lcc liberal arts studies / 2010 volume iii - LCC International University

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40 GERI HENDERSON / PRAXIS IN PRESERVING NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN LITERATURE almost untranslatable but there is a way of reading or listening that equals something like appreciation, if not complete understanding. Such questions as literature in translation, literature written in English by non-native speakers, literature written by immigrants and emigrants have sent critics in search of an appropriate tool to deal with the multiple layers of culture and nationality such literatures represent. Too, grappling with the genre and the global focus of literatures has forced theoreticians to look for ways of reading and understanding. It seems now that post-colonial theory has been generally adopted as the literary critical lens through which this literature can be interpreted. In the short term, this is appropriate for is not most literature postcolonial in some sense? Literature, in the main, is produced either by those who are the dominant class/race or are not. But there is another domination that is more invasive than class/race and colony—it is, of course, the continued expansion and acceptance of English as a world language and while our borders become increasingly porous and our understanding of what constitutes “national” becomes increasingly fuzzy, it becomes less clear all the time how we define ourselves, much less our arts as the usual linguistic divisions disappear. Because World English has become the preferred language of scholars and, increasingly, the younger reading public, preserving national identities, in the purest understanding of what that might be, is nearly impossible. Just as language and literature have expanded to include awareness of the global, as often, perhaps more often, than the national, so have national identities. They continue to evolve to embrace a mobile and diverse population. National and Weltliteratur What difference does it make? Is there a national literature that must be preserved? One would think that these questions might be answered simply—that “Yes, it does make a difference, the loss of national literatures—especially those that are not yet written and will not be—represents the extinction of something vital to a nation, on many levels.” However, the very idea, the very concept of national literature is being challenged by scholars for whom world literature has been a changing landscape ever since and even before the term Weltliteratur, was coined and defined by Goethe, beginning serious conversations about it. Goethe's vision for the sharing, reading and study of Weltliteratur seems now to be born of naïve altruism. He states: “…not that the nations shall think alike, but that they shall learn how to understand each other, and, if they do not care to love one another, at least that they will learn to tolerate one another” (1973). LCC / LIBERAL ARTS STUDIES / 2010
GERI HENDERSON / PRAXIS IN PRESERVING NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN LITERATURE Universities are generally presumed to be the locus for the greatest exposure to literature and discussions of it, certainly to the kind of Weltliteratur envisioned by Goethe. However, the reality of time restrictions, restrictions that are being defined in the Liberal Arts ever more narrowly, translates into one, or perhaps two, classes in literature for most students. Can anyone say what the irreducible minimum might be? Even attempts to deal with the most important works of Anglophone literature cannot be completely successful in such environments. In the Utopian world of curricular choice students would be in school for ten years. But the Dystopian world of reality dictates a 3-4-year course of study for the liberal arts undergraduate and within that constraint, some very tough choices have to be made. In a discussion with administrators about the inclusion of a mandatory Literature class and the works covered in it, we acknowledged the need for greater inclusiveness in the list of readings but acceptance of the fact that such lists can never be prescriptive. They will necessarily be based on professorial choices that are based on interest and study. It is pointless to include more with less time for each without the interest or background to present them evenhandedly. Reconciling praxis with theory is grist for the mill of administrators who must also include practical considerations of economy, time, and graduate needs beyond the BA, in addition to the liberal arts education that is the promise of many schools in the United States and a number of schools elsewhere. While it is difficult to imagine a native-English speaker who does not know Shakespeare, Chaucer, or Faulkner much less the likes of Milton, Pope, or Thoreau, it is possible to imagine that students in the world of the international all-English university, having never read them, are quipped with the tools and perhaps even the motivation to find and read these and other authors someday for the beauty of their language or for the thoughts expressed in their works. Exposure to world literature will insure that at least there will be an awareness of literatures of non-English cultures. More often than not, at least in English-speaking environments, World Literature reading lists will sacrifice works of the time-honored English canon resulting in a global acquaintance with literature worldwide that cannot have depth nationally, but may approach something like Goethe's conception of Weltliteratur. National Identities and Global Reading Not everyone is concerned about what might be considered by some to be a general drift toward global literature. Some writers seem almost complacent about the homogenizing effect of globalization on literature. Cooppan teaches at Yale LCC / LIBERAL ARTS STUDIES / 2010 41
Page 1 and 2: LCC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY LCC LI
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS RAJA S. TANAS 7 R
Page 5 and 6: FORWARD Living in the world of jean
Page 7 and 8: RESPONSES TO CULTURAL HOMOGENY: THE
Page 9 and 10: RAJA S. TANAS / RESPONSES TO CULTUR
Page 15: RAJA S. TANAS / RESPONSES TO CULTUR
Page 18 and 19: 18 PRABHU GUPTARA / THE BUSINESS CO
Page 25 and 26: A NEED FOR ORDER AND DIVERSITY: HOM
Page 27 and 28: MICHELE HERSHBERGER / A NEED FOR OR
Page 37 and 38: PRAXIS IN PRESERVING NATIONAL IDENT
Page 39: GERI HENDERSON / PRAXIS IN PRESERVI
Page 43 and 44: GERI HENDERSON / PRAXIS IN PRESERVI
Page 45: GERI HENDERSON / PRAXIS IN PRESERVI
Page 48 and 49: 48 ZITA DARGUÞYTË / JEWISH ROOTS
Page 55 and 56: LIFELONG LEARNING - UNMASKING NEW C
Page 57 and 58: ALEKSANDRA ÐVEC, MARGARITA PAVLOVI
Page 65: ALEKSANDRA ÐVEC, MARGARITA PAVLOVI
Page 68 and 69: 68 HENRIKAS ÞUKAUSKAS / SEARCHING
Page 77 and 78: REACTIONS ON CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS
Page 79 and 80: URSULA GLIENECKE / REACTIONS ON CUL
Page 85: URSULA GLIENECKE / REACTIONS ON CUL
Page 88 and 89: 88 RITA VAIÈEKAUSKAITË / NEGALËS
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90 RITA VAIÈEKAUSKAITË / NEGALËS
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