Author Description

Professor T.J.Reed delivered his inaugural lecture before the University of Oxford on 31 October 1989. Professor Reed's argument starts from Goethe's suprising late disclaimer of the authority of a master, and then traces from his literary beginnings the process by which the young writer's self-confidence and authority to speak are grounded in his physical and psychological experience, strengthened by communion with past writers, and shaped into an original communicative language. Against the view that in his day he was an "authority" (an authoritarian figure, even) the evidence shows his growing commitment to a literary forum where freedom of communication matters more than individual position. The belief in, and practice of, literature as a viable means of communication, in which the initiative of individual writers is vital, constitute Goethe's true authority. This is set against recent attempts by theorists to undermine the whole working system of literature. Their fundamental lovelessness is diagnosed and the resistance to theory of those who love literature is justifed.