The Rise and Fall of English; Reconstructing English as a Discipline

In this lucid book, an eminent scholar, teacher, and author takes a critical look at the nature and direction of English studies in America today. Robert Scholes offers a thoughtful and optimistic argument to preserve the best in the English tradition of verbal and textual studies, while arguing for a radical reconstruction of the discipline of English--away from political issues and a specific canon of texts and toward a canon of methods. Book jacket.

Robert Scholes is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities at Brown University.