Articles written by Richard Jenkyns

The classical bazaar Richard Jenkyns Seldom has writing about the classical world been so popular, and so good. And most of the writers are interested in it for its own sake January 2009	Do we need a literary canon? Richard Jenkyns Jonathan Sacks is right that we need a common culture, but wrong to think it should be based on a canon. Forcing young people to read the Bible won't foster a sense of belonging. Shared references must evolve more organically December 2007
Cherchez l'enfant Richard Jenkyns It looks like a golden age for children's writing. A British tradition has been reinvigorated by two good, though overrated, authors. JK Rowling and Philip Pullman differ from previous classic authors in aiming at a slightly older age range, and their metaphysics are silly. Still, they reflect our times October 2005	Peculiar words Richard Jenkyns Dr Johnson wrote a dictionary to teach people to use English well, but also to record how they spoke it. It remains both authoritative and personal May 2005
Mother tongue Richard Jenkyns What does the fashion for books about the state of the English language tell us? People care about their language because it forms part of their identity, and part of the resistance to changes in English is a resistance to change itself. But correct usage is not an elite affectation; it is a badge of competence January 2005	Slaying Buffy Richard Jenkyns It is hard for intellectuals analysing popular culture to retain a sense of proportion February 2002
Potter in the past Richard Jenkyns The success of Harry Potter owes something to their roots in the old, somewhat reactionary, boarding school genre October 2000	Phallus in Wonderland Richard Jenkyns Richard Jenkyns pokes fun at a Freudian analysis of children's literature January 1999