I don't think the contempt of people on either side of the equation is warranted ("That popular book is trash!" "That literary book is boring!")
No, contempt is not helpful. What I think I would like is for people to more honestly take ownership of their personal artistic reactions and opinions, instead of hiding behind a cover of supercilious literary scorn, or ill-informed reverse snobbery.
Unfortunately, our culture for some reason elevates "literary" over "popular" for reasons that go unquestioned.
I think it might have to do with the way literature is taught, especially by teachers who aren't particularly good or passionate. My favorite lit teachers wanted to teach us about books -- increase the variety of our reading, or increase our understanding and appreciation for what we read.
My least favorite lit teachers seemed to want to instill in us "proper" tastes. We were kids, and so largely unable to recognize the difference between brilliant and entertaining, even if such a difference was there. So I think maybe some kids get it into their heads that there is no such thing as literary merit, it's just something teachers made up. And that's not quite right.
But other kids get it into their heads that literary merit is this real and very important thing, but it's not a thing that they are able to recognize themselves, so they take the word of the teacher, or cultural osmosis, for where it is to be found. And that's not right either.
So, if either of these attitudes hangs on into adulthood...
No, contempt is not helpful. What I think I would like is for people to more honestly take ownership of their personal artistic reactions and opinions, instead of hiding behind a cover of supercilious literary scorn, or ill-informed reverse snobbery.
Unfortunately, our culture for some reason elevates "literary" over "popular" for reasons that go unquestioned.
I think it might have to do with the way literature is taught, especially by teachers who aren't particularly good or passionate. My favorite lit teachers wanted to teach us about books -- increase the variety of our reading, or increase our understanding and appreciation for what we read.
My least favorite lit teachers seemed to want to instill in us "proper" tastes. We were kids, and so largely unable to recognize the difference between brilliant and entertaining, even if such a difference was there. So I think maybe some kids get it into their heads that there is no such thing as literary merit, it's just something teachers made up. And that's not quite right.
But other kids get it into their heads that literary merit is this real and very important thing, but it's not a thing that they are able to recognize themselves, so they take the word of the teacher, or cultural osmosis, for where it is to be found. And that's not right either.
So, if either of these attitudes hangs on into adulthood...
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