F.R. Leavis

F. R. Leavis was one of the most potent single influences on English studies in the earlier and middle part of the twentieth century. He is best known for his radical revaluation of the accepted canon of English literature, and his impact lies in the revaluative activity itself as much as in the particular set of judgements it involved. His principal concern was with English literature as the expression of a distinctive culture. His radical revaluations, along with his sense of what it means to belong to a particular tradition, rest upon a comprehensive conception of literature and language. Furthermore, his career spanned the rise, and the subsequent renewed questioning, of English as an independent academic discipline. He maintained a passionate and intellectually grounded belief in the distinctiveness, and the cultural centrality, of English as a critical discipline, a belief which cannot be adequately described as liberal humanist, even if he would not have repudiated either term. The main purpose of the present essay will be to explicate his central belief as it is manifest with in his critical judgements. Accordingly, there follow in turn: a career survey covering the main Leavisian themes and occasions; a summary account of his conception of literature and language; an examination of his idea of social tradition of which the literary tradition is an integral part; a principled look at his rereading of literary tradition in respect of poetry and the novel; a brief look at some of the critics associated with Leavis including fellow contributors to Scrutiny : and finally a comment on the limitations and continuing significance of Leavis's thought about literature and criticism as he has himself become more distinctly an historical figure.