If ever there was something the world could agree on, it's that the British have always been overlooked in the field of literature. After all, those scrappy no-names with a can-do attitude have only won ten Nobel Prizes in literature, so it's a wonder that anyone in the United Kingdom can even read.
This is the only rationale to explain how the U.K.'s education minister, Michael Gove, is revamping the criteria for the exam boards the country's 16-year olds will take. Gone are reading lists allowing for world and American literature. Instead, lists demanding a greater emphasis solely on British literature have been put in place.
American books struck from the list include Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, plays like Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and the poetry of Maya Angelou and others.
Literature from around the world including the likes of Chinua Achebe, Haruki Murakami, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche have also been withdrawn.
New requirements instituted by Min. Gove--which already included required Shakespeare texts, among others--now demand students examine a post-1914 work from a "British Isles" writer. Previously, rules stipulated only "contemporary writers," ignoring country altogether.
Gove claims he's broadening, not shrinking, the wealth of literature at a British student's disposal, writing in London's The Telegraph "culture warriors" are to blame for the uproar.
Meanwhile, Toni Morrison has come out proclaiming a full-on nationwide conspiracy, telling The Telegraph this whole mess is just because America started ignoring British literature years ago, so it's an eye for an eye.
"So now it's just payback. Just because we got rid of English literature as a subject and moved to American, you're going to fix it," Morrison said.
You're going to fix it. Sounds delightfully passive aggressive.
Michael Gove could learn a thing from an American writer.
But, you know...
photo: Wales Online
No comments:
Post a Comment