From Morality to Mayhem by Julian Lovelock
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.
"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 consequencesHalcyon 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, Conference and Common Room, pp.55-7
Julian Lovelock has spent almost all his life in education - as schoolboy, student, teacher and, for twenty-five years, headmaster. More recently, he lectured in English Literature at the University of Buckingham, where he became Dean of Arts and Languages and Pro Vice-Chancellor. His Swallows, Amazons and Coots: A Reading of Arthur Ransome, published by Lutterworth in 2016, has been widely praised.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780718895402 |
| ISBN 10 | 0718895401 |
| Title | From Morality to Mayhem |
| Author | Julian Lovelock |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | James Clarke & Co Ltd |
| Year published | 2018-10-25 |
| Number of pages | 238 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |