Professing Literature
by Gerald Graff
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About This Book
Widely considered the standard history of the profession of literary studies, Professing Literature unearths the long-forgotten ideas and debates that created the literature department as we know it today. In a readable and often-amusing narrative, Gerald Graff shows that the heated conflicts of our recent culture wars echo—and often recycle—controversies over how literature should be taught that began more than a century ago. Updated with a new preface by the author that addresses many of the p
Our Review
This essential history of literary studies reveals how today's heated debates about teaching literature actually echo century-old conflicts that shaped the modern English department. Graff traces the forgotten arguments and institutional battles that created the discipline we know today, showing how contemporary culture wars often recycle the same fundamental controversies about what literature means and how it should be taught. His readable, often-amusing narrative makes academic history accessible while demonstrating why understanding these origins matters for anyone engaged with literary education today.
What makes this work distinctive is its ability to connect seemingly abstract academic debates to the real classroom experiences of students and teachers grappling with literary interpretation. By exposing the historical roots of current conflicts over canon formation and critical approaches, Graff provides crucial context for understanding why literature departments operate as they do. This updated edition continues to offer indispensable perspective for educators, students, and anyone curious about how the study of literature became professionalized—and why those foundational disputes still resonate powerfully in contemporary literary education.
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