I'm playing with the point of my blog a bit. I'll still post fiction because I like doing so, however I will also be posting frequent open ended questions pertaining to the field and study of English Literature. Most likely I'll also include art
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Yes, we should keep a 'canon' (albeit a non-static one) as it forms the basis and history of literature and just as an architect needs to understand old forms in order to create new ones, a reader/writer needs the same. If you do not possess the basic grounding in the 'greats' of literature then you may find the literature which follows less enriching in terms of not understanding reference and form.
Plus, of course, much of that literature is still very relevant today.
I fight shy of anything which would threaten to remove learners' rights to know about the classics of the Arts. Which is why I hate the UK's National Curriculum, it's vile and trendy and irrelevant right now.
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I actually think the best way to find out if a piece of literature is 'canon' class or not, is to teach it.
Eg, I would like to place a small bet that in 50 years time Atonement will still be read and admired, but the Kite Runner will probably not. I really enjoyed reading both books, but when I came to teach them, it was pretty clear which one had more 'meat' on it, for analysis.
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But yes, I have plenty of horror stories of people denied the chance to study the greats. People who spent all their English lessons learning how to write job applications and letters to the water board. Dave says all their history lessons were about the post office and trade unions and little else.
I also have a 'thing' about kids studying out of context extracts instead of the full texts. This is fine in a 'Language' lesson, studying form etc, but not in a 'Literature' lesson unless it is to compare another text's style with the major one you are studying.
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Personally though, I'd really like to learn the canon of classics.
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