F.R.Leavis

The Cambridge critic F.R. Lewis is often cited in contemporary critical circles but few know how Leavis's work has shaped the development of English criticism and the teaching of literature in academic institutions. This book looks at the close links between Leavis's literary criticism and his social criticism. For Leavis, the proper study of literature was a means of fostering the moral discrimination necessary in the creation of an authentically human society. He saw the universities as having a central role to play in the creation of a morally discriminating public. Accordingly, much of his work is concerned with education; with defining and justifying his sense of the place of English within the university, as well as with the practicalities of curriculum design and methods of teaching and examining. Ann Samson clearly outlines Leavi's role in the development of Cambridge English and identifies the most important influences on his social and cultural criticism. This discussion, together with an account of Leavis's beliefs about the nature of university English, provides the context for an extended and balanced treatment of his literary criticism and his reshaping of the canon.