The Triumph of Literature/the Fate of Literacy

In examining how literature is read and interpreted - in actual classrooms - through the lenses of Matthew Arnold, F.R.Leavis, Louise Rosenblatt and Northrop Frye, Dr Willinsky finds that their influence has failed to create "the sort of articulate, outspoken literacy in students that might extend the democratic basis of community and state, and that would give students a greater stake in a literate culture". In fact, the potential of these critics' power - to foster a more diverse literacy that could encompass not only the acknowledged great works of "Shakespeare and Co", but also the words of lyricists, journalists, and legislators - remains largely unfulfilled.;More than a book about better teaching methods, this volume speaks to a broader constituency that has grown deeply concerned about where the schools have gone awry. By addressing the crucial but often overlooked interplay between literary criticism and public education, it offers readers a chapter of intellectual history which students continue to encounter on a daily basis and which shapes the state of literacy in ways that have rarely been acknowledged.;Its original thesis should be of interest to English teachers and professors, teacher educators, reading and curriculum specialists, and language and literacy professionals and researchers.