Literary reading from a Darwinian perspective; escaping nationalism.
Submitted by:
Andy Goodwyn
Abstract:
Empirical studies of literary reading have begun to accumulate over the last 25 years although the 'Scientific Study' of literature is still very new. This paper will explore some of these findings but also review recent developments in 'Literary Darwinism' and their implications for teaching literature in schools. The paper will draw on several small scale studies [with teacher sad n with students] to provide some evidence for the theory that literature is a specialised form of knowledge and may be considered an outcome of the 'adaptive mind'. This theoretical stance provides a very different justification for ensuring that students have an experience of literary reading and develop some understanding of the way that literature provides a very special set of resources that support an enhanced understanding of human motivation and behaviour. In this way literature, which is often conceptualised and justified in the curriculum, as a nationalistic project [especially in secondary schools], can be seen as part of a way to help students understand that literature is, in fact, a universalist project but one that is inflected, sometimes dominated, by notions of national identity and survival.