Thank you! I did really enjoy it :) it was also different from normal seminars because it‘s actually a „Konversatorium“ so a lot more based on discussion which was interesting
I helped edit Huckleberry Finn for Everyman paperbacks and what I found is that while the book was obviously offensive for many reasons, if it was edited with secondary and critical material that placed it in its historical and cultural contexts - then readers from all backgrounds could read the book and make up their own minds as to which approach they would like to take. Moreover, it is incumbent upon tutors to range other readings against the text if it is offensive. That is your point about adding to the canon. One could cancel most of the European literature canons on the grounds that they are racist, misogynistic, homophobic and full of hatred. Many of the authors were not exactly role models. Chaucer for example was charged with rape. Virginia Woolf was a racist. T.S. Eliot with Ezra Pound antisemitic. Yet, somehow we must negotiate these flaws and abhorrent cultural products, and get to the other side of the stream. If you look around the world, billions of people subscribe to opposite views to the cancel culture. I happen to believe that there should be greater sensitivity to issues that upset students and readers in general, however wholesale cancellation is very suggestive of the opposite, when books were burnt. We must find a community in readership where we can read our literature and understand where it is wanting - this is happening today as there are more and more books that have arisen from the rereading of our history and culture. The alternative canon has a great future.
As a "visible minority " - a term I never liked - I have always been against cancel culture because it shuts down discussion and forces writers and readers to begin self-censoring. If you are arrogant enough to attend a university or college or high school and think you have the right not to be offended, then you simply do not understand what an education is for. And I did study literature. I know the very human people who created that work. And I resented the colleagues and staff who thought they had to hold my hand as we waded through their work. That's the problem with good intentions. It is often a path heading in the wrong direction. Read widely and freely... "Think! It ain't illegal yet!" - George Clinton (Parliament - Funkadelic)
How well put! I guess I did learn a lot about myself when I started handling offensive material at Uni with a different perspective and put some distance between me and said topic. Thank you so much for your words :)
Hi Luise! This is my first time here on your little channel! I think it is great, keep up the good work. You are touching on a variety of interrelated topics: censorship, free speech, policing language, DEI (diversity, equity inclusivity), the status of the "Western Canon" something the late Harold Bloom addressed in his 1994 book of the same name. They all converge on the existing curriculum, the chosen reading list. One of the things universities should look at is whether or not they have departments that are structured to account for particular groups. So in the case of blacks, does the school in question have an Africana department? An indigenous department specific to First Nations groups? These are just some of the issues no single department, like English can address on its own without stumbling onto quandaries. Another problem is the English department's approach to postcolonial literature that does not satisfy the conventional understanding of English lit, as in emerging out of or influenced by the British isles.
I am glad you stumbled upon my video! Really interesting, I also feel like in Austria it happens quite easily that people ignore postcolonial history since Austria did not have any colonies themselves which is misleading because it doesn‘t mean that it had no part in that history. So putting more awareness to it would be so important in either department. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ✨
Thank you for discussing this difficult subject. You have given me quite a bit to think on. My only comment now would be that to be fully engaged in any subject matter it needs to be viewed from all sides, which means you may need to read, see or listen to things that can be uncomfortable to you.
I don't accept that a writer should be prohibited from writing (fiction, history, commentary) about perspectives that they did not experience. Yes, marginalized writers should get more attention and audience. But it does not follow that anyone who is *not* marginalized should then avoid writing about anything but their own experiences. Empathy is real. It is possible to "walk a mile in another person's shoes". Anybody can write about other people if they have enough empathy and knowledge. Women can write about men's experiences. Black people can write about White people's experiences. Indigenous people can write about colonizer's experience. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
like this video, quite calm and well-formed opinion. i'm much less calm...my opinion is, that first, you have to think of the truth value of a statement, is it true or not? or at least, is is well-formed, well argued, well supported statement? it is is, is the statement relevant? for example i'm walking in the street, see someone i don't find attractive, "you are not attractive to me" would be a true statement, but irrelevant, and if i go to them and say this, i would be a bully, who insult strangers, this is obvious. but if the statement is relevant, then everyone can refute it or say that they don't agree or simply, great idea, not say anything. the mere fact that "i find this statement offensive" i'm sensitive to this etc is not enough. i myselft find lots of true things offensive, who cares, and why would anyone care? true or not, relevant or not, these are the most important things.
Hi, very interesting video. I did some research about the concept of the literary canon in Britain and I came to very similar conclusions. Essentially the canon as set now, is kind of outdated and informed by discriminating and colonialist values, which are not only outdated, but were never okay. This does in itself not diminish the value of the individual works of literature though. It does question their position in education. There, like you said, one shouldn't just cancel it all, but rather add more points of view. I think it's essential to know what one wants to teach excactly with a work of litterature (style, historical style, point of view, representation, historical discourse, critical analysis, etc.), then the works (different point of views) which suit the topic best should be chosen. I also think, like you, that the discussion shouldn't be shut down from the get go. For example with Haruki Murakami's work. I'm offended and deeply annoyed by some of his writing (how he writes women, as I am a woman moslty) and then again, I adore his descriptions of seasonal settings and spaces. Furthermore, I consider his writing of depression one of the best there is. That leads me right on to triggers and trigger warnings. I appreciate trigger warnings a lot, but then again, they also give quite a bit of the plot away (in a novel), still they should be there. Also in a lecture there's plenty of options to make people who want to and can study works that do trigger them more confortable (subtle signals, if a person is triggered and needs a minute, gentle language, maybe time restrictions etc.) and discussion in my experience often helps to actually disarm a trigger (obviously that's not the case for everybody). Thank you so much for this video. I would enjoy it immensely to see you discuss more thoughts on some of your lectures or just topics that you find worth thinking about.
Thank you so much for your comment and all your interesting thoughts! As you said with Murakami there can be so many facets of one person‘s work and I do see value in discussing all of them
Interesting! I thought about taking this course and I'm happy to get a summary & your thoughts about it after all. :-)
Thank you! I did really enjoy it :) it was also different from normal seminars because it‘s actually a „Konversatorium“ so a lot more based on discussion which was interesting
I helped edit Huckleberry Finn for Everyman paperbacks and what I found is that while the book was obviously offensive for many reasons, if it was edited with secondary and critical material that placed it in its historical and cultural contexts - then readers from all backgrounds could read the book and make up their own minds as to which approach they would like to take. Moreover, it is incumbent upon tutors to range other readings against the text if it is offensive. That is your point about adding to the canon. One could cancel most of the European literature canons on the grounds that they are racist, misogynistic, homophobic and full of hatred. Many of the authors were not exactly role models. Chaucer for example was charged with rape. Virginia Woolf was a racist. T.S. Eliot with Ezra Pound antisemitic. Yet, somehow we must negotiate these flaws and abhorrent cultural products, and get to the other side of the stream. If you look around the world, billions of people subscribe to opposite views to the cancel culture. I happen to believe that there should be greater sensitivity to issues that upset students and readers in general, however wholesale cancellation is very suggestive of the opposite, when books were burnt. We must find a community in readership where we can read our literature and understand where it is wanting - this is happening today as there are more and more books that have arisen from the rereading of our history and culture. The alternative canon has a great future.
Thanks for all these thoughts. I find the very notion of "cannon" to be problematic. Why would any culture need a "cannon" of books?
How interesting! Thank you for sharing 🙌
As a "visible minority " - a term I never liked - I have always been against cancel culture because it shuts down discussion and forces writers and readers to begin self-censoring. If you are arrogant enough to attend a university or college or high school and think you have the right not to be offended, then you simply do not understand what an education is for. And I did study literature. I know the very human people who created that work. And I resented the colleagues and staff who thought they had to hold my hand as we waded through their work.
That's the problem with good intentions. It is often a path heading in the wrong direction.
Read widely and freely...
"Think! It ain't illegal yet!" - George Clinton (Parliament - Funkadelic)
How well put! I guess I did learn a lot about myself when I started handling offensive material at Uni with a different perspective and put some distance between me and said topic. Thank you so much for your words :)
Hi Luise! This is my first time here on your little channel! I think it is great, keep up the good work. You are touching on a variety of interrelated topics: censorship, free speech, policing language, DEI (diversity, equity inclusivity), the status of the "Western Canon" something the late Harold Bloom addressed in his 1994 book of the same name. They all converge on the existing curriculum, the chosen reading list. One of the things universities should look at is whether or not they have departments that are structured to account for particular groups. So in the case of blacks, does the school in question have an Africana department? An indigenous department specific to First Nations groups? These are just some of the issues no single department, like English can address on its own without stumbling onto quandaries. Another problem is the English department's approach to postcolonial literature that does not satisfy the conventional understanding of English lit, as in emerging out of or influenced by the British isles.
I am glad you stumbled upon my video! Really interesting, I also feel like in Austria it happens quite easily that people ignore postcolonial history since Austria did not have any colonies themselves which is misleading because it doesn‘t mean that it had no part in that history. So putting more awareness to it would be so important in either department. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ✨
Thank you for discussing this difficult subject. You have given me quite a bit to think on. My only comment now would be that to be fully engaged in any subject matter it needs to be viewed from all sides, which means you may need to read, see or listen to things that can be uncomfortable to you.
Thank you for your thoughts! I totally agree
I don't accept that a writer should be prohibited from writing (fiction, history, commentary) about perspectives that they did not experience. Yes, marginalized writers should get more attention and audience. But it does not follow that anyone who is *not* marginalized should then avoid writing about anything but their own experiences. Empathy is real. It is possible to "walk a mile in another person's shoes". Anybody can write about other people if they have enough empathy and knowledge. Women can write about men's experiences. Black people can write about White people's experiences. Indigenous people can write about colonizer's experience. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
Thank you for your thoughts! These are some really important points.
like this video, quite calm and well-formed opinion. i'm much less calm...my opinion is, that first, you have to think of the truth value of a statement, is it true or not? or at least, is is well-formed, well argued, well supported statement? it is is, is the statement relevant? for example i'm walking in the street, see someone i don't find attractive, "you are not attractive to me" would be a true statement, but irrelevant, and if i go to them and say this, i would be a bully, who insult strangers, this is obvious. but if the statement is relevant, then everyone can refute it or say that they don't agree or simply, great idea, not say anything. the mere fact that "i find this statement offensive" i'm sensitive to this etc is not enough. i myselft find lots of true things offensive, who cares, and why would anyone care? true or not, relevant or not, these are the most important things.
Thank you for your thoughts! Well put 👌
Hi, very interesting video. I did some research about the concept of the literary canon in Britain and I came to very similar conclusions. Essentially the canon as set now, is kind of outdated and informed by discriminating and colonialist values, which are not only outdated, but were never okay. This does in itself not diminish the value of the individual works of literature though. It does question their position in education. There, like you said, one shouldn't just cancel it all, but rather add more points of view. I think it's essential to know what one wants to teach excactly with a work of litterature (style, historical style, point of view, representation, historical discourse, critical analysis, etc.), then the works (different point of views) which suit the topic best should be chosen.
I also think, like you, that the discussion shouldn't be shut down from the get go. For example with Haruki Murakami's work. I'm offended and deeply annoyed by some of his writing (how he writes women, as I am a woman moslty) and then again, I adore his descriptions of seasonal settings and spaces. Furthermore, I consider his writing of depression one of the best there is. That leads me right on to triggers and trigger warnings. I appreciate trigger warnings a lot, but then again, they also give quite a bit of the plot away (in a novel), still they should be there. Also in a lecture there's plenty of options to make people who want to and can study works that do trigger them more confortable (subtle signals, if a person is triggered and needs a minute, gentle language, maybe time restrictions etc.) and discussion in my experience often helps to actually disarm a trigger (obviously that's not the case for everybody).
Thank you so much for this video. I would enjoy it immensely to see you discuss more thoughts on some of your lectures or just topics that you find worth thinking about.
Thank you so much for your comment and all your interesting thoughts! As you said with Murakami there can be so many facets of one person‘s work and I do see value in discussing all of them
cute girl, regard from Colombia