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An engaging literary examination of the school story, exploring the development and social significance of the genre from Tom Brown to Harry Potter.
The stories we read as children are the ones that stay with us the longest, and from the nineteenth century until the 1950s stories about schools held a particular fascination. Many will remember the goings-on at such earnest establishments as Tom Brown's Rugby, St Dominic's, Greyfriars, the Chalet School, Malory Towers and Linbury Court.
In the second part of the twentieth century, with more liberal social attitudes and the advent of secondary education for all, these moral tales lost their appeal and the school story very nearly died out. More recently, however, a new generation of compromised schoolboy and schoolgirl heroes - Pennington, Tyke Tiler, Harry Potter and Millie Roads - have given it a new and challenging relevance.
Focusing mainly on novels written for young people, From Morality to Mayhem charts the fall and rise of the school story, from the grim accounts of Victorian times to the magic and mayhem of our own age. In doing so it considers how fictional schools not only reflect but sometimes influence real life.
This captivating study will appeal to those interested in children's literature and education, both students and the general reader, taking us on a not altogether comfortable trip down memory lane.
The stories we read as children are the ones that stay with us the longest, and from the nineteenth century until the 1950s stories about schools held a particular fascination. Many will remember the goings-on at such earnest establishments as Tom Brown's Rugby, St Dominic's, Greyfriars, the Chalet School, Malory Towers and Linbury Court.
In the second part of the twentieth century, with more liberal social attitudes and the advent of secondary education for all, these moral tales lost their appeal and the school story very nearly died out. More recently, however, a new generation of compromised schoolboy and schoolgirl heroes - Pennington, Tyke Tiler, Harry Potter and Millie Roads - have given it a new and challenging relevance.
Focusing mainly on novels written for young people, From Morality to Mayhem charts the fall and rise of the school story, from the grim accounts of Victorian times to the magic and mayhem of our own age. In doing so it considers how fictional schools not only reflect but sometimes influence real life.
This captivating study will appeal to those interested in children's literature and education, both students and the general reader, taking us on a not altogether comfortable trip down memory lane.
Price: $29.99
Pages: 238
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Lutterworth Press
Publication Date:
25 October 2018
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9780718895402
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
EDUCATION / Teaching / General, Teaching skills and techniques
Julian Lovelock explores the oeuvre of archetypal school stories - exquisitions on bravery, honour, loyalty and friendship played out against the mise-en-scène of housematches, cross-country runs, midnight feasts, platitudinous assemblies, and school trips - often with alarming consequences. Halcyon days for some, emotionally crippling for others - Lovelock's book is a good place to start if you want to understand the British obsession with public schools and class.
— Dr Anthony Wallersteiner, Headmaster of Stowe
Julian Lovelock's fine new study of the English school story fills a distinct gap in the critical history of children's literature. Lovelock's range impresses as much as his critical precision: this detailed survey covers about a century and a half of the stories many Anglophone readers will have grown up with, but which have not always received the scholarly or imaginative interpretation they deserve. It's great to see recent authors like Andy Mulligan included in the roll call, along with more usual suspects from Thomas Hughes to Angela Brazil. Julian Lovelock tackles this neglected canon with aplomb, acumen, and evident enjoyment.
— Dr John Drew, Professor of English Literature, University of Buckingham
Lovelock's coverage is near-comprehensive ... Readers of From Morality to Mayhem will enjoy rediscovering, in Lovelock's humanely critical company, the books they read in their youth
— David warnes
— Dr Anthony Wallersteiner, Headmaster of Stowe
Julian Lovelock's fine new study of the English school story fills a distinct gap in the critical history of children's literature. Lovelock's range impresses as much as his critical precision: this detailed survey covers about a century and a half of the stories many Anglophone readers will have grown up with, but which have not always received the scholarly or imaginative interpretation they deserve. It's great to see recent authors like Andy Mulligan included in the roll call, along with more usual suspects from Thomas Hughes to Angela Brazil. Julian Lovelock tackles this neglected canon with aplomb, acumen, and evident enjoyment.
— Dr John Drew, Professor of English Literature, University of Buckingham
Lovelock's coverage is near-comprehensive ... Readers of From Morality to Mayhem will enjoy rediscovering, in Lovelock's humanely critical company, the books they read in their youth
— David warnes
Acknowledgements
Referencing
Introduction
Part I: Victorian School Days
Introductory: Education, Evangelism and Empire
1. The Doctor's Story
2. The Moral Story
3. The Popular Story
4. The Imperial Story
Part II: A Sense of Endings
Introductory: Decline and Fall
5. The Popular School Story
6. The Schoolboy's Story
7. The Preparatory School Story
8. The Anti-School Story
Part III: Girls' Schools and their Stories
Introductory: Morals, Manners and Mediocrity
9. The Girls' School Story
10. The Anti-Soppist Story
11. The Sunny Story
12. The Twins' Story
Part IV: The School Story Revived
Introductory: Magic and Mayhem
13. The Secondary School Story
14. The Combined School Story
15. The Magic Story
16. The Subversive School Story
Afterword
Bibliography
Index
Referencing
Introduction
Part I: Victorian School Days
Introductory: Education, Evangelism and Empire
1. The Doctor's Story
2. The Moral Story
3. The Popular Story
4. The Imperial Story
Part II: A Sense of Endings
Introductory: Decline and Fall
5. The Popular School Story
6. The Schoolboy's Story
7. The Preparatory School Story
8. The Anti-School Story
Part III: Girls' Schools and their Stories
Introductory: Morals, Manners and Mediocrity
9. The Girls' School Story
10. The Anti-Soppist Story
11. The Sunny Story
12. The Twins' Story
Part IV: The School Story Revived
Introductory: Magic and Mayhem
13. The Secondary School Story
14. The Combined School Story
15. The Magic Story
16. The Subversive School Story
Afterword
Bibliography
Index