To what extent has the definition of English literature changed over the last 50 years? What criteria do we use when classifying a novel as English? And is this definition organic enough to assimilate new works and different interpretations? Professor Terry Eagleton leads the discussion by explaining how perceptions of Englishness changed during the 20th century and we discover that as a result of authors such as Chinua Achebe, Andrea Levy and Marina Levitska, notions of what was an English novel have adapted to accommodate new experiences and expand beyond traditional assumptions.

This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.