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From a Scottish perspective... The oldest English Literature department in the world is at Edinburgh University and offers first year undergraduates Scottish Literature 1 and English Literature 1 courses. The University of Glasgow has a Scottish Literature department... I think the distinction in courses is useful as the history and traditions of the Scottish, English, and American novels are different.
I didn't do English Literature but I also believe the term is applied to Literature in English.
The question here is does the English Education Minister have the right to focus on the cultural history of England or Britain rather than including former colonies and the rest of the world. Not only does he legally have the right, there is some logic in it. Particularly when the English population is more diverse than ever before and some individuals and subgroups within England are not well integrated .... e.g. don't speak English or believe in bringing Jihad to the West.
He hasn't said there will be no foreign works just more British. There has to be some split so were there too few or too many English novels before?
In the end only a handful of books are covered when at school so a narrower focus may yield a more coherent result. Instead of focusing on the negative, which books are being added?
Oh and I love the "Great American Novel" and Zola as much as my beloved literature in Scots.
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