Ancient Cultures of Conceit

Witty and penetrating, this interdisciplinary study, first published in 1990, explores the culture celebrated in British university fiction. This is a culture rooted in the ivory towers of Oxbridge, a culture under threat from the proletarians, women, foreigners, and social scientists who flood the university with their ‘alien ways’.

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The campus novel is one of the best loved forms of fiction in the post-war period. But what are its characteristic themes? What are its prejudices? And what does it take for granted?

Originally published in 1990, this is the first study to connect literary, historical, and sociological aspects of modern British universities. It shows that the culture celebrated in British university fiction represents a particular view of humane education which has its origins in the values of Oxbridge. Threats are seen to come from the ‘redbrick’ and ‘new’ universities, from proletarians, scientists (including sociologists), women, and foreigners.

This exhilarating book makes a nonsense of sociology’s reputation for turgid and plodding analysis. Sharp-witted, shrewd, and penetrating, it will be of interest to students of sociology, literature, and for the same wide audience that appears to have an insatiable appetite for stories about university life.