College Texts Research Articles

Chaucer and the Sociology of Literature

Chaucer and the Sociology of Literature Stephen Knight University ofSydney I know how irritating it can be to treat discourses in terms not of the gentle, silent, intimate consciousness that is expressed in them, but of an obscure set ofanonymous rules. How unpleasant it is to reveal the limitationandnecessitiesofa practice where one is used to seeing, in all its pure transparency, the expression of a genius and freedom. How provocative it is to treat as a set of transformations this history of discourses which, until now, has been animated by the reassuring metaphors of life or the intentional continuity of the lived. Michel Foucault1 MANY people feel the sodology of litetatuce cecim fam about an author, a period, an audience and, worse, diminishes the individual liberty ofauthor and reader, inhibits the notionally crucial act of free evaluation. A jumped-up relative of the 'historical' section in a traditional college text's introduction. Irritating, unpleasant and pro­ vocative, as Foucault says above, to press such inhumane determinations on literature. True, the sociology of literature is concerned with facts; it does investigate the source, nature and dynamism of what seems an author's individuality, and it seeks to inhibit evaluation that is no more than a subjective league table of authors. But the important and relatively recent property of the sociology of literature is that, from its contacts with expanding disciplines like linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, as well as from its old alliance with history, the approach has developed in the hands of European, particularly French, writers a powerful critique of the way in which literature functions in and for society. And it is also a critique of criticism, disclosing the social and political relations of the approaches traditionally pursued in literary studies. Much ofthis material has become available in English, and interpre1 The Archaeology of Knowledge, trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith (London: Tavistock, 1972), p. 210. 15 · STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER tative guides have started to appear; students and teachers can now encounter analysis which has been doubly elusive, published in foreign languages and intrinsically difficult in any case. Chaucer's texts, in their historical position and their curious polyvalence, are particularly rich ground for socio-literary analysis. Recent developments in the sociology ofliterature help to explain features that have puzzled Chaucer's critics, strained their ingenuities to explain them away; and, secondly, they indicate more fully the dynamic nature of his texts, which put them among that small group whose power outlasts their period. Idealist critics have felt the 'survival' phenomenon adequately proves that the 'best' literature is quite unconnected to its social setting. In fact the lasting power ofsome texts comes from their authentichistorical nature, theveraciousway in which theyrealizeconflicts in the social relations ofa period, in the context of-and so revealing-the ideological limits of that period. The sociology ofliterature in a fully developed form has appeared in two waves. Before discussing at some length aspects of the recent socio-literary wave, it is relevant to consider the value and the limits of the older sociology ofliterature, characterized by the work of Escarpit, Goldmann, and Lukacs. Now often criticized, even dismissed, these writers have something to offer to Chaucer studies, as the three following brief sections will argue. 1. Literary Socio-metrics Robert Escarpit has proposed, in Sociology of Literature, a model of research which seeks facts about authors and audiences, raw data from which patterns and relations can be identified. This approach has not been taken much further, though some researchers into the nineteenth century (like Richard Altick and Louis James) have covered similar ground in a more impressionistic way. Most literary sociologists pass over this socio-metric work to pursue in-text studies; their own situa­ tion, bereft of statistical skills, time and assistance for fieldwork, is no doubt a factor here, but skepticism about the value of such a specific approach has also been evident; Escarpit himself seems to have moved away from it in Le Litteraire et le social. 2 2 Robert Escarpit, Sociology of Literature, trans. E. Pick, 2nd ed. (London: Cass, 1971); Robert Escarpit, ed., Le litteraire et lesocial: elementspour unesociologiede la litterature (Paris: Flammarion, 1970).Richard Altick, The English...

Reviews

The Bar on Trial. Edited by R. Hazell. [London: Quartet Books. 1978. 221 pp. (including index). Paperback £1·95.]Violence and the Family. Edited by J. P. Martin. [Wiley. 1978. 369 pp. and index. £11·95.]Family Violence: An International and Interdisciplinary Study. Edited by John M. Eekelaar and Sanford N. Katz. [Butterworths, Canada. 1978. vii and 572 pp. £11·00.]The Modern Law of Family Provision. By John G. Ross Martyn. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1978. xiv + 90 pp. £3·00.]Land Options. By D. G. Barnsley. [Oyez Publishing Limited. London. 1978. xlix and 301 pp. (including 13 pp. index). Hardback. £15·00.]Will Precedents and Capital Transfer Tax. By D. T. Davies. [1978. Butterworths. pp. 213 and xxi. £11·00.]Shipping Law. By Robert Grime. [Concise College Texts, London, Sweet and Maxwell. 1978. xviii and 261 pp. (including index). £5·25.]A Manual of United Kingdom Oil and Gas Law. Edited by Terence Daintith and G. D. M. Willoughby. [London: Oyez Publishing. £40·00.]Trade Practices and Consumer Protection. Second Edition. By G. Q. Taperell, R. B. Vermeesch and D. J. Harland. [Sydney: Butterworths. 1978, xxxv and 732 pp. including index: A21 casebound, A16 limp.]Principles of Sentencing: The sentencing policy of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. Second edition. By David Thomas. [London: Heinemann. 1979. li and 410 pp. (including table of cases and index). Paperback £7·50 net.]Law‐and‐Order News: An Analysis of Crime Reporting in the British Press. By Steve Chibnall. [London: Tavistock Publications. xiv and 288 pp. (inc. index). £8·00.]Justice and Journalism: A Study of the Influence of Newspaper Reporting upon the Administration of Justice by Magistrates. By Marjorie Jones. [Chichester and London: Barry Rose Publishers. 180 pp. (inc. index). £3·50.]Rights of Privacy. By John H. F. Shattuck. [Skokie, Illinois: National Textbook Company in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union. 1977. xvi and 210 pp. (including index). £4·00.]The Law of Privacy in South Africa. By David Jan McQuoid‐Mason. [Cape Town: Juta & Co. Ltd. 1978. xxxviii and 272 pp. (including index). R32·00.]The Legal Sources of Public Policy. By Jay A. Sigler and Benjamin R. Beede. [Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts, Toronto. 184 pp. including index. £12·75.]The Interaction of Economics and the Law. Edited by Bernard H. Siegan. [Lexington Books. 171 pp. £9·00.]The Hidden Economy. By Stuart Henry. [London: Martin Robertson. 1978. 194 pp. Price £7·95 (hard cover.]Commercial Operations in Europe. Edited by R. M. Goode and K. R. Simmonds. [A. W. Sijthoff—Leyden/Boston. pp. xxvii and 445.]An Introductory Guide to EEC Competition Law and Practice. By V. Korah. [Oxford: ESC Publishing Ltd. 1978. 142 pp. including index. £6·75 (£7·20 incl. p. and p.).]

Family Law. By Olive M. Stone, ll.b., b.sc.(Econ.), ph.d., of Gray's Inn, Barrister, Reader in Law to the University of London at the London School of Economics and Political Science. \London: The Macmillan Press Ltd. 1977. xxxv, 262 and (Bibliography and Index) 15 pp. Cased, £12·00; paperback, £5·95 net.] - Family Law. By His Honour Judge Brian Grant, a Circuit

Family Law. By Olive M. Stone, <scp>ll.b.</scp>, <scp>b.sc.</scp>(Econ.), <scp>ph.d.</scp>, of Gray's Inn, Barrister, Reader in Law to the University of London at the London School of Economics and Political Science. \London: The Macmillan Press Ltd. 1977. xxxv, 262 and (Bibliography and Index) 15 pp. Cased, £12·00; paperback, £5·95 net.] - Family Law. By His Honour Judge Brian Grant, a Circuit

The Readability of Study Habit Books and College Students' Reading Ability

This study was undertaken to determine the readability of a representative number of study habits books used in college reading and study skills courses and to compare their readability with the reading ability of the students who use them. The Davis Reading Test scores of 110 students enrolled in reading and study skills classes and of 1,145 entering freshmen at West Chester State College were compared with the Dale-Chall readability levels of 14 study habits books. From 4.5 to 43.6 percent of the 110 students enrolled in reading and study skills classes were below the grade-level placement of the 14 study habits books. Only one study habits book had a range of 5 to 9 grade-level placements. The findings suggested that the readability of study habits books, like other college texts analyzed in readability studies, were above the reading ability of a varying number of college students who used them. It was recommended that the findings be considered in the teaching of study habits and the writing of study habits books. The need for replicating the study in other college settings and with other study skills books and readibility measures was also noted.

Saros Cowasjee.Mulk Raj Anand. Coolie. An assessment. Delhi: Oxford University Press (College and University Texts), 1976

Saros Cowasjee.<i>Mulk Raj Anand. Coolie. An assessment</i>. Delhi: Oxford University Press (College and University Texts), 1976

Sample Frequency in Application of Dale-Chall Readability Formula

Using 48 college texts, comparisons were made of Dale-Chall Readability Formula results based on samples taken from various page intervals. Results indicate that for the 48 textbooks examined, samples taken at 20, 30, 40, and 50-page intervals are as reliable as samples taken from 10 page intervals.

Sale of Goods and Consumer Credit. By A. P. Dobson, LL.B., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister, Senior Lecturer in Law, Leicester Polytechnic. (Concise College Texts.) [London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xv, 236 and (Appendix) 20 and (Index) 80 pp. Hardback, £5.00; paperback, £2.85 net.

Sale of Goods and Consumer Credit. By A. P. Dobson, LL.B., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister, Senior Lecturer in Law, Leicester Polytechnic. (Concise College Texts.) [London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xv, 236 and (Appendix) 20 and (Index) 80 pp. Hardback, £5.00; paperback, £2.85 net.

A Reconsideration of the Religious Iconography in Hartt'sHistory of Italian Renaissance Art

Frederick Hartt's History of Italian Renaissance Art (New York, 1969) is a marvelously complete and imaginative compendium of history, politics, economics, and even weather (p. 89), and it seems to have become a standard college text on the period. For this reason it is especially important to correct some of Hartt's misconceptions about the religious iconography of a number of works he discusses. Many of these mistakes may seem minor, but in a textbook each word is likely to be taken as (so to speak) gospel truth. Furthermore, the errors reflect an unfamiliarity with religious history and liturgical development that is not unusual in the field of art history. Yet, iconographically, these subjects are of great importance; certainly they were for both the artist and his patron.

Selecting the Freshman English Textbook

A REPORT in the New York Times of Thursday, November 7, 1974 (p. 43) that college textbooks are being simplified to meet the needs of poor readers; and the answers to some of the questions on the ADE Survey of Freshman English (ADE Bulletin, No. 43, November 1974, pp. 13-19) highlight the need for a careful investigation into the mysteries of college text selection. For those who teach in composition programs the quality of a textbook is an especially burning issue: one would think that whoever stresses the value of lucidity, of clear voice, of awareness of language and audience, would also exercise care in the choice of composition texts. But the news in that quarter is bleak, at least to my mind. The ADE Survey (sponsored in part by the Carnegie Commission) presents some shocking news about what is happening with freshman English texts, especially (but not exclusively) in community colleges. I should like here to look first at some specific composition textbooks with wide college audiences. I shall then try to move toward a general definition of effective classroom materials merely by suggesting questions we are forgetting to ask ourselves, but must ask if the textbook is not to vanish like the buffalo (it may already be too late-both the Survey and a letter to the Times of Monday, November 18, 1974 [p. 32] by teachers in CCNY's English department report that many college English instructors are abandoning textbooks altogether). The ADE Survey collected replies to a three-page questionnaire from 436 institutions in 49 states. Responding to a question on text choices for freshman composition, instructors most often indicated the Hodges and Whitten Harbrace College Handbook or the McCrimmon Writing with a Purpose as the basic book in the course. More than 100 institutions use the former; about 65, the latter. Among two-year units picking Harbrace were 21.6% of community colleges, 23.1% of public junior colleges, and 25% of private junior colleges. Selecting the McCrimmon text were 15.9% of community colleges and 30.8% of public junior colleges (percentages for four-year institutions are high for the two texts as well). Although I do not have many doubts as tothe effectiveness of these books for competent writers (I've used Harbrace with advanced students), both texts are ill-suited for open a..missions men and women. Aside from the high level of

The Text for Today…

TM¥ he college textbook is the crutch of Ameri' can higher education; it has almost destroyed true learning/' * Textbooks are great for a few authors and their publishers ; they make both rich. Textbooks, if not monopolistic, are oligopolistic and control the content of college courses. How often are such complaints heard in the halls of academe? Yet, one wonders whether such attacks on the college text are not still another mindless sally at another American institution. Let us first define the target, and then the attack. We are not talking about reference or scholarly titles, but strictly about textbooks, as purely an American invention as baseball and the commun-

Book reviews

LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE. Edited by Fritz Fabricius. [Athenäum Verlag. Frankfurt/M. 1973.423 pages. Bound DM 52,—.] THE PREPARATION OF LEGISLATION. Report of a Committee under the chairmanship of Sir David Renton. [London, H.M.S.O. Cmnd. 6053. 1975. £2.45 paperback.] CRIMINAL LAW : CASES AND MATERIALS. By J. C. Smith and Brian Hogan. [Butterworths. 1975. xxviii and 672 pp. (inc. index). £12.00 (hardback); £7.60 (limp).] POLICE WARNINGS. By M. Richie and J. A. Mack. [Glasgow University Bookshop, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8PP. 1974. £1.00 plus 15p postage and packing.] A GUIDE TO EUROPEAN COMMUNITY LAW. By P. S. R. F. Mathijsen. Second Edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. 262 pages. £3.80 paperback.] THE LAW OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY. By K. Lipstein. [Butterworths. 1974. xlii + 368 pp. £8.60.] COMMUNITY LAW, a selection of publications on the law of the European Economic Community and the relevant law of the original member states, compiled by C. R. Lutyens, LL.B., F.L.A. and others for the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians [B.I.A.L.L., 1973]. THE LEGAL CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK. By J. D. McClean. [Butterworths. 1975. vii and 171 pp., inc. index. £4–80 hardback; £3–20 paperback.] THE LAW OF TRUSTS. By G. W. Keeton and L. A. Sheridan. Tenth Edition. [Professional Books. 1974. xci and 524 pp. (inc. statutes and index). £8.75 (bound); £6.50 to students direct from Publishers.] THE MODERN LAW OF TRUSTS. By David Parker and Anthony Mellows. Third Edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xxx and 422 pp. (inc. index). £7 (bound); £5 (paperback).] VARIATION OF TRUSTS. By J. W. Harris. [Sweet & Maxwell. Modern Legal Studies Series. 1975. 118 pp. £2 (bound); £1.25 (paperback).] CAPITAL TRANSFER TAX. By G. S. A. Wheatcroft and G. D. Hewson. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xx and 250 pp. (inc. index). £4.50 (paperback).] THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF ARBITRATIONS. By John Parris. [George Godwin. 1974. 145 pp. £4.00.] THE LAW OF ARBITRATION. 2nd Edition. By William H. Gill. [Sweet & Maxwell. Concise College Texts. 1975. xxx and 139 pp. £2.40.] COMPENSATION FOR COMPULSORY PURCHASE: Journal of Planning and Environment Law Occasional Papers. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. 53 pages. £2.] THE LAW OF LANDLORD AND TENANT. By D. L. Evans. [Butterworths. 1974. xli and 501 pp. £4.60 (paperback).] LAND LAW. By E. Swinfen Green and N. Henderson. Third edition. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xiii and 169 pp. (inc. index). £2.20 (paperback).] CASES AND STATUTES ON EQUITY AND TRUSTS. By R. Edwards and B. Langstaff. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xvi and 203 pp. (inc. index). £2.20 (paperback).] MANAGEMENT FORUM. [The University of New England, Armidale, N.S.W., Australia.] ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND LAW: VOLUME 1, No. 1. [Elsevier Sequoia S.A., P.O. Box 851, 1001 Lausanne 1, Switzerland. 48 pp. Annual subscription (subject to currency fluctuations): £8.50 (£15.25 for libraries, etc.).] EUROPEAN COMMUNITY TREATIES. Second edition. Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Editorial Staff. Advisory Editor: K. R. Simmonds. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. xii and 310 pp. £3.25 paperback] CURRENT LAW YEAR BOOK 1974. Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. [4,025 entries (on unnumbered pages) plus 378 pages of additional material and indexes: bound.] CURRENT LAW CITATOR 1947–1974. Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. [1,614 pages: limp.] Both volumes edited by Peter Allsop (General Editor) and Janelle McKinlay (Asst. General Editor). Price of both volumes £12.50. THE NIGERIAN LAW JOURNAL. Vol. 8. 1974. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1975. 170 pages. £3.50 paperback.]

Labour Law. Second edition. By Charles D. Drake, M.A., LL.B., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Law in the University of London (Concise College Texts). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell Ltd. 1973. xxix, 638 and (Index) 12 pp. Hardback: £3.50; Paperback: £2.25 net.

Labour Law. Second edition. By Charles D. Drake, M.A., LL.B., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Law in the University of London (Concise College Texts). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell Ltd. 1973. xxix, 638 and (Index) 12 pp. Hardback: £3.50; Paperback: £2.25 net.] - Volume 33 Issue 2

Review: Concise College Texts: Contract

Review: Concise College Texts: Contract

Book Reviews

Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Labour Law . Second edition by C. D. DRAKE , Professor of Law at the University of Leeds. [ London : Sweet & Maxwell Ltd . Concise College Texts series. 1973 . xxx and 358 pp. Hardback, £3.50; paperback, £2.25.] J. PHILLIPS J. PHILLIPS *University of Kent at Canterbury Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Industrial Law Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, 1974, Pages 122–123, https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/3.1.122 Published: 01 June 1974

An Introduction to Regional Economics.

This book is designed primarily to serve as a college text for the student's first course in regional economics, at either the upperclass or the graduate level and running for either one or two terms. It presupposes no previous exposure to regional economics as such, nor anything beyond a minimal background in basic economics, nor any advanced mathematical expertise. Most of the book, and all of its essential content, should be comprehensible to the intelligent layman. The wide range of topics covered is intended to serve the needs of the student who will not be going on to more advanced and specialized courses in the regional field; those who do use it as a stepping stone to such later work will find here some useful previews of questions (especially in regional growth analysis and in urban economics) to which they will be addressing themselves more intensively later.

Family Law. By His Honour Judge H. B. Grant, Judge of County Courts; formerly Senior Scholar, Trinity College, Cambridge; Lord Justice Holker Scholar, Gray's Inn. (Concise College Texts). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell. 1970. xix, 163, and (Index) 8 pp. Hardback, £2.00; paperback, £1.10, net.

Family Law. By His Honour Judge H. B. Grant, Judge of County Courts; formerly Senior Scholar, Trinity College, Cambridge; Lord Justice Holker Scholar, Gray's Inn. (Concise College Texts). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell. 1970. xix, 163, and (Index) 8 pp. Hardback, £2.00; paperback, £1.10, net.

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Reform of the Constitution. By O. Hood Phillips, q.cSome Constitutional Problems. By K. Subba RaoEntscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts. Edited by Members of the Court.Government Enterprise—A Comparative Study. Edited by W. Friedmann and J. F. GarnerUniform Commercial Law: an Essay on International Conventions in National Courts. By O. C. GilesJournal of Maritime Law and Commerce. Edited by David M. Sassoon.A Casebook on Company Law. By H. R. HahloThe Tax Consequences upon Conversion of Property's Use. By Yaakov Neeman.The End of Marriage. By David MorrisSouth African Criminal Law and Procedure (formerly Gardiner and Lansdown): Volume 1—General Principles of Criminal Law. By Professor E. M. Burchell and P. M. A. HuntCriminal Appeals. By Michael KnightSentencing Offenders in Magistrates' Courts. By Keith Devlin.Books and Publications Received:Revenue Law. Fourth Edition by Barry PinsonLand Law. Second Edition. Concise College Texts by E. Swinfen Greek and N. HendersonThe Sale of Fiats. Third Edition by E. F. George and A. George.Remedies for Unjust Dismissal. Proposals for Legislation by G. de N. ClarkA Casebook on Tort. Second Edition by Tony WeirFreiheitsverlust und Freiheitsentziehung by J. ZuttMegarry: The Rent Acts. Volume 8. Permanent Supplement by Anna Cowan.Practice and Procedure. Third Edition by Rowland G. Witchell.Life Assurance and Tax Planning. By Peter Harris and Derek Hewson.The Law of Insurance. Third Edition. By Raoul Colinvaux

Economic Development of Modern Malaya

Journal Article Economic Development of Modern Malaya Get access Economic Development of Modern Malaya. By Lim Chong-Yah. Kuala Lumpur, London, New York, Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 1967. 388 pp. Bibliog. Index. M$28. (Second Impression, 1969. (Oxford in Asia College Texts.) 75s.) Sally Nugent Sally Nugent Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 46, Issue 4, October 1970, Pages 871–872, https://doi.org/10.2307/2614641 Published: 01 October 1970

McAlister's Vietnam

John McAlister's book is an ambitious attempt to apply current American social scientific theories of social mobilization and revolution to Vietnam. It is likely to be considered an important source since his analysis of the anti-French revolution is based on still secret and inaccessible French army files, used in conjunction with other French language sources available only in a few libraries in the U.S. It might well become popular as a college text, offering a theoretical model of revolution for those wishing to venture comparisons with other nations. It is, to my mind, a subtly and intelligently written book but an extremely biased one, and therefore worthy of careful analysis.

Civil and Criminal Procedure. By J. R. Lewis, ll.b., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. (Concise College Texts Series). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell. 1968. xxiii, 227 and (index) 9 pp. Hardback, £1 16s.; paperback, 18s. net.

Civil and Criminal Procedure. By J. R. Lewis, ll.b., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. (Concise College Texts Series). [London: Sweet &amp; Maxwell. 1968. xxiii, 227 and (index) 9 pp. Hardback, £1 16s.; paperback, 18s. net.] - Volume 28 Issue 1