English People: Experience of Teaching and Learning English in British Universities

"English People" is a portrait of the subject "English" as it is experienced by teachers and students in British higher education. The author has interviewed staff and students in the Universities of Cardiff, Newcastle, Oxford and Stirling and in the former Polytechnic of North London (now the University of North London). These "English People" speak of the impact of theory, of feminism, of the experience of reading and writing, of the problems of teaching literature, of the peculiarities of Oxford and of compulsory Anglo-Saxon, of post-colonial literature, and of academic leadership in a time of financial pressure. "English People" is also an example of the way in which nations attempt to produce unity out of ethnic diversity by using the national education system and especially the subject which has the name of the national language. It questions whether "English" can still produce unity and whether is has unity itself. Is "English", like the British Isles, a varied archipelago and not a land mass? Has it deconstructed itself out of existence? The book is about students and teachers who have made this choice of subject and career, and should be of interest to past, present and aspiring students and teachers of English in universities, colleges and schools. It should also be relevant to anyone interested in Higher Education and its organization.