This article explores the tensions between the concept of powerful knowledge, developed by social realist scholars Michael Young, Leesa Wheelahan and others, and the history of thinking about school subject English. In it I outline why, since its inception, the study of literature has had an ambivalent relationship with the notion of academic knowledge. I then draw out three areas of tension between curriculum thinking in the "powerful knowledge" paradigm and prominent research scholarship in school subject English. I tentatively argue that, despite real differences, there are still areas of fruitful discussion around central questions pertaining to the nature of the curriculum and the rationale for school subject English.