Man of letters

[Bassim]

I have used "man of letters" in the following sentences. Would you please correct my mistakes?

1. Although as a man of letters Orwell was not a great stylist, his work has had an enormous influence on Western society.
2. Scott Fitzgerald is still regarded is one of the greatest men of letters in American literature.
3. Tolstoy was not only a man of letters, but also a humanitarian who cared about peasants and empathised with their plight.

 

[tedmc]

Isn't the term "man of letters" old-fashioned? Why not just say "writer" or "author"?

 

[Bassim]

tedmc,
I do not think that "man of letters" is old-fashioned, although you seldom see it nowadays in print. But let us see what some of the teachers say about it.

 

[Tarheel]

All of your sentences are fine, Bassim. It is true, however, that "man of letters" is not used as much as it used to be. However, during Tolstoy's time or during Orwell's time that phrase would have been in use. Also, anybody who is well-read would understand it.

 

[GoesStation]

tedmc,
I do not think that "man of letters" is old-fashioned, although you seldom see it nowadays in print. But let us see what some of the teachers say about it.

I would not write man of letters unless I wanted to mimic writing of another era. I'd write educated person or words to that effect.

 

[Bassim]

GoesStation
I used "man of letters" because I wished to know if I could use it instead of "author" or "writer." I think "man of letters" would be appropriate in academic writing.

 

[Tarheel]

I would certainly like to be called a man of letters. While the phrase is a bit old-fashioned, there is nothing wrong with it

 

[GoesStation]

GoesStation
I used "man of letters" because I wished to know if I could use it instead of "author" or "writer." I think "man of letters" would be appropriate in academic writing.

I would urge you to avoid that phrase particularly in academic writing. In much of academia, gender-specific labels of that sort are strongly discouraged these days. This site recommends replacing it with scholar or academic, either of which seems suitable.

Whether this seems reasonable or excessively politically correct to you, there's really no reason to exclude half of humanity from a reference like that.

 

[tedmc]

I have heard of "doctor of letters" which is conferred as an hononary degree.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Letters

I don't think it is so much a gender issue, since the three well-known personalities are males, as a rather dated and overly formal term.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

I have used "man of letters" in the following sentences. Would you please correct my mistakes?


2. Scott Fitzgerald is still regarded is (as) one of the greatest men of letters in American literature.

Am I the only one who found this mistake?

 

[MikeNewYork]

No.

 

[Tarheel]

Am I the only one who found this mistake?

Interesting. I am sure I read it as "as". The brain sees what it expects to see.