So English "must transform itself"? Where has Antony Easthope been hiding for the past ten (20) years? A survey of the undergraduate curriculum by the Council for College and University English last year concluded that the discipline is dynamic and responsive to rapid change and innovation. The supposed domination of "English" English is a myth: of 72 departments responding to the survey, 58 teach post-colonial writing, 47 teach black writing and 40 teach Irish literature.
Among other components dons ranked as "essential" to an English degree were a knowledge of the historical, intellectual and cultural contexts of literature, and theoretical approaches, as well as an ability to engage in debates about ethical and human values. In other words, English develops skills that equip graduates for employment without the narrow vocationally oriented perspective that could stifle creativity, originality, empathy and imagination, qualities that so confuse Easthope but delight the rest of us. Perhaps he should attend the CCUE AGM. He might learn what the subject is.
Judy Simons Chair, CCUE De Montfort University