ABSTRACT
English has been linked to the view that people need to be ‘civilised’ and provided with values through the study of literature. Looking at the development of English in Chapter 1, it is clear that this idea was intended, subtly but firmly, to force people into a single mould of ‘civilised Englishness’. However, the world in which we live now is not the same as the world inhabited by the Leavises and others who shaped the subject. Where the founders of English wanted people to
be similar, now we appreciate and celebrate difference. Where they offered certainties and definite answers, we are aware that there are rarely clear-cut solutions and final judgements. We are much less sure about many things that they took for granted. And if our world-views are changing, so must our expectations of English. These changes are most clearly explained and explored by looking at the crucial issue of interpretation.
