Literature absorbed by society

Press, 26 July 1978, Page 4

Literature absorbed by society

While there had not been as many great writers in this second half of the twentieth century as in the first half, there had been a greater absorption of literature by society as a whole,

said Professor Northrop Frye, professor of English at the University of Toronto, in Christchurch.

Professor Frye, who is in New Zealand for six weeks as a Commonwealth Prestige Fellow, said literature had become more the possession of the people. This was a normal development as part of a cycle in Western civilisation. With a new medium such as television, one of the first things it did was to abolish the distinction between the highbrow and the lowbrow and equalise the audience, he said.

Professor Frye, who has an international reputation, is mainly concerned with the theory of criticism. The most celebrated of his many books is “Anatomy of Criticism.”

He has honorary degrees from 27 universities, mostly in the United States and Canada, and has recently been made Chancellor of the University of Toronto.

The professor is speaking at the six New Zealand universities, and will give a public lecture at the University of Canterbury this evening on "Literature and Mythology.”