The Concept of Culture in F. R. Leavis’s Critical Writings

مفهوم الثقافة في الكتابات النقدية للناقد إف آر ليفيز

Abstract

Culture is an umbrella term under which come many things such as social behavior, knowledge, beliefs, habits, and customs. The concept of culture is one of the concepts that discussed and examined by different critics, among whom is F. R. Levis. The current research paper is aimed at analyzing the concept of culture in F. R. Leavis’s critical writings and his notes towards the definition of culture. This research paper opens a new window to the study of Leavis’s critical works. For Leavis, culture is only attainable by the educated elite. He stated that the cultured man is the one who is interested in literature and arts, and literature and arts represent what is good in the tradition of culture. Therefore, he opposed Marxism because it creates a literature that humiliates the human spirit. He also declared his dissatisfaction with the industrial society because of the emergence of the new cultural forms such as television, films, computer, and internet such as television, films, computer, and internet, which pose a threat to the living culture. That is to say, these new forms of culture are harmful because they have great impact on the local cultures. In brief, Leavis is narrow and dogmatic in his analysis of the concept of culture. He is supposed not to confine culture to the educated elite and to accept the new cultural forms because they have their actual existence that cannot be ignored.