Slow Down Sherry

While I think that Linkon’s Inquiry Project is a very good project and one that obviously benefited her students, I would not be so quick to jump into having a literature classroom that insists on placing all literature in its historical and cultural context.  I think that there is a lot that can be gained by just close reading a text and ignoring the author’s biography, time period, social class, etc.  A piece of literature is a piece of art and should stand up on its own merits, it does not have to be  a reflection of its time period.  Although they are not in vogue right now, both Russian Formalism and American New Criticism were based on the idea that we need to separate the text from its context.  I think formalism is an especially interesting for introductory English classes, it explores what makes something literature instead of just writing, a question we could all explore with our classes.  We also should make it clear that there are critics out there who do not believe that what the author intended matters at all.  Basically, I think we are doing our students a disservice if we imply that placing a work in its cultural context is the only way to analyze it.

We have all noted in class or in blogs that students will regurgitate our answers for us, or will try to give us the answer they think we want.  If we tell them that a text is a reflection of its culture, then all texts will be reflection of their times.  This brings about another problem in my opinion, relevance to the student.  There have been many posts about making texts relevant to students’ lives today.  Teaching them that texts depend on their historical context does nothing but distance them from students.  One of the biggest problems I had with Beowulf was trying to convince students they should care about Anglo-Saxon culture.

Stressing the historical approach also reinforces the idea that there is a “correct reading” of the text, that is, you study the culture, you will find the “meaning” or the “reason” for the text.  If we teach our students that Animal Farm has to be read as a reflection of socialism and the Cold War, their eyes will glaze over (most of our students were born after the Berlin Wall fell at this point).  Now if we take the novel out of that specific context, and just read it and have them come to their own conclusions, who know the parallels they could find to their own world? (the media, the War on Terror, the Health Care debate, clique hierarchy, just off the top of my head).

Again, I am not saying that there is no value in learning about the historical context of a text.  However, I feel that we need to be open-minded about different ways of approaching a text and letting our students come to whatever method they favor on their own.

One thought on “Slow Down Sherry

  1. jkathrynfulton

    I completely agree with your points, Todd. As I’ve mentioned in my posts, we need to be careful with how much we “lead” students. As you point out, suggesting that a work is solely tied to its historical context is very leading, and it also leaves little room for other meanings. I agree that students need room to come to their own conclusions. Some students will take the route of critical lenses that involve looking into specific context of the work. But literary works can, and should, also stand on their own as works of art. We’re not simply looking at context–we’re also looking at the use of language.

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