The world’s literary canon is just too vast for any one person to master. Why? It's not simply the volume of texts that's impossible; it's because no one knows exactly what it is.
It's a bold statement. Believe me, I know. There are scholars and critics that dedicate their life's work to the literary canon. Somehow, I think they'd agree with me. There's too many texts to have one, definitive list. And that doesn't even touch on the other glaring problem we'll cover later in this article.
As the proud owner of a B.A. in English with dreams of completing my Masters, I've always been infatuated by literature. Entering college, I had a goal - learn everything about it. Simple enough, right? I'm not dumb, I knew the feat is humanly impossible
(although that won’t prevent me from continuing to try), but I figured it would be the amount of writings in the world that kept me from this goal. I didn't expect the encompassing list to be so murky, though.
It was during my Sophomore year I first became consciously aware not everyone interprets the literary canon the same way. I think I had this silly assumption that because it was either A. Widely taught in schools B. Old and C. Important, a work automatically qualified for this honorary title of literary. Boy was I wrong. And honestly, I'm glad of it!
As with any good university story, it started with an assignment: pick a novel or short story from the Victorian Era and teach a lesson on it. Great, amazing! I'm one of those people who actively seeks out Victorian literature, no matter how drab you think it might be. I wanted to have fun with the project and, more importantly, make sure my peers were enjoying it. So, I picked the short Sherlock Holmes story, "A Scandal in Bohemia." It has a strong female lead, deductive reasoning, witty characters...what isn't to love? Plus, it has all this significance that I won't dive into, in this blog post anyway.
Fun Fact: Did you know the Sherlock fandom has always been intense? When Arthur Conan Doyle killed off the detective in hopes of getting rid of him, people took to the streets, wearing black armbands. Overnight, 20k people unsubscribed from the magazine printing the stories (The Strand). Conan Doyle was forced to bring the detective back in an elaborate scheme as told in "The Adventure of the Empty House."
As you can imagine, I was so excited to share my love for Sherlock. When I told a fellow English major, a year my junior, I expected an invigorating conversation about Holmes' merit, or at least awe at my choice. Wrong. Instead, the response I got was: "Sherlock Holmes isn’t literature. You should pick something that is. That was your assignment after all. I didn't realize they considered anything literature nowadays. You might as well lump the Marvel comics in there, too."
For anyone yelling at their computer, don't worry, I already did enough for us both. Not to this person's face of course, but definitely back in the safety of my dorm. Even now, it gets my blood boiling. First off, Marvel is fantastic (and something that'll definitely be explored in the future of my blog), but what really angered me was the dismissal of Sherlock. More importantly though, this comment made me question myself. Did I have it all wrong? Did I not love literature, but stories? Was I a fraud of an English major for finding value in what apparently wasn't 'literature'?
Good news is, I got over that self doubt pretty fast. It did get me thinking, though, about what exactly literature consists of. The definition leaves something to be desired: “written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.” Well, okay, in that case, Sherlock checks the boxes, at least in my mind anyway. To this other student, it didn't. In a typical English major fashion, I dug deeper, looking to see if there was a difference between 'literature' and 'literary.'
Literary: “[works that have] a marked style intended to create a particular emotional effect.”
Even less objective than 'literature' somehow. By this definition, even the heaping pile of trash that is Twilight (sorry to all fans involved, including my sister) can be considered literary. Whether you like it or not, Meyers does use a certain style to tell the narrative (even if it isn't a good one) with the intention of having an emotional effect. I mean, have you ever met a diehard Team Edward or Jacob fan? Odds are, you have, so you'll know exactly all about the emotional response elicited!
Which team are you?
Edward
Jacob
Obviously neither
Well then, what's considered literature? Is it only the classics? Modern classics that have changed the market today? Really old, dense, dry books we'd all rather skip? And, maybe even more importantly, who gets to decide? A bunch of old men smoking pipes in a fancy secluded room somewhere? The rising power of young scholars? Fans?
The answer is, I don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a combination of all of the above. I usually make it up as I go; so long as I'm pleased with my decision about a piece, that's all I care about. Because, as much as I'm an analytical English major through and through, I'm also a geeky fangirl at heart. And if I want to classify Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or The Complete Sherlock Holmes as literature, you better believe I'm going to. (The purists have an issue with the fantasy genre for some reason, but I'm here to make sure it doesn't get dismissed as having incredible value!)
Reader, this is your official warning - my blog, Literary Rambles (the one you're so graciously reading now), is going to cover anything I deem to have merit, or perhaps a lack of: books, movies, tv shows, songs, the whole nine yards. If you're a purist looking for some deep, impersonal essays about the lackluster structure of Moby Dick, then I'm afraid this isn't the place for you. But, if you like an array of nerdy subjects and fun, lighthearted (or soul crushing) analysis, this blog is definitely for you!
I hope you'll stick around and join me on my journey as I, a scholarly fangirl, attempt to redefine and discuss her own, personally crafted literary canon. Until next time!
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