Colloquium on English - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

Literature as Unveiling Mirror
by
Philip Thatcher
In thinking about why we are doing what we are doing as literature
teachers, I want to bring together two questions.
The first is sometimes asked openly by our students, but more often
presents itself in a scenario such as this: You’re in front of the class, watching
the students; you see a student put down a pen or book and lean back and
look at you. It could mean that we are getting close to the bone of something.
It could mean, “Do you live what you’re saying?” It could mean,
“Why have you asked me to read this particular book?”
That is the first question I want us to consider: Why are we asking
our students to read a particular book? We could answer simply, “It’s part of
the curriculum.” Or we could reply, “Reading this book will be a life transforming
experience for which you will be grateful; trust me.” Perhaps we
don’t have to take responsibility for what we’re asking students to read. We
could tell ourselves that it is because other Waldorf schools teach this book.
In British Columbia’s public high schools, Lord of the Flies has been required
reading for many years. I wonder if teachers ever ask themselves, “Why this
book?”
The second question I want to pose is this: “What makes a piece of
writing literature?” Steinbeck is a writer who has always been important to
me, but when I search him out in bookstores, I find him in the fiction rather
than the literature section. Why aren’t Steinbeck’s books considered literature?
In my experience, there are at least four books by Steinbeck that can be
taught to our students: The Pearl in 9 th grade, Cannery Row in 10 th , Grapes of
Wrath in 11 th , and East of Eden in 12 th . Are these books not literature? Who
decides that a book is or isn’t literature?
Is literature an established canon that we read to qualify as being
educated? Or, does literature have to do with the quality of the writing itself?
Is literature more than simply a use of words to state what I already
know? Can I discover meaning through the writing itself? Is language itself
a source of creation? Is literature writing that unveils essential truths about
the world and ourselves - truths not simply of the present moment, but that
go beyond time, that will go on speaking to me for the rest of my life? Often
I embrace a book that I will read over and over again because it bears a
relationship to who I am as a human being; it helps me discover my humanity.
Each reading of such a book may well be a different experience.
Literature is writing that has staying power, is writing that faces reality
without shrinking from it, is writing that enables me to bear with the
realities that I confront. Literature is Unveiling Mirror.
What can a good work disclose? First, it discloses the world as it is:
the good, the bad, and the ugly as does “Realism” in 20th century writing.
15