THE VICTORIAN AGE--Blamires

THE VICTORIAN AGE

 Blamires

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers—

Approaches--Unit III

Summary by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Syllabus for Unit III

The Romantic Age (Blamires, pp 217-380)

The Victorian Age

The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades

The Twentieth Century II: Post-war Developments

Introduction

The Victorian Age was a period of consolidation in terms of peace and prosperity, in terms of wealth and power and in terms of artistic productivity. The rule of Queen Victoria began with the stage coach and ended with a network of railways. It was comparatively an age of peace though the Crimean War (1853-56) and the Indian Mutiny (1857-58) can be cited as exceptions. On the Origin of Species  by Darwin opened up debate in the intellectual circles. The Oxford movement by Newman created much confusion in religion. Though there were many doubts and uncertainties in the Victorian Age, these can never be compared to the tumultuous and catastrophic events of the twentieth century. Thus the twentieth century looks back at the Victorian Period as a stable era.  

The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, Lynn White, Jr.

The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis

Lynn White, Jr.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON LYNN WHITE   (Cited from the internet)

Lynn Townsend White Jr. (April 29, 1907 – March 30, 1987) was a professor of medieval history at Princeton from 1933 to 1937, and at Stanford from 1937 to 1943. He was president of Mills College, Oakland, from 1943 to 1958 and a professor at University of California, Los Angeles from 1958 until 1987. Lynn White helped to found The Society of History and Technology (SHOT) and was its president from 1960 to 1962. He won the Pfizer Award for "Medieval Technology and Social Change" from the History of Science Society (HSS) and the Leonardo da Vinci medal and Dexter prize from SHOT in 1964 and 1970. He was president of the History of Science Society from 1971 to 1972, of The Medieval Academy of America from 1972-1973, and the American Historical Association in 1973.

Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis Cheryll Glotfelty--Ecocriticism

Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis

Cheryll Glotfelty

An avid reader, nature lover, and concerned planetary citizen, Cheryll Glotfelty was hired by the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1990, as America's first professor of literature and environment.

In 1996, she and Harold Fromm co-edited The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, a critical anthology that helped green the field of literary studies. She is co-founder and past president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. Glotfelty has offered graduate seminars on ecocriticism and theory; regionalism and bioregionalism; literature of the wild; representing the other--animals in literature; environmental justice literature and theory; and ecofeminism.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS--Blamiers

The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades PART II--Blamires

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers—

Approaches--Unit III

Summary by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Syllabus for Unit III
The Romantic Age (Blamires, pp 217-380)
The Victorian Age
The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades
The Twentieth Century II: Post-war Developments

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS

English literary criticism was strongly influenced by European thoughts and ideas during the post-war period. This gave a cosmopolitan character to studies in literary criticism.

Since the Second World War we see an escalation in the way fashions succeed each other in the field of literary criticism. Moreover in the early years of the century there was always a link between creative writing and critical output. But this relationship totally disappeared at the post-war period.

Before looking at the various theories that flourished during this period, let us look at the contributions of two major critics whom it is difficult to classify as belonging to particular schools.

The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades PART II--Blamires

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers—

Approaches--Unit III

Summary by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Syllabus for Unit III
The Romantic Age (Blamires, pp 217-380)
The Victorian Age
The Twentieth Century I: The Early Decades
The Twentieth Century II: Post-war Developments

The Twentieth Century: The Early Decades

PART II

[the study  material is in two parts]

Academic Criticism

George Saintsbury,  Herbert Grierson,  A. E. Housman, A.C. Bradley, E. K. Chambers and W.P.Ker

Most of the critics of the early twentieth century were creative writers. None of them except Ford held academic positions or were involved in the teaching of English Literature.

However a group of critics who were mainly teachers of literature dominated the academic arena. Students of literature turned towards them for critical help. The average student was more indebted to them than to James or Yeats, Ford or Eliot. These critics kept alive the tradition of narrative criticism in which writers were historically placed, their works explored and their personalities explored. These critics  were known as academic critics. They are George Saintsbury,  Herbert Grierson,  A. E. Housman, A.C. Bradley, E. K. Chambers and W.P.Ker.