Balliol College, Oxford

:For other meanings of Balliol, see Balliol (disambiguation)

Fictional Balliol

:Main article: Balliol College in fiction

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Balliol has featured in fiction since the 19th Century. This may be because it has historically been regarded as the college of the intellectual elite. Such a designation may no longer be assumed but novelists seek authentic symbols rather than statistical accuracy. The college has been regarded as typifying a whole range of attributes for good or ill. On the one hand it is positioned as the ultimate target for any educationally ambitious school boy (or girl - but only relatively recently). It is also selected as the typical college of a superior sort of person. Having placed the fictional character at the college the author may then endorse its academic excellence or alternatively take a swipe at its intellectual pretensions.

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