ABSTRACT
Ever since their emergence as academic disciplines, literary studies and history have had a close but problematic relationship. As I pointed out in Chapter 1, the two subjects were sometimes taught together in early degrees at dissenting colleges in the nineteenth century, and they developed as fully fledged academic subjects at around the same time. Each of these disciplines contains elements of the other: literary studies often draws on historical material, while everything, including literature, could be said to have a history. The obvious connections between the subjects, however, have not always encouraged co-operation; they have often led to greater territoriality, as each subject has sought to consolidate its own separateness and uniqueness. It might be helpful to trace a brief history of the attempts within the disciplines to cordon themselves off from each other, before looking at more recent, interdisciplinary efforts to work across these divisions.
