School Stories

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Allison Speicher (Eastern Connecticut State University)

Ed. by Dainy Bernstein, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1820- c.1899

Places

United Kingdom (Location)
United States (Location)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature

Resources

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At first glance, the term “school story” seems easy to define: a school story is a story that takes place in a school. But historically and contemporarily, the meaning of neither “school” nor “story” is entirely clear. Does “school” refer narrowly to a boarding school, the setting of the best-known school stories, or more broadly to any educational institution, from the public day school to the small family school to the magical academy for witches and wizards? Must “story” refer to a printed text, or do films and television programmes set in schools count? Do school stories have to be fictional, or do memoirs of school life qualify? And what if only part of the story is set in a school, but we also see the pupils in other settings? Speaking of pupils, is the school…

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3213 words

Citation: Speicher, Allison. "School Stories". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 February 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19730, accessed 11 May 2024.]

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