Exploding English: Criticism, Theory, Culture(Clarendon Paperbacks)

What is going on in English studies? Bernard Bergonzi, a literary critic and teacher, who has also published poetry and fiction and has been involved in university administration, seeks to answer this frequently-raised question. With the advent of theory and the accompanying bitter controversies, English studies have changed rapidly and the author describes the developments he has experienced in England and the United States since he began university teaching in 1959. Exploding English brings together elements of critical theory, intellectual history, and the sociology of knowledge, with a linking thread of autobiography.

Review :
`a readable anecdotal collection of Bergonzi's pieces on literary study in modern England' American Literary Scholarship `Exploding English is a substantial contribution to the debate on the troubled condition of English studies....Interested outsiders as well as academics, prospective as well as present students, and those with administrative responsibility for the future course of English studies could all benefit from reading this book.' Roy Sellars, Theatre Research International `...his new book offers a balanced and eminently readable account of an ailing British institution, spiced with a journalstic eye for extremes, an awareness of schism and revolt, and a whiff of apocalypticism.' Patrick Parrinder, Notes and Queries June 1991 `he mainly instructs and delights the reader with "deliberate detachment", understated humour, and the finely judged wounds of a stylish swordsman ... the persuasiveness and wisdom Bergonzi generates must be experienced from the book, which concerns everyone.' Herbert Lomas, Sunday Telegraph `he provides in ten succinct, informative, and for the most part beautifully articulated chapters, a narrative history of the "institutionalising of literary study in higher education".' The Listener `lively, witty, highly personal and full of a combative energy' Times Educational Supplement 'wide-ranging account ... a lively and carefully argued book ... the kindliness and the quietly humorous down-to-earth-ness Bergonzi projects is itself a touchstone, by which to test the reality and worth of the apparitions which throng that world. I hope that the humane, patient and sensible attitudes, the intelligence and the wit of this book, will be reflected in the discussions it provokes.' John Freeman, University of Wales College of Cardiff, Verbal Arts Association Magazine, December 1990 `Bernard Bergonzi provides a literate and articulate intellectual history of English Literature in the British Academy while making perceptive comments on literary studies in American universities.' English Language Notes 'undoubtedly a highly readable account' David Punter, University of Stirling, Modern Language Review, Vol. 87 'absorbing ... the book serves to make its readers aware of the imminence of intellectual bankruptcy in the study of literature in higher education, it will have served an honourable purpose' English Studies, Volume 72, Number 6, December 1991