I love Wendell Berry’s quote on this front—“The problem with the way literature is taught now is that people don’t teach it as something that is of great importance. It’s taught as a subject and as a specialty. I think a great change would come about if literature was taught by people who believe that it’s of great importance to everybody, that it’s necessary to everybody, that it says things that are indispensable to us.” Berry is a gentle but convicting presence as I examine my own pedagogy in the classroom.
I can’t recall, in fifty years of reading, a single academic literary critic who over illuminated a novel better than the novelist himself did. Perhaps George Steiner was an exception, but only his earlier writings. Rather, they tend to destroy enjoyment of the book, I think, often intentionally, they themselves usually being incapable of achieving what they claim to be capable of analyzing. By the way, I never call it a "text," which is akin to neutering. Read what you love to get out of it some pleasure and edification, and then forget it; and, as for the critics, run in the opposite direction with all due speed.
A professor who influenced Allen Ginsburg, John Senior, AND Thomas Merton? That is some greatness. Thanks for the introduction, and I hope to read more about him soon.
I love Wendell Berry’s quote on this front—“The problem with the way literature is taught now is that people don’t teach it as something that is of great importance. It’s taught as a subject and as a specialty. I think a great change would come about if literature was taught by people who believe that it’s of great importance to everybody, that it’s necessary to everybody, that it says things that are indispensable to us.” Berry is a gentle but convicting presence as I examine my own pedagogy in the classroom.
I can’t recall, in fifty years of reading, a single academic literary critic who over illuminated a novel better than the novelist himself did. Perhaps George Steiner was an exception, but only his earlier writings. Rather, they tend to destroy enjoyment of the book, I think, often intentionally, they themselves usually being incapable of achieving what they claim to be capable of analyzing. By the way, I never call it a "text," which is akin to neutering. Read what you love to get out of it some pleasure and edification, and then forget it; and, as for the critics, run in the opposite direction with all due speed.
A professor who influenced Allen Ginsburg, John Senior, AND Thomas Merton? That is some greatness. Thanks for the introduction, and I hope to read more about him soon.