Criticism about Literature Studies

I’ve been thinking about the way in which we tend to study literature in the UK (and from what I’ve seen, the US, too). Our cultures tend to mark out certain types of historical literature that are ‘worthy’ of study and overanalyse them. The result is a very narrow definition of what counts as ‘real literature’, and generations of people who think that reading isn’t for them, all because they’ve only been exposed to a comparatively narrow range of texts.

If you had only ever heard classical music, or seen independent films, you might be forgiven for thinking that music or film wasn’t something you were interested in, either. Being exposed to just one small section of any artform doesn’t do the art as a whole justice. You may like that particular niche, but many more won’t, and will see the small amount being represented as an indication of the entire art.

I've worked with intelligent people who proclaim that they 'don't do books' in the same way that I don't do live television; other people do and they don't judge them for that, they just don't see the benefits for them. On talking to them (because I certainly wasn't going to let that topic die out there!), I learnt that they'd never really read books as a child, and their main exposure to literature was through formal study. Given that, I cold hardly blame them - if I thought every book would demand a level of concentration akin to Shakespeare, I wouldn't be an avid reader, either.

The problem is that most literature teachers (and courses) in schools are deeply analytical of classical texts themselves, but not the culture of the time that produced that text. Things that would have seemed obvious to an Edwardian audience will not be obvious to a modern audience, whether it's a reference to food, politics or even slang. Over hundreds of years, these references become easily dated and often bewildering to a student.

For example, do you know the difference in how to pronounce "covered" and "cover'd" in a 19th century poem? It's critically important to the rhyme and meter of poetry that you are reading the poem in the way the poet intended, but all too often, small details like this are omitted by teachers - if they even know of them themselves! (Answer: if the full '-ed' suffix is used, it adds an extra syllable, so "covered" is pronounced "cover-ed", whereas "cover'd" would be the modern pronunciation of "covered")

How about the fact that many of the characters suffering various torments in Dante's Inferno were contemporary politicians and religious leaders. No casual student can be expected to understand the nuances of 14th Century Italian politics and so, much of the satire Dante's original audience would have perceived is lost without careful study of the history and culture surrounding him at the time. Inferno also suffers from being a translation - no matter how faithfully it has been translated, the rhyme and rhythm is lost in translation.

Shakespeare's plays were always intended to be seen and experienced as entertainment and spectacle, not read falteringly from a book in small chunks. While often deeply profound, they can be whimsical and very funny; students deserve to see that side of the Bard, too. Some of his comedies have just as much to say about the breadth and depth of human nature as his tragedies, and yet all too often, it's Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet, or Macbeth that is studied, simply from the book, or if very lucky, a filmed adaptation.

The narrow range of literature choices often intimidates students, too. As an introduction to the world of literature, it's woefully restrictive. Some students only read fiction through school, for various reasons (parents not placing an emphasis on reading for leisure, the expense of books, lack of a reading culture in their family and/or peer group), and to be met with dry material that isn't relevant to them often puts students off the idea of reading as an enjoyable thing to do. Reading becomes seen as a chore, not the joy it should be.

For me, the greatest tragedy is that, as a writer, I hope that people enjoy my work, not analyse and debate why I've used one particular word or phrase ad infinitum. In light of this, I'd like to leave you with the wise words of Mark Twain:

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." - Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn