’s analysis occurs during the mid-Victorian era, driven by the rapid expansion of industrial capitalism and explosive urban growth. The Crisis of Faith Eagleton’s central thesis is that the rise of
: Thinkers like Matthew Arnold promoted literature as "the best that has been thought and said," effectively masking elitist interests as universal truths. The Ideology of the Canon
In "The Rise of English," Eagleton exposes how English Literature was "invented" to fill the void left by religion and keep the working class in check. It's a spicy, Marxist take on the history of the humanities.
Here's a brief summary:
They created a strict "Great Tradition" of literature, certifying which texts possessed moral seriousness.