The reading of poetry : appreciation and evaluation
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Date
2001
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Abstract
The impulse that prompted me to the writing of this thesis is a profound uneasiness
about the way in which the Humanities are being undervalued in the
eyes of the world today, and nowhere more so, it increasingly seems, than at
educational institutions, especially South African universities. As mechanisation
and commodification become more and more the order of the day, and as
technology replaces human interchange, the passions and sympathies of
man, so powerfully expressed in English literature, steadily become of secondary
importance.
My focus here, then, is on the vital importance of English literature in the
affairs of human beings and their daily interactions with the world around
them. My attention will be directed mainly towards poetry, for I believe that
even amongst those who do read good books, a large proportion eschew poetry
and, in a sense, fear it. My experience in teaching at secondary and tertiary
levels of education has shown me that this is because students have not
been given, or adequately instructed in the use of, the tools with which to understand
or to appreciate poetry in more than a very superficial way, and that
this lack leads to their not devoting much time or attention to it. Also, because
they fail to understand more than simply the contents of a poem (and sometimes
not even this), and because they are aware that there is a deeper significance
to a good poem than what they perceive, students and other readers
feel inadequate, and shy away from poetry altogether. Of course, I do not include
amongst these readers those who daily concern themselves with Iitera-ture and who have made it one of the mainsprings of their lives. I am aware,
too, that every generalisation has its exceptions and that there are people who
at an instinctive, as well as a cognitive level, fully comprehend what the poet
is saying.
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, 2001.
Keywords
English poetry--History and criticism.