Literary Praxis and Pedagogic Philosophy in British Educative Fiction After Rousseau
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University of Cambridge Faculty of English Literary Praxis and Pedagogic Philosophy in British Educative Fiction after Rousseau Oliver Melvill Homerton College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2018 DECLARATION This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. The thesis does not exceed the regulation length, including footnotes, references and appendices but excluding the bibliography. This thesis conforms to the most recent edition of the MHRA Style Book. Oliver Melvill Cambridge, 2018 2 ABSTRACT LITERARY PRAXIS AND PEDAGOGIC PHILOSOPHY IN BRITISH EDUCATIVE FICTION AFTER ROUSSEAU OLIVER MELVILL Finding its origin in the educational philosophy forwarded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1760s, this thesis examines how the experimental system of education proposed in Emile or On Education (1762) was received and adapted in the educative writing of Maria Edgeworth, Mary Hays and William Godwin. Focusing primarily on Edgeworth’s Belinda (1801), Hays’s Memoirs of Emma Courtney (1798), and Godwin’s Fleetwood (1805), this thesis examines how Rousseau’s educational model was adapted towards the end of the 1790s as a philosophy of literary reception that was grounded in active, practical experimentation and literary praxis. Drawing a line between didacticism and education, Rousseau opened up the possibility for an educational philosophy that shifted the focus away from didactic pedagogy towards an understanding of education that focused on the act of reception rather than the imparting of ideas. While many critics have, like Godwin, focused on the implications that this shift in perspective has had for the relationship between the teacher and pupil, less apparent is how Rousseau’s experiential educational model was revised towards the end of the eighteenth century in ways that reframed the role that literature could play in education. What Maria Edgeworth, Mary Hays and William Godwin recognise in the 1790s is that the interaction between the reader and the novel has the potential to function in a fundamentally similar fashion to the relationship Rousseau theorises in Emile between his student and the physical world. Focusing on how each of these writers envisions the act of reading, this thesis demonstrates how, within the Rousseauvean educational framework, reading is reconstituted by Edgeworth, Hays and Godwin as a practical, empirically justifiable educational act. Through an examination of this experiential approach to literary 3 reception, this thesis explores how the growing emphasis on the practical nature of the interaction between readers and literary texts functions to involve readers in the educational process. Through this conception of active readerly reception, works like Belinda, Memoirs of Emma Courtney and Fleetwood open up the possibility for a form of auto-education that, I argue, enables a movement towards a democratisation of education that could be situated outside of the bounds of institutionalised educational systems. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. Declaration ………………………………………………………………………………………………….2 Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 Contents ………………………………………………………………………………………………….5 Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 Chapter one: Introduction: Rousseau and Reading as Educational Praxis.……..….8 Chapter two: ‘La Servante Du Jardinier’: Emile and Learning to Read with Rousseau………………………………………………………………………………....30 Chapter three: ‘Wit Enough to Find it Out’: Practical Education and a Lesson in Morals in Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda…….………………….……………….65 Chapter four: ‘A More Striking and Affecting Lesson’: Emotional Experience in Mary Hays’s Memoirs of Emma Courtney……………………………….…103 Chapter five: Literary ‘Tendency’ and the Act of Reading in William Godwin’s Fleetwood…………………………...…….…………….…………….………….……136 Chapter six: Conclusion: or, The New Prometheus......................................................169 Bibliography ..….….……………………………………………………………………………………..181 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the invaluable guidance of Dr Louise Joy and Dr Sarah Haggarty. Your patience, help and unfailing support have been vital across what has been a more challenging few years than I ever thought would be the case. Whenever I have lost direction or found myself struggling to find momentum, you have always been there to pick me up. Sarah and Louise, you have gone far beyond what I ever had the right to expect from my supervisors. Your kindness, encouragement and, at times, almost superhuman patience has been inspiring. Thank you for consistently helping me rediscover the excitement and joy that first drew me to the department of English Literature at the University of Cape Town so many years ago. I will forever be in your debt. Thank you. Without the generous financial support I have received from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and Cambridge International Trust this thesis would not have been possible. It is, inevitably thanks to them that I have had the opportunity to pursue a PhD at such a fantastic institution. The additional funding I received at the start of my degree from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, as well as the generous support so willingly given by my Ouma, was invaluable in allowing me to begin this journey. At a time when my funding was by no means assured, you got me going, and I would not have been able to so much as start without you. Thank you. To my Mum and Dad, there are no words really that can express the depth of my gratitude to you. From the serious young boy who couldn’t decide if he wanted to become an Egyptologist or a ninja turtle through to my eminently practical decision to study Classical Archaeology and the winding and seldom sensible path it has taken me to get here, you have supported me in everything. I am truly privileged to have parents that have afforded me the opportunity just to be me. Your love and support mean more than you could ever know. To every one of my friends who has been there for me at various points throughout this process, there are too many of you to list in full but thank you. Roman, thank you for 6 always looking out for me, without your mentorship and guidance I would never have got here. I can’t wait to share a glass of wine or five with you, Mandisa and Matthew when we finally make it home. Matty Sampson, those long sessions at Fenners provided an essential respite from the endless grind. Your boundless energy, kindness and enthusiasm always provided a much-needed lift in the day. It was such a joy to find in you such a kindred spirit, I will never forget those long days in the field and of course, ‘that’ game against Oxford. Leo, I’m only sad you left so soon, thank you for the books, the whiskey and most of all, for the company, I will always cherish our chats. We’ll have that round of golf one day. To the Fair Street gang, Ben, TDS and Aviv, you have been my family away from home, from Manhattan street braais to dinners at Ben’s, late night dancing in the lounge and the Geebung Polo Club, Cambridge would not have been the same without you. Ruth and Aran, for inviting us into your lovely home when we didn’t have one, thank you. It has been such a pleasure sharing your new space over the last few months; I’m only sorry I have been such an anti-social housemate. Above all, I want to thank Steph. Your selfless generosity, love and unwavering support has kept me going throughout a process that has not always been easy. I would not have managed to climb this mountain without you. You are my rock. It has been such a joy to share the last few years with you. I can’t wait to see what adventures life will continue to throw our way and can’t think of anyone better to share them with. I love you. And finally, Ouma, this is dedicated to you. I miss you. 7 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: ROUSSEAU AND READING AS EDUCATIONAL PRAXIS you can learn anything from a book -- or nothing. You can learn to be a suicide bomber, a religious fanatic… as easily as you can learn to be tolerant, peace-loving and wise. You can acquire unrealistic expectations of love as readily as, probably more readily than, realistic ones. You can learn to be a sexist or a feminist, a romantic or a cynic, a utopian or a skeptic. Most disturbing, you can train yourself to be nothing at all; you can float forever like driftwood on the current of text; you can be as passive as a person in an all-day movie theatre, as antisocial as a kid holed up with a video game, and at the same time more conceited than both.1 (Cristina Nehring, ‘Books Make You a Boring Person’) While eighteenth-century responses to the novel tend to highlight the dangers of reading, modern scholarship has more often sought to justify it on the basis of its ability to engender positive social behaviour through an