White Papers, White Writers / ICONOCLAST - Vol. 1, Fall 2016 "LAUNCH" (pg. 24)
My first year as an English major taught me a lot more about the Bible than I ever cared to know. I spent a lot of my childhood being spoon-fed unwanted religious education, so I appreciated choosing my university path of study. Although the biblical teachings of the English literature curriculum are secular, they prove how critical this religious text is to a large body of European works. These works are, of course, what compose the majority of required readings in introductory level English literature courses.
No matter what you choose to study in university, your intro courses will be general overviews of the subject. The problem with first year English studies is the narrow scope of literature that these “overview” courses present. The perspective we are taught is largely of white, cisgender, heterosexual men. In turn, the colonial narrative is emphasized while the voices of oppressed people are rarely acknowledged. If subjugated groups are mentioned, their inclusion is only used to compliment the white patriarchal narrative. Lack of diversity is excused because of the inherent Eurocentrism of the Western canon, and minimal efforts are made to introduce students to texts from outside of this body of work.
Excuses are made for the lack of works on syllabi authored by women and people of colour; women did not publish as much, and “world” (non-white) literature does not fall under the umbrella of Western writing. Prioritizing the work of white cishet men and some white women devalues works by people of colour, and erases our histories.
This type of rhetoric is reminiscent of the high school curriculum which emphasized inapplicable concepts like “reverse racism” in my sociology class, while my required history class did not do justice to the history of Canada’s aboriginal people. European or white history is considered the default history – that is, the most “relevant” history to us as Canadians. All other narratives are lumped under the “world/global” categorization. As such, all of my introductory education on global and diversity issues, feminist and queer theory, and non-Western history was self-taught, proving that the education system neglects to properly address subversive topics.
Despite the fact that some first year English courses are titled as general introductions, their syllabi reveal a focus on Western literature as opposed to providing a relatively comprehensive introduction to literature written in English. If students never developed cross-cultural capabilities through past institutionalized education, then the Eurocentrism of their first year studies won’t help advance their knowledge. It would be more accurate to call these courses introductions to European and North American literature as opposed to including a couple of texts by people of colour as a side note, or excluding us completely.
It gets frustrating to hear your professors oversimplify intersectional issues in the texts they teach, presenting instances of discrimination as the norm and failing to critically analyze them. Oftentimes if they touch on these topics it is from a detached, systemic point of view that gives you the sense they can’t wait to move on to “unpacking” the syntax of the novel instead. Should you choose to delve deeper into an anti-establishment idea an essay, you may be faced with a close-minded TA that grades your paper according to their personal politics. Fellow Iconoclast editor Sama was told not to turn her essay into a “political manifesto” when she did a queer feminist reading of Katherine Mansfield’s “Carnation”, a poem that can easily be analyzed through a queer lens. Similarly, a professor told one of our classes that he feels essays on the role of women in literature are “overdone”; a term he never used to describe our non-stop required analysis of Biblical references in texts.
Although I am not a morning person, this semester I’ve been more than willing to take an 8:30 am class to study global literature. Saleem Haddad’s Guapa, which I was intrigued to read during the summer before the semester started, is now one of my favourite novels because I could relate to its reflections on dual Western/Middle Eastern identity so strongly. Obviously not every book on the syllabus is going to have such a profound impact on every student, however the fact that none of my first year readings were even close to being as engaging as Guapa speaks volumes. There must be a canonical survey to acquaint English students with important texts during first year, but it is also important to present works from non-Western cultures in order to explore new viewpoints. This is not an expectation that all students hold, however those of us who live politicized existences will always struggle with reconciling identity with academia.
In an ideal world, university students would seek academic excellence for the purpose of broadening their worldview as opposed to just to get good grades. While some professors encourage this romanticized notion, the reality is scholarships and graduate school prospects are main motivating factors for students to succeed in the university business. To keep my grades up in first year, I often resorted to selective reading and skimming Sparknotes to vaguely acquaint myself with texts. Try as I might, I couldn’t get past certain archaic storylines and convoluted language. Furthermore, I found it difficult to relate to stories that I can’t connect to my life at all. I’m not asking to be coddled, but it is difficult to listen to professors rave about the excellence of a text while barely acknowledging its problematic nature. The issues within a text need to be dissected before it can be fully appreciated by individuals who find themselves impacted by its flaws.
First year studies are crucial to the rest of a student’s educational career. Many of my disillusioned would-be English major friends switched to different subjects; they pursued psychology, gender studies, and even finance instead of English. Lack of English curriculum diversity is not a problem limited to Western. In 2015, students at University College London then the University of York launched the "Why is My Curriculum White?” campaign that challenges the lack of diversity in British university reading lists. Similarly this year, undergraduates at Yale’s English department began a petition to “decolonize” the introductory curriculum. It is vital that first-year students be exposed to a diverse range of thought so they will gain knowledge on a wide array of topics, then choose to look into specialized approaches during their upper years.
Fully appreciating literature requires knowledge many different areas, as the texts we learn about are laden with varying references. This interplay of subjects proves that studies in English literature have the potential to be intersectional and interdisciplinary. It’s high time that the study of general “English Literature” to expand to mean “Literature in English”, incorporating global perspectives as opposed to mainly Western literature.
