Darwinian literary theory and Critical Realism: a new paradigm for developing adolescents' engagements with literature
Submitted by:
Andy Goodwyn
Abstract:
Key words: Reader response, literary pedagogy, Darwinian literary theory, Critical Realism
This paper is based on documentary analysis of the state's [in this case England] justifications for teaching literature. These might be classified as partly traditional humanist arguments and partly nationalistic ideology; they also tend to position the student as a passive appreciator of 'Great works'. This paper combines contemporary Darwinian conceptualisations of the origins and importance of literature with the concepts from Critical Realism of 'structure' and 'agency'. Darwinian literary theory explains why literature matters to us as a species and as individuals, being fundamentally a depiction of human motivation and behaviour. Critical Realist analysis of the role of literature in society reveals how the state uses 'great' literature as part of stratifying society through mis-educating the young to believe that literature is essentially part of the nationalist structure, a fixed element that cements state ideology. Literature teachers are focused on the agency of the student and the author, offering literature as an emancipatory experience. The state wants readers to passively appreciate, the teacher wants student to actively and critically respond. Therefore this paper argues for a reinvigorated rationale for teaching literature to adolescents predicated on the fundamental premise that literature is partly a store of human knowledge and for each individual reader a specialised form of experience that creates new and personally powerful understandings and meanings; part of these meanings is a shared view of all humanity that can lead to a challenge to simplistic notions of national identity. Some implications for the pedagogy of literature teaching will be explored and for the potentially emancipatory opportunities for literature teachers, linking back to John Dewey and Louise Rosenblatt's seminal work on reader response.
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