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The politics of literature: A cultural text for improving undergraduate literary education
Abstract
This dissertation addresses the problem of how best to teach undergraduate literature courses in the climate of challenge and hostility which surrounds traditional literary studies today. The practical purpose of the dissertation is to recommend that teachers of undergraduate literature classes not only become thoroughly familiar with current academic debates over how and which literature to teach, but that they incorporate these debates into the curriculum. The dissertation further recommends that undergraduate literature courses teach the historical circumstances which shaped literary study in America and subsequently created the issues and positions with which the current debate is concerned. The five chapters of the dissertation present an historical account of the development of literary studies in American higher education. Particular attention is paid to the influences of power and class which were brought to bear on this process from its origins in classical Greek education to its institutionalization in the late nineteenth century. This history is intended to serve as resource material for literature instructors who wish to expand their curriculum and teach undergraduates that the historical and cultural background to any text is essential to understanding its purpose and meaning. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for how teachers can incorporate cultural history into the undergraduate literature curriculum.
Subject Area
Language arts|Higher education|Education history
Recommended Citation
Wizansky, Richard Michael, "The politics of literature: A cultural text for improving undergraduate literary education" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9132936.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9132936