The literary criticism by the Leavises in such books as
Fiction and the Reading Public (1932) and The Great
Tradition (1948) is based on the assumption that there is only one form of
great literature, that practised by a restricted literary elite. Leavisite criticism is
therefore hostile to popular culture which does not merit the title of literature. Both
critics denounced the corrupting effect of popular literature and the expansion of the
reading public. This notion of a single culture has been challenged since the
introduction of Cultural Studies on the literary scene in the
1960s.
As the author of many children's books such as the
seven-volume series The Chronicle of Narnia (1950-56), C. S. Lewis
wrote popular literature. To him, popular fiction was a way to communicate Christian
teachings to a large audience and, thus, it had an important function. His literary
criticism too focused mainly on texts with a religious message, particularly from the
Middle Ages. Emotions are therefore considerably more important for Lewis than for the
Leavises who argued for a literary criticism that could put together scientific and
humanistic thoughts.
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