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Chargement... Public School Phenomenon, 597-1977 (1977)par Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
   Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.  shojo_a | Apr 4, 2013 |   What a fascinating book. Very dense - both in content (hundreds of years are covered) and information (most of it was almost entirely new to me.) But it was fascinating. The history of the English public school is one of surprising violence (even as late as the 1950s, corporal punishment not the main method of discipline, it was the ONLY one, and beatings were often carried out by prefects. And then there was the bullying) and passion (many boys had intense crushes on boys in their class, and there were periods of rampant sexual activity, often spurred on by the ridiculous paranoia of the headmasters.) The author also traces many of the stereotypical 'upper-class' characteristics as well as several ones we think of as stereotypically British, to the 'total societies' the public schools formed, and the particular environment British upper and middle class boys spent the ages of 8 - 18. In fact, the experience was so intense and so formative that many public school boys became Old Boys when they grew up, unable to leave behind their school days, eternally trapped in a kind of agonized nostalgia. Despite how dense this book was, I really loved the writing style. The author links together evidence from dozens of 'public school genre' novels and autobiographies, as well as correspondence with hundreds of Old Boys from dozens of schools, with a confiding and honest tone. (  ) shojo_a | Apr 4, 2013 | aucune critique | ajouter une critique
The public schools of England have long been praised and reviled in equal measure. Do they perpetuate elites and unjust divisions of social class? Do they improve or corrupt young minds and bodies? Should they be abolished? Are they in fact the form of education we would all wish for our children if we could only afford the fees? Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy's classic study of Britain's 'independent sector' of schools first appeared in 1977 and still stands as the most widely admired history of the subject, ranging across 1400 years in its spirited investigation. Provocative and comprehensive, witty and revealing, it traces the arc by which schools that were, circa 1900, typically 'frenziedly repressive about sex, odiously class-conscious and shut off into tight, conventional, usually brutal little total communities' gradually evolved into acknowledged centres of academic excellence, as keen on science as organised games, 'fairly relaxed about sex, and moderate in discipline' - but to which access still 'depends largely on class and entirely on money.' Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)373.2Social sciences Education Secondary; Academic; Preparatory Day schools; Boarding schoolsClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (3.5)
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What a fascinating book. Very dense - both in content (hundreds of years are covered) and information (most of it was almost entirely new to me.) But it was fascinating. The history of the English public school is one of surprising violence (even as late as the 1950s, corporal punishment not the main method of discipline, it was the ONLY one, and beatings were often carried out by prefects. And then there was the bullying) and passion (many boys had intense crushes on boys in their class, and there were periods of rampant sexual activity, often spurred on by the ridiculous paranoia of the headmasters.)
The author also traces many of the stereotypical 'upper-class' characteristics as well as several ones we think of as stereotypically British, to the 'total societies' the public schools formed, and the particular environment British upper and middle class boys spent the ages of 8 - 18. In fact, the experience was so intense and so formative that many public school boys became Old Boys when they grew up, unable to leave behind their school days, eternally trapped in a kind of agonized nostalgia.
Despite how dense this book was, I really loved the writing style. The author links together evidence from dozens of 'public school genre' novels and autobiographies, as well as correspondence with hundreds of Old Boys from dozens of schools, with a confiding and honest tone. (