Professor Hugh Macmillan had a letter published in yesterday's Guardian:
Patrick Wintour begins his excellent article (Into the void: how Trump killed international law, 25 December) with a quotation from Antonio Gramsci: "The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born."
This idea is frequently attributed to Gramsci but surely, as a critical sociologist, he must have been aware of Matthew Arnold’s lines: "Wandering between two worlds, one dead / The other powerless to be born…"
In 19th century Britain, cultural criticism was a recognised literary form and practically a profession. And Matthew Arnold was one of the more attractive of the Victorian sages who practised it.
I'm still grateful for Roland Hall's 19th century English thought option when I did my philosophy degree at York and for its wonderfully comprehensive reading list in particular. ("You are not expected to read all or none of these books.")
