F. R. Leavis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
F. R. Leavis
CH
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Leavis pictured in his Friends' Ambulance Unit uniform, 1915.
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| Born |
Frank Raymond Leavis
14 July 1895 |
| Died | 14 April 1978 (aged 82) Cambridge, England
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| Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
| Known for | New Bearings in English Poetry (1932) The Great Tradition (1948) The Common Pursuit (1952) Two Cultures? The Significance of C. P. Snow (lecture; 1962) |
| Spouse(s) |
Queenie Leavis
(m. 1929) |
| Children | 3 |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Downing College, Cambridge University of York |
| Thesis | The Relationship of Journalism to Literature (1924) |
| Influences | |
| Influenced |
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Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis (born July 14, 1895 – died April 14, 1978) was an important English literary critic. He lived in the early and middle parts of the 20th century. He spent most of his career teaching at Downing College, Cambridge. Later, he also taught at the University of York.
Leavis was one of the most well-known English-speaking critics in the 1950s and 1960s. A writer named J. B. Bamborough said in 1963 that "almost everyone who seriously studied English literature was influenced by him."
Clive James, another writer, described Leavis as someone who walked very quickly. He said Leavis looked "as if walking briskly was something he had practised in a wind-tunnel."
Contents
Early Life and School Days
F. R. Leavis was born in Cambridge, England, in 1895. His father, Harry Leavis, owned a shop that sold pianos and other musical instruments. Leavis always respected his father.
He went to The Perse School in Cambridge. The headmaster, Dr. W. H. D. Rouse, was a expert in classical languages. He made teachers speak Latin and Greek with students in class. Leavis felt he could only truly understand and speak about his native English language.
Leavis won a scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, to study history. When he was 19, Britain declared war on Germany. Leavis left Cambridge after his first year.
War Experience
In 1915, Leavis joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) in York. This group helped injured soldiers. When conscription (being forced to join the army) started in 1916, FAU members were recognized as conscientious objectors. This meant they did not have to fight because of their beliefs.
Leavis said that after the terrible Battle of the Somme, no one who knew about modern war would want to join the army. He worked in France, behind the fighting lines. He carried a book of John Milton's poems with him.
His time in the war affected him deeply. He often had trouble sleeping. He believed that exposure to poison gas from soldiers' clothes hurt his health. He also said his poor digestion was from "the things I didn't say." Leavis took a long time to recover from the war. He called it "the great hiatus" (a big gap or break).
Return to Cambridge and PhD
After the war, in 1919, Leavis went back to Cambridge. He finished his history degree. Then, he switched to study English in the new English School. Even though he got top grades, he wasn't chosen for a research position. Instead, he decided to get a PhD, which was unusual for academics back then.
In 1924, Leavis wrote his PhD paper about "The Relationship of Journalism to Literature." This paper looked at how newspapers and magazines developed in England. This topic helped him think about how publications can shape a community's culture.
Leavis's Career and Ideas
In 1927, Leavis became a lecturer at the university. His early writings were shaped by his teaching. In 1929, he married Queenie Roth, one of his students. They worked together on many important critical books.
The year 1932 was very important for them. Leavis published New Bearings in English Poetry. His wife published Fiction and the Reading Public. Also, they started a quarterly magazine called Scrutiny.
Teaching and Scrutiny
In 1931, Leavis became the director of English studies at Downing College. He taught there for 30 years. He used Scrutiny to share his new ideas about literary criticism. He believed in high intellectual standards. He wanted to review traditional literature carefully and identify important new works. His criticism was influenced by his teaching, focusing on what was essential for students to learn.
New Ideas in Poetry
New Bearings in English Poetry was Leavis's first major book of criticism. It showed his own critical views. He is often linked to the American "New Critics." This group focused on reading poems very closely. They looked at the poem itself, not just the poet's life or history. Leavis also focused on the artwork itself. However, he believed that a poem was connected to the society and culture it came from. New Bearings focused on poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Butler Yeats, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound.
Culture and Education
In 1933, Leavis published For Continuity, a collection of essays from Scrutiny. He also wrote Culture and the Environment with Denys Thompson. These books emphasized the importance of well-trained, intelligent people in university English departments. He believed these people could help keep English culture and literature alive.
In Education and the University (1943), Leavis argued that language is not just a tool for thinking. He said it carries the history and ideas of a community.
Views on Novels
In 1948, Leavis wrote The Great Tradition, about the English novel. He believed a "great tradition" included authors like Jane Austen, George Eliot, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad. At first, he didn't include famous authors like Charles Dickens. He called Dickens a "mere entertainer." But later, he changed his mind after other critics praised Dickens. Leavis then published Dickens the Novelist in 1970.
The Common Pursuit, another collection of his essays, came out in 1952. This is one of his most famous and influential works.
The Two Cultures Debate
A decade later, Leavis became very well-known for his lecture, Two Cultures? The Significance of C. P. Snow. This was a response to C. P. Snow's idea that people in science and humanities should understand each other. Snow said that not knowing about 20th-century physics was like not knowing Shakespeare. Leavis strongly disagreed with Snow's ideas.
Later Life and Legacy
In 1964, Leavis left his position at Downing College. He then became a visiting professor at other universities, including the University of Bristol, the University of Wales, and the University of York. His last books of criticism were Nor Shall My Sword (1972), The Living Principle (1975), and Thought, Words and Creativity (1976).
He received an honor called Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1978.
F. R. Leavis passed away in 1978 at the age of 82. His wife, Queenie D. Leavis, died in 1981. He was even a character in a 1991 BBC TV show called The Last Romantics. The show focused on his relationship with his mentor, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, and his students.
