What English Was

Author: Gooder R. D.  

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISSN: 1471-6836

Source: The Cambridge Quarterly, Vol.34, Iss.3, 2005-01, pp. : 297-311

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Abstract

The author outlines the development of the Cambridge English literature course — the English Tripos — from its origins at the time of the First World War down to the late 1960s, when The Cambridge Quarterly was founded. He describes those features of the course which make it a ‘discipline’, and argues that the large increase in the number of those wishing to study English at university level has made it difficult to sustain them. He suggests that the study of English literature might be better served in this country if it were offered not so much as a single honours course, but as part of a more general degree similar to those found in American liberal arts colleges.