Q. D. Leavis
Encyclopedia
Queenie Dorothy Leavis née Roth, was an English literary critic and essayist.
Born in Edmonton
, England, she wrote about the historical sociology of reading and the development of the English, the European, and the American novel. She paid particular attention to the writings of Jane Austen
, George Eliot
, Herman Melville
, the Brontës
, Edith Wharton
and Charles Dickens
.
Much of her work was published collaboratively with her husband, F. R. Leavis
. She contributed to and supported as an editor Scrutiny (1932-1951), an influential journal that sought to promote a stringent and morally serious approach to literary criticism
.
Her collected essays, which include some previously unpublished writing, are available in three volumes.
The mathematician Leonard Roth
was her brother.
Born in Edmonton
Edmonton, London
Edmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, England, north-north-east of Charing Cross. It has a long history as a settlement distinct from Enfield.-Location:...
, England, she wrote about the historical sociology of reading and the development of the English, the European, and the American novel. She paid particular attention to the writings of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
, Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, the Brontës
Brontes
Brontes may refer to:* Brontes, a cyclops of Greek mythology, whose name means 'thunder.'* Brontë family; notably:** Charlotte Brontë** Emily Brontë** Anne Brontë....
, Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
and Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
.
Much of her work was published collaboratively with her husband, F. R. Leavis
F. R. Leavis
Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis CH was an influential British literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for nearly his entire career at Downing College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
. She contributed to and supported as an editor Scrutiny (1932-1951), an influential journal that sought to promote a stringent and morally serious approach to literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
.
Her collected essays, which include some previously unpublished writing, are available in three volumes.
The mathematician Leonard Roth
Leonard Roth
Leonard Roth was a mathematician working in the Italian school of algebraic geometry...
was her brother.
Partial list of works
- Fiction and the Reading Public (1932)
- Lectures in America (1969, with F. R. Leavis)
- Dickens, the Novelist (1970, with F. R. Leavis)
- Collected Essays, Volume 1: The Englishness of the English Novel (1983)
- Collected Essays, Volume 2: The American Novel and Reflections on the European Novel (1985)
- Collected Essays, Volume 3: The Novel of Religious Controversy, (1989)
Further reading
- P. J. M. Robertson (1981) The Leavises on Fiction: An Historic Partnership (London)