Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Whoops
Terry Eagleton's culprit for literature falling out of favor is not lack of interest in reading, but the failure of religion. Also the middle classes failure to assimilate those below them, and that if those below fail to win sympathy society falls into anarchy. Literature is an ideology, which asks questions of social power. Readers unconvinced can find narratives to be persuaded. The rise of English took considerably longer to win the hearts of those in oxford and Cambridge, deemed for women and workers wishing to impress natives. Literature was its own society, important as a whole social ideology.
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Kim,
ReplyDeleteI think you made some good points about the sociological issues related to Eagleton's essay, such as the possibility of an uprising of lower classes if they are made unhappy with the social order. I think, however, that your summary is a little scattered and could use a bit of organization. Also, Eagleton's point, I believe, was not that literature fell out of favor because of the failure religion but rather that literature came into favor because of the failure of religion.
Overall, I think you've created a good overview of the essay, but it could use a bit of refining.
Abby