For example, I try to use examples in class to illustrate points, and I draw from music, television, books, and film. Unfortunately, I can never find an example the whole class can relate to; most of the time I can't find one to suit half the class. Even referencing the billion-dollar, blockbuster stories of their time doesn't mean much. When only half of your college literature course has read Harry Potter, you can be sure that you won't have a majority having read Hamlet. The closest I've ever come to an entire class having seen or read the same story is fairy tales; and even then, many of them know the story without ever having actually read or watched it. They don't have the same shared cultural experiences as did past generations.
I find this to be rather worrisome although I have as of yet to determine my exact reasoning for the annoyance. Perhaps it's just a sign of me getting older. Who knows? In What Happened to Essential Books? Rick Gekoski mourns the loss of this shared reading in an article for The Guardian.
I'm interested to know what you guys think of this. Have we lost something by moving towards individualistic reading?
But dont the individuals recommendation somehow contribute to the whole?
ReplyDeleteHave we gone so far as to reject the canon in favor of more individualized, 'subjective' reading lists? And if so, isn't a rejection of the canon still just another type of pigeon-holing, i.e. 'We MUST read dead white guys' vs 'We MUST NOT read dead white guys'? I hope not, because those texts, too, inform our reading and even movie-and-TV-watching today. Even "The Lion King" is better if you've read "Hamlet".
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you think that this lack of a shared reading experience exists within groups of 'readers'? (I know a college English class should technically be considered a group of readers, but we both know better than that...)
I loved the "Essential Books" article. I immediately thought of books like Freedom and Larsson's Millennium trilogy as books everyone's read--crazy best sellers and Oprah picks. And then I realized I haven't read any of the books I just listed! Trying to teach across such variety of backgrounds must be tough. That's nuts that only half of them have read Harry Potter!
ReplyDeletePart of me is all for individualized reading. But you make some good points. Shouldn't we all have cultural touchstones that don't come from things like OJ Simpson or terrorism?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to ponder more on this.
I don't think we've lost anything, honestly. We can share experiences across books. Perhaps not all of us have read the same, but we've probably all read the same thing in a book and can share that way. I personally like that better - we all relate to things in different ways. And if you want a whole class to have read the book, you can always ask them to do so for class, you know?
ReplyDeleteI think this has been a problem in the past, only to a lesser degree. I think we're more aware of it because we're more exposed to more people from other socioeconomic groups than in the past.
ReplyDeleteThis is a debate that's been going on in journalism for awhile - as we lose mass media and have more people turning to blogs and other personalized sources of news, are we losing something. Part of me says yes, but I also think it's nice that there are so many ways to explore topics and things that you love. What I don't like is how overwhelming it can feel to keep up with all the different options there are (books, and pretty much everything else).
ReplyDeleteI think to me there is a sense in which I disagree, and a sense in which I agree. Disagree isn't even the right word. More, I've NEVER been in that core culture that had read those books - I heard about them, but I was both too late, and not clever enough to get on that train, I suppose. But, I will say, yes, things felt more interpersonal then. I do not know if it was because you'd all shared these experiences, or if was that you were a cohesive culture, and so you naturally were more likely to want to share books with each other, to take each other's recommendations, to catch each other's enthusiasms, etc.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, I think that the lack of a cultural bedrock is something that haunts not only the book blogging world, but the world in general. I don't think this is because we've somehow gotten stupider and noone reads the good books anymore, as some might suggest. I think, rather, it is because the nature of the modern world is that culture is no longer universal the way it once was - or at least that it's decreasing. We no longer WANT institutions to inculcate cultural mores and values into our children. This is a loss in some ways - it's a gain in others, but it does take more ingeniuity. I think the future of this is a world where people create post-regional cultures, cultyures that do not have the boundary of personal physical aacquaintance, and I think that this in many ways allows people to join cultures of choice, which is wonderful in a lot of ways - but you're right, it's painful and kind of sad in others. After all, cultures of choice have a notoriously low life cycle.
Hmmm what an interesting point. I think that we have lost something, but I also think that we've gained more by allowing more people to relate to the books by including women authors, authors from other countries, GLBTQ characters, and more. However, I think it would be great to come up with a new canon that includes all of those and more and have that be required reading for all!
ReplyDeleteYes and no. I think we have definitely lost the shared connections that this type of reading can bring, but I also think that it's pretty neat that others out there are reading vastly different things and are able to bring more to the table, so to speak, when it comes to discussing books. When these reader get excited about the things they are reading, they tend to go out into the community to spread the word, which in turn could spark a movement towards one particular book or author that isn't part of the regular canon, which is pretty cool. The downside of this is that there is not an abundance of shared cultural experiences. I lean towards more individual reading myself, so I might not be the best person to ask.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't just literature unfortunately, it is the overall dumbing down of society. I mean, didn't I read somewhere that not even everyone can name the last five presidents? THE LAST THREE PRESIDENTS? Hell, if people don't know who is leading our country they sure as hell aren't going to be united when it comes to books. Sad.
ReplyDeleteas a teacher, i do teach many of the classics but also incorporate contemporary reads that are less mainstream than 'hamlet' or 'a raisin in the sun'. i try to instill an appreciation for what's out there and to get my kiddos interested in different authors, genres, and styles.
ReplyDeletei just finished slogging through a modern telling of beowulf with my 12th grade--i'm trying to keep the tradition alive. :)
I have a friend who went through a business track in high school, so she never had to take a literature class. She graduated in the 1980s, but even to this day she feels lost when someone says something like "Clueless is a modern of Jane Austen's Emma". There are many times when she feels like she is getting half the story because she was never required to read Romeo and Juliet or To Kill a Mockingbird.
ReplyDeleteAs the mother of a daughter who dislikes reading anything that isn't manga or written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, I am thankful that kids get to choose their own books. However, I do believe that there are some authors whose works are referenced SO often (like Shakespeare) that kids should make at least a nodding acquaintance with them.
I tend to think that you should read some of the books that have always been important in your language before you branch out to other books. Otherwise you miss out on a lot, not least on allusions. For instance, kids who grow up in this country without any religious background often don't get many of the Biblical allusions in the literature written in English for the past 700 years, and that's a shame.
ReplyDeleteI think it's true that our reading lists have become diluted, but most good educations still involve a classical education in literature, right? Doesn't everyone have to read Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Robert Frost? As long as English education stays intact, you'll always be able to reference the most important authors in English literature!
ReplyDelete