Canons and Contexts

this Collection Of Essays Places Issues Central To Literary Study, Particularly The Question Of The Canon, In The Context Of Institutional Practices In American Colleges And Universities. Lauter Addresses Such Crucial Concerns As What Students Should Read And Study, How Standards Of Quality Are Defined And Changed, The Limits Of Theoretical Discourse, And The Ways Race, Gender, And Class Shape Not Only Teaching, Curricula, And Research Priorities, But Collegiate Personnel Actions As Well. The Book Examines Critically The Variety Of Recent Proposals For Reforming Higher Education, And It Calls Into Question Many Practices, Like Employing Large Numbers Of Part-timers, Now Popular With College Managers. Offering Concrete Examples Of A Comparative Method For Teaching Literary Texts, And Specific Instances About Integrating Curricula, canons And Contexts Proposes Realistic Ideas For Creating Varied, Spirited, And Democratic Classrooms And Colleges. This Collection Of Essays Places Issues Central To Literary Study, Particularly The Question Of The Canon, In The Context Of Institutional Practices In American Colleges Universities. Lauter Addresses Such Crucial Concerns As What Students Should Read And Study, How Standards Of Quality Are Defined And Changed, The Limits Of Theoretical Discourse, And The Ways Race, Gender, And Class Shape Not Only Teaching, Curricula, And Research Priorities, But Collegiate Personnel Actions As Well. The Book Examines Critically The Variety Of Recent Proposals For Reforming Higher Education, And It Calls Into Question Many Practices--like Employing Large Numbers Of Part-timers--now Popular With College Managers. Offering Concrete Examples Of A Comparative Method Of Teaching Literary Texts, And Specific Instances For Integrating Curricula, Canons And Contexts Proposes Realistic Ideas For Creating Varied, Spirited And Democratic Classrooms And Colleges--back Cover. The Canon And The Literary Profession -- Society And The Profession, 1958-83 -- Race And Gender In The Shaping Of The American Literary Canon: A Case Study From The Twenties -- The Literatures Of America--a Comparative Discipline -- Reconstructing American Literature--curricular Issues -- Teaching Nineteenth-century American Woman Writers -- The Two Criticisms--or, Structure, Lingo, And Power In The Discourse Of Academic Humanists -- Canon Theory And Emergent Practice -- The University And The Republic -- Retrenchment--what The Managers Are Doing -- A Scandalous Misuse Of Faculty--adjuncts -- Beyond Consciousness Raising--changing Institutions -- University Reform--threat Or Opportunity -- Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth -- Whose Culture? Whose Literacy? -- The Book Of Bloom And The Discourse Of Difference. Paul Lauter. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 18 PART I: The Canon and the Literary Profession......Page 20 Society and the Profession, 1958–83......Page 22 Race and Gender in the Shaping of the American Literary Canon: A Case Study from the Twenties......Page 41 The Literatures of America—A Comparative Discipline......Page 67 Reconstructing American Literature—Curricular Issues......Page 116 Teaching Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers......Page 133 The Two Criticisms—or, Structure, Lingo, and Power in the Discourse of Academic Humanists......Page 152 Canon Theory and Emergent Practice......Page 173 PART II: The University and The Republic......Page 192 Retrenchment—What the Managers Are Doing......Page 194 A Scandalous Misuse of Faculty—Adjuncts......Page 217 Beyond Consciousness Raising—Changing Institutions......Page 229 University Reform—Threat or Opportunity......Page 244 Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth......Page 262 Whose Culture? Whose Literacy?......Page 275 The Book of Bloom and the Discourse of Difference......Page 291 A......Page 306 C......Page 307 D......Page 308 G......Page 309 J......Page 310 M......Page 311 P......Page 312 S......Page 313 W......Page 314 Z......Page 315 Lauter is one of the leading figures in the project known as Reconstructing American Literature. The essays in this book represent his effort to establish a theory of 'Canonical Criticism'. They reflect the eloquence and passion of a serious commitment to understanding and influencing the relationship between social justice, academic freedom, and literary history The essays in this volume represent the author's effort to reconstruct American literature by establishing a theory of "canonical criticism", which aims to open up the canon of American literature to the works of women, minorities and working-class writers