Aeneas, Rambo, and the Pedagogy of 'World Lit" (Michael Thomas Scott's
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 397 452 CS 215 434 AUTHOR Carroll, Michael Thomas, Ed. TITLE No Small World: Visions and Revisions of World Literature. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-3368-1 PUB DATE 96 NOTE 221p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 33681: $14.95 members, $19.95 nonmenbers). PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Context; Higher Education; Instructional Innovation; Language Role; *Literary Criticism; *Literary Genres; *Literary History; Multicultural' Education; *World Literature IDENTIFIERS *Literary Canon; Literature in Translation ABSTRACT This collection of essays deals with world literature. The essays are focused on four primary goals: to map the conceptual and cultural problems inherent in common educational approaches to the subject which sometimes see world literature as a metanarrative of Western culture; to suggest new genres and perspectives; to consider specific curricular and pedagogical issues; and to introduce "new" texts for consideration. The 15 essays and their authors are:(1) "Richard Moulton and the Idea of World Literature" (Sarah Lawall); (2) "The Translator and the Voice of the Other: A Case in Point" (Marilyn Gaddis Rose);(3) "Anthologizing World Literature" (Jose J. de Vinck);(4) "Beyond the Looking Glass of Empire: The Colonization of Portuguese Literature"(Paulo de Medeiros); (5) "'Yes,I Can': Empowerment and Voice in Women's Prison Narratives" (Sharon Hileman); (6) "Sacriture: The Sacred as a Literary Genre" (Mackie J. V. Blanton);(7) "Nonnative English Literature and the World Literature Syllabus" (Ismail S. Talib); (8) "Contemporary Latin American Theater: Theatricality as a Key to Classroom Performance" (Howard M. Fraser);(9) "Mass, Multi, and High: Aeneas, Rambo, and the Pedagogy of 'World Lit" (Michael Thomas Carroll); (10) "The Intellectual and Pedagogical Value of Traditional African Literature in the Western Classroom" (Erskine Peters);(11) "Haroun's Mystic Journey: Salman Rushdie's 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'" (Aron Aji and Katrina Runge); (12) "Anthologies, Canonicity, and the Objectivist Imagination: The Case of George Oppen" (Dennis Young); (13) "The Recuperation of Canon Fodder: Walter Scott's 'The Talisman" (Caroline McCracken-Flesher);(14) "A Different Kind of Hero: 'The Tale of Genji' and the American Reader" (Charles B. Dodson); and "'Singing in the Seams': Bharati Mukherjee's Immigrants" (Ranee Kaur Banerjee). Chapters contain references. (NKA) . 4 s. U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND OHM, of Eclucattonal Fhtsearch and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) 4/1-his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of %new or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy COPY AVAIIA131. 2 No Small World 3 NCTE Editorial Board: Colette Daiute, Hazel Davis, Bobbi Fisher, Keith Gilyard, Brenda Greene, Gail Hawisher, Ronald Jobe, Richard Luckert, Karen Smith, Chair, ex officio, Dawn Boyer, ex officio College Section Committee James L. Hill, Chair Albany State College Frank Madden, Assistant Chair Westchester Community College Pat Belanoff State University of New York at Stony Brook Theresa Enos, CCCC Representative University of Arizona, Tucson Jeanette Harris University of Southern Mississippi Dawn Rodrigues Kennesaw State College Cynthia Selfe Michigan Technological University Tom Waldrep University of South Carolina Collett Dilworth, CEE Representative East Carolina University Louise Smith, ex officio University of Massachusetts at Boston Miriam Chaplin, Executive Committee Liaison Rutgers University Miles Myers, NCTE Staff Liaison No Small World Visions and Revisions ofWorld Literature Michael Thomas Carroll,Editor New Mexico HighlandsUniversity "5-- P9 '±- rt National Council of Teachers ofEnglish vl Illinois 61801-1096 t..) 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Acknowledgments My thanks to New Mexico Highlands Universitystudents Carol Romero, Mollie Busbey, and Joan Snider, all of whom contributedvaluable assistance. Thanks also to Mario Welshons at NCTE. -- Richard Greene Moulton's diagram of the "LiteraryPedigree of the English- Speaking Peoples" is adapted from World Literature and ItsPlace in General Culture (Norwood, MA: Macmillan, 1911) and is usedhere by permission. "The Intellectual and Pedagogical Value of Traditional AfricanLiterature in the Western Classroom" by Erskine Peterswas published in The Western Journal of Black Studies (13.1 [1989]: 28-35) and is used herewith their permission. -2 mothers in a hdb playground," by Arthur Yap, isreprinted by permission from his Down the Line (Singapore: Heinemann Asia,1980). Copyright © Arthur Yap 1980. The first stanza of "Song of the Banana Man," by EvanJones, is reprinted by permission from The Penguin Book of CaribbeanVerse in English, ed. Paula Burnett (London: Penguin, 1986). "Psalm" and passages from "Parousia," "Of Being Numerous:'"The Little Hole," and "Route" are reprinted by permission from GeorgeOppen: Collected Poems (New York: New Directions, 1975). Copyright 1975 by George Oppen. Manuscript Editor Lee Erwin Cover Design: Barbara Yale-Read Interior Book Design: Tom Kovacs for TGK Design NCTE Stock Number 33681 © 1996 by the National Council of Teachers of English.All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publicationsto provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning thecontent and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accordedto any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the ExecutiveCommittee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except inannouncements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data No small world : visions and revisions of world literature / Michael Thomas Carroll, ed. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-3368-1 (pbk.) 1. LiteratureHistory and criticism.I. Carroll, Michael Thomas, 1954-- . PN524.N61996 809dc20 96-11056 CIP Contents vii Introduction I The Problem of World Literature 1. Richard Moulton and the Ideaof World Literature Sarah Lawall 3 2. The Translator and the Voice ofthe Other: A Case in Point Marilyn Gaddis Rose 20 3. Anthologizing World Literature José J. de Vinck 34 H "New" Traditions, Genres, andPerspectives 4. Beyond the Looking Glassof Empire: The Colonization of PortugueseLiterature Paulo de Medeiros 43 5. "Yes, I Can": Empowermentand Voice in Women's Prison Narratives Sharon Hileman 58 6. Sacriture: The Sacred as aLiterary Genre Mackie J. V. Blanton 72 III Pedagogical and CurricularConcerns 7. Nonnative English Literatureand the World Literature Syllabus Ismail S. Talib 8 I 8. Contemporary Latin AmericanTheater: Theatricality as a Key to Classroom Performance Howard M. Fraser 91 7 vi Contents 9. Mass, Multi, and High: Aeneas, Rambo, and the Pedagogy of "World Lit:' Michael Thomas Carroll 101 10. The Intellectual and Pedagogical Value of Traditional African Literature in the Western Classroom Erskine Peters 115 IV "New" Texts 11. Haroun's Mystic Journey: Salmi' Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories Aron Aji and Katrina Runge 131 12. Anthologies, Canonicity, and the Objectivist Imagination: The Case of George Oppen Dennis Young 146 13. The Recuperation of Canon Fodder: Walter Scott's The Talisman Caroline McCracken-Flesher 160 14. A Different Kind of Hero: The Tale of Genji and the American Reader Charles B. Dodson 179 15. "Singing in the Seams": Bharati Mukherjee's Immigrants Ranee Kaur Banerjee 189 Index 203 Editor 207 Contributors 209 Introduction National literature has little meaning today; thetime has. come for the epoch of world literature to begin, and everyonemust now do his share to hasten itsrealization. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe When one considers the unimaginably vastquantity of literature that has been produced since human beingsfirst produced script some five millennia ago; when one considers the numberof cultures that occupy (or once occupied) the globe; when oneconsiders the various genres, movements, and experiments thathave been attemptedwhen one considers all this, the term "world literature"will inevitably become, to say the least, questionable. Andwhen one begins to speak of it not only as a theoretical problem, but also as anelement of the educational curriculum, the problem becomes multipliedor moreaccurately, artificially minimized. That is, given theimmensity of the subject and the paucity of the curricular space it isafforded, some principle of selection and limitation is needed. For this reason,the term in question, one might argue, is bestunderstood not as an academic discipline or a pedagogical imperative,but as a bit of terminological turf whereupon the conceptually infinite is asked tosubmit to ,;ultural and institutional needs that are, unfortunately, all too finite. When Goethe first coined the termWeltliteratur in 1827 (qtd. in Jost 16), his aim was to establish aliterature that would, as Strich puts it, "serve as a link between nationalliteratures and thus between the nations themselves, for the exchange