Reimagining the Canon
We launched The Lit Syllabus to offer another perspective in the politicized conversation about what our students can be taught and the ways in which our students can and cannot be taught in American schools. We hope that this blog sparks conversations between educators, students, and communities around imagining a new type of English class that respects the diversity of this nation, prioritizes both rigor and relevance, and allows all students to feel affirmed in their classrooms. We start our reimagining of English classrooms by reimagining the literary canon.
For many years, the literary canon has guided the text lists of most English classrooms across the country. The works included in the literary canon are considered to be texts of literary merit and are often described as “the classics” and “essential.” Many believe that to be well-read, one must have read texts from the literary canon. But the literary canon has its limitations as many of the scholars who helped to select works for literary canon represent a narrow perspective. While the literary canon does not exclusively include texts written by white men, the amount of diverse perspectives and identities portrayed within these texts are limited.
While the idea of a canon is problematic because of its exclusivity, we don’t think it should be abandoned fully or thrown out. Our philosophy is that it should be reimagined. A reimagined literary canon supports all students in developing their socio-political consciousness through diverse text sets that are culturally, historically, and socially relevant to them. A reimagined canon includes and considers the voices, identities, cultures, and perspectives that are traditionally excluded from the canon. By broadening the scope of the canon, we can foster richer, more complex discussions instead of single stories around the important societal issues and themes in so many canonical texts.
When we think about what it means to reimagine the canon, this quote where Mississippi author Jesmyn Ward reflects on the kind of books and characters she was attracted to as a young girl and the message that the absence of specific characters in those texts conveyed to her comes to mind: “"that thing that I understood, was that stories about people like me, nobody wanted to read them, you know? Or that those stories weren't worth being told. Or that people like me weren't capable of being the hero." Without characters like her in stories, the literary canon created a narrative for Ward that people like her - black, female, shy, and largely introverted - could not be the star or protagonists in stories and/or that people weren’t interested in reading stories about folks like her.
This is both an issue in the lack of racial diversity in canonical texts and an issue of Ward’s lack of exposure to texts that served as mirrors and windows. All students deserve to read books that are mirrors, entry points into their own identities, experiences, and motivations. They also deserve to read books that are windows, access points that help them to gain insight and build empathy for the identities, experiences, and motivations of others. When students don’t get the opportunity to read texts that serve as mirrors, we are communicating that their lives, experiences, and identities are somehow less important than others. Similarly, when students don’t get to read texts that serve as windows, we are creating an unrealistic insular society of people who don’t have the skill set and mindset to interact with and socialize with folks from marginalized communities or different backgrounds than them. This is an equity and social justice issue.
When reimagining the canon in the context of a secondary ELA course, we urge teachers to consider the following:
Who are my students? Consider their identities, experiences, knowledge, and interests. AND how do my students see and define themselves and their communities?
What texts are complex and appropriate for the grade level I am teaching and offer students an opportunity to explore a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and styles?
How does this text set support my students in developing their criticality and understanding of pressing societal issues, equity, power, and disruption?
Reimagining the canon, for us, looks like creating a year-long scope and sequence that pairs classic texts with contemporary texts and includes complex texts that are diverse in genre, perspectives, experiences, authors, and historical situations. We started with a year-long scope of an 11th Grade American Literature course. In developing this year-long scope and sequence, we pushed ourselves to challenge the value of the “American Dream,” present texts that push our students’ criticality, balance fiction and nonfiction texts, and ensure each text is both rigorous and relevant.
Check out our year-long scope and sequence below!
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