Lifelong learning and the study of English
Richard J. Jones (The Open University)
‘Literature’, says David Hume towards the end of the eighteenth century, ‘has been the ruling passion of my life’. Notice that Hume does not say: ‘I liked reading when I was at school’. No, literature, he tells us, was a continuous presence in his life. What Hume means by literature is not what we would immediately think of today: he means a kind of ‘general learning’ that has been acquired through a tradition of reading and writing – and thinking about reading and writing. Indeed today, Hume would normally be called a ‘philosopher’ or a ‘historian’ before he is described as a ‘writer.’ But the passion he names is for ‘literature’: it is a learning that is lifelong, something takes place in time and has an age to it. Written just before his death, these words mark what has been most important to him.
I start with these words from Hume because I am interested in the literature of the eighteenth century. I am also the Head of Discipline for English and Creative Writing at The Open University – so, Hume’s words seem to capture two of my own passions. Over the next few weeks, this blog will be exploring the connection between literature and lifelong learning. We will hear from students, of different ages, about what has made the study of literature important for them. We will also hear about research projects, in literature, linguistics and creative writing, which have sought to connect people from different backgrounds, and at different stages of life, to the lifelong study of English.
As these opening comments might suggest, the relationship of English and lifelong learning also opens up some more philosophical questions. The foremost of these is a question about time. Hume, for example, wrote those words about 250 years ago. Reading them now extends the reach of our lives. Studying English can do this to us; it plays temporal tricks. When we talk of lifelong learning in English, we might well wonder whose life we are really talking about.
Richard J. Jones is Senior Lecturer in Literature and Head of English and Creative Writing at The Open University
