The making of the English literary canon: from the Middle Ages to the late eighteenth century

It Is Widely Accepted Among Literary Scholars That Canon-formation Began In The Eighteenth Century When Scholarly Editions And Critical Treatments Of Older Works, Designed To Educate Readers About The National Literary Heritage, Appeared For The First Time. In The Making Of The English Literary Canon Trevor Ross Challenges This Assumption, Arguing That Canon-formation Was Going On Well Before The Eighteenth Century But Was Based On A Very Different Set Of Literary And Cultural Values. Covering A Period That Extends From The Middle Ages To The Institutionalization Of Literature In The Eighteenth Century, Ross's Comprehensive History Traces The Evolution Of Cultural Attitudes Towards Literature In English Society, Highlighting The Diverse Interests And Assumptions That Defined And Shaped The Literary Canon. Ht. 1. Versions Of Canonic Harmony. 1. Early Gestures -- Pt. 2. Consequences Of Presentism. 2. Albion's Parnassus And The Professional Author. 3. Uses Of The Dead -- Pt. 3. Defining A Cultural Field. 4. Value Into Knowledge. 5. Fall Of Apollo -- Pt. 4. Consumption And Canonic Hierarchy. 6. Reading The Canon. 7. Basis For Criticism. Epilogue: How Poesy Became Literature. Trevor Ross. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. It is widely accepted among literary scholars that canon-formation began in the eighteenth century when scholarly editions and critical treatments of older works, designed to educate readers about the national literary heritage, appeared for the first time. In The Making of the English Literary Canon Trevor Ross challenges this assumption, arguing that canon formation was going on well before the eighteenth century but was based on a very different set of literary and cultural values. Covering a period that extends from the Middle Ages to the institutionalization of literature in the eighteenth century, Ross's comprehensive history traces the evolution of cultural attitudes toward literature in English society, highlighting the diverse interests and assumptions that defined and shaped the literary canon.An indigenous canon of letters, Ross argues, had been both the hope and aim of English authors since the Middle Ages. Early authors believed that promoting the idea of a national literature would help publicize their work and favour literary production in the vernacular. Ross places these early gestures toward canon-making in the context of the highly rhetorical habits of thought that dominated medieval and Renaissance culture, habits that were gradually displaced by an emergent rationalist understanding of literary value. He shows that, beginning in the late seventeenth century, canon-makers became less concerned with how English literature was produced than with how it was read and received. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE: VERSIONS OF CANONIC HARMONY 1 Early Gestures To the Coming of Print Dissolution in the Catalogues of Leland and Bale Evaluative Communities and Print Audiences PART TWO: CONSEQUENCES OF PRESENTISM 2 Albion's Parnassus and the Professional Author Promoting the Literary System: Classicism and the Problem of Modernity Revision in Greene's Vision The "Workes" of Benjamin Jonson and the Canonical Text Resentment in Drayton's "To My Most Dearely-Loved Friend Henery Reynolds Esquire, of Poets and Poesie" 3 The Uses of the Dead Elegies to Donne and jonson Proving Wit by Power "Nor let us call him Father anie more": The Cavaliers on Chaucer PART THREE: DEFINING A CULTURAL FIELD 4 Value into Knowledge The Grounds of Value Values in Literature Value and Cultural Change 5 The Fall of Apollo Sessions of the Poets "I lisp'd in Numbers, for the Numbers came": Pope and the Poetic Compulsion The Rejection of Classicism PART FOUR: CONSUMPTION AND CANONICHIERARCHY 6 Reading the Canon Addison Reads Milton Teaching to Read Inexhausting Shakespeare 7 A Basis for Criticism The Logic of Differentiation The Wartons on the Canon Johnson and the Paradox of Value Epilogue: How Poesy Became Literature Notes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y "It is widely accepted among literary scholars that canon-formation began in the eighteenth century when scholarly editions and critical treatments of older works, designed to educate readers about the national literary heritage, appeared for the first time. In The Making of the English Literary Canon Trevor Ross challenges this assumption, arguing that canon-formation was going on well before the eighteenth century but was based on a very different set of literary and cultural values. Covering a period that extends from the Middle Ages to the institutionalization of literature in the eighteenth century, Ross's comprehensive history traces the evolution of cultural attitudes towards literature in English society, highlighting the diverse interests and assumptions that defined and shaped the literary canon."--Résumé de l'éditeur Annotation It is widely accepted among literary scholars that canon-formation began in the eighteenth century when scholarly editions and critical treatments of older works, designed to educate readers about the national literary heritage, appeared for the first time. In The Making of the English Literary Canon Trevor Ross challenges this assumption, arguing that canon-formation was going on well before the eighteenth century but was based on a very different set of literary and cultural values. Covering a period that extends from the Middle Ages to the institutionalization of literature in the eighteenth century, Ross's comprehensive history traces the evolution of cultural attitudes toward literature in English society, highlighting the diverse interests and assumptions that defined and shaped the literary canon The author argues that canon-formation was going on as early as the middle ages by authors who believed that promoting the idea of a national literature would help publicize their work and favor literary production in the vernacular. He then points out that beginning in the late 1600s, canon-makers became less concerned with how literature was produced than with how it was read and received. His main point is that the realization of how canon-formation has changed over time should inform current debates over the canon. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.