Eric Griffiths (critic)

Eric Griffiths is a British academic and literary critic.

Life

He was born in Liverpool into what he describes as a 'Welsh-speaking, chapel-going family', and educated at Cambridge University and Princeton University. He has been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge since 1980. Before that he was a Research Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.

Griffiths has not published heavily, but he is a reputable teacher. Vanessa Feltz is a former student of his. He has made a number of appearances in television documentaries.

Works

"The Printed Voice of Victorian Poetry" (1989) remains his most substantial book. In loose terms he is a sceptic on literary theory, and a follower of the tradition of William Empson and Christopher Ricks. He admires the works of Giacomo Puccini, Marcel Proust, Geoffrey Hill and Samuel Beckett.

Controversy

Griffiths is an unrepentant academic controversialist. Helen Vendler is one antagonist, after criticising his long Introduction to "Dante in English" (2005). [ [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n18/letters.html LRB letter] ] Other victims were Roger Scruton, who had taught him and whom he liked, and Terry Eagleton. [ [http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1091150,00.html Kate Kellaway meets US literary critic Dale Peck | Books | The Observer ] ]

In December 1997 Griffiths interviewed sixth-former Tracy Playle for a place for a BA in English at Trinity. Playle afterwards complained that she had been treated unfairly during the interview and had been mocked for her Essex accent and her inability to recognise ancient Greek. The event was reported in the media causing some controversy regarding the nature of Oxbridge interviews. Subsequently Griffiths' role as an interviewer was discontinued. [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,519007,00.html Tracy Playle on life after a Cambridge interview | Education | The Guardian ] ]

In May 2008 a Tripos question in the Practical Criticism examination exam included song lyrics, from "Love Is a Losing Game", by Amy Winehouse. [ [http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/issue/news/winehouse-in-english-exam-shock/ Winehouse in English exam shock | The Cambridge Student ] ] [Account in Mary Beard's "Times Online" blog [http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2008/05/the-amy-winehou.html] ] Widespread attention in the national press prompted the identification in some papers of Griffiths as the examiner responsible. [John Sutherland, http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2283046,00.html.]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=176&conid=62 Official page at Trinity College]