How English Departments Destroyed Literature

In my Columbia University English classes, I once received an A+ for arguing that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was a proto-transgender text.

I wrote the paper as a joke… but the professor didn’t think so.

That experience made me wonder how we got here. How did the humanities move from the Greek ideal of paideia and the humanistic tradition of beauty, morality, and culture… to literary theory, deconstruction, and identity politics?

In this video, I trace the evolution of literary study from Ancient Greece and Rome through Matthew Arnold, Irving Babbitt, and T.S. Eliot—all the way to thinkers like Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and the rise of postmodern literary criticism.

And if you love literature, philosophy, classic books, and conversations about culture, don’t forget to subscribe to Pens and Poison.

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If you’re new here, my name’s Liza, and you’ve found the coolest literary corner on the Internet. I love classic literature, writing, culture, and making sense of our world through the tradition of humanistic inquiry. Don’t forget to subscribe for reading recs and the spiciest hot literary takes on publishing, academia, beauty, and our culture at large. 📚🏛️🎨

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Enjoyed this video? You can Buy Me a Coffee so that I’ll be awake for the next one:

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