Prize Fiction Reading Log
Name:_Phoebe Carrona__ Date:___9/5/2024___ Entry # ____2_____
PART 1: PREPARING FOR DISCUSSION
SOURCE IDEAS:
1 “Martha J. Cutter (1995: 133) tells of one student at the University of Connecticut who complained, “Everyone keeps telling me that Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a noncanonical writer, but so far this is the third course in which I’ve read ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’!” One of the unintended ironies of the canon wars has been the reformation of the imaginary canon. Gilman may not yet be part of the imaginary canon as defined by the likes of George Will, but her recent critical and pedagogical popularity certainly makes her a viable candidate, and many might argue that she has indeed ‘made it.’ “(56)
“With traditionalists, such as William J. Bennett and Lynne V. Cheney, on the one hand, and multiculturalists, such as Thomas Sobol and Jane P. Tompkins, on the other, the discussion frequently takes on a militaristic either-or quality. James Atlas terms the fray “the battle of the books,” while Gerald Graff calls us to move “beyond the cultural wars.” Although what takes place in the classroom is at stake in these skirmishes, the grounds on which these battles are fought are usually ideological, with competing definitions of common, value, and American hotly contested, often by critics who have long since abandoned the day-to-day practices of pedagogy” (53).
2 “It is obvious that (with a few possible exceptions) a work must become a material object by means of publication before it becomes a candidate for a pedagogical canon. When it comes to African texts, the means of production are especially decisive. Christopher Miller (1990: 285) has noted the way in which the African literary canon is more crucially linked to the material conditions governing publication than the American canon. Due to economic and educational scarcities, there is little to no market of general readers in Africa, so publication is even more closely linked to pedagogy than in the United States.”(57).“Dangarembga wondered whether the publishers’ diffidence was prompted by a negative assessment of her writing abilities or by the fact that an editor was afraid of the controversial issues the novel raised regarding the role of women in African society. Was her opportunity to be considered for the pedagogical and imaginary canon a matter of aesthetics or ideology? Fearing the latter, Dangarembga decided to submit the manuscript to a feminist publishing house. …The unsolicited manuscript might not ever have received even an initial reading were it not for Dangarembga’s personal advocacy. Another boost might have come from the fact that the director of the Women’s Press at that time was Ros de Lanerolle, an expatriate South African who wanted to publish more works by African women. “ (58).
“The material production of a text is a necessary but not sufficient guarantee of its place in the pedagogical canon. Texts may be published many years after they are written; out-of-print texts may be revived due to critical attention and pedagogical demand; texts published by small presses may eventually make their way into the mainstream. In the United States, with its vast publication, marketing, and distribution system, there is a huge numerical difference between the corpus (what is printed) and the canon, both imaginary and pedagogical. Consequently, works and authors must slug it out on the critical battlefield before they are admitted to any canon” (60)“ Teachers search out such works and add them to their syllabi. To what extent do ideology, aesthetics, and issues of representation enter into these decisions? Once again the story of Nervous Conditions demonstrates the complexity of such influential factors. The content of the text itself is extremely important. Put most simply, Nervous Conditions is highly teachable. Put most skeptically, it is politically correct.”(61)
SYNTHESIZING COMMENT/ANALYSIS:
1/ There is this new form of “almost” made it to pedagogical could it be that these authors in this section are not quite but almost there are what is making people change society. Making it the process of being within society as an ideological thought and holding value for you.
2/ publication helps bring light to different authors. Which plays a big role in which ones are used in pedagogical canons. It takes time for pieces to circulate and it really seems to depend heavily on where you get it published. Like for Dangarembga. She had to get her work published in London, because of different social and cultural views. Her going to interviews and talking about having advocate for the piece is a big deal because it is pushing her ideas and why she wanted the text published so badly. The works and authors must have something that society wants or needs to read to be considered a canon.
QUESTION:What is the difference between society and culture in this ideal of pedagogical canons? What is pedagogical awareness in this to describe works of authors? What makes a ‘made it’ work to be a pedagogical canon?
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PART 2: IN-CLASS WRITING RESPONSE (NAME:__________________)
