Re: unusual language [postmodernism]
Pat Courts (courts@AIT.FREDONIA.EDU)
Thu, 10 Oct 1996 16:51:53 +0100
Nick Carbone's points about Primary Texts is worth noting for a variety of
reasons--Likewise Bob King's comments on condtructivism. I teach in an
English Department that emphasizes "multicultural " texts in it's literature
courses: I care about this and have written about. I also care about
Multicultural Literacies; how people from various cultural groups shape
their discourses (or in terms of constructivism, how Discourses shape those
withing them).
But as this thread continues, and as my own experience with
multicultural texts and an English Department suggests, we are constantly in
the process of creating (construcing and being constructed by) new canons.
Whether it be Derrida and Foucault (Derrida was the king of the 80's, and I
can't walk into a theoretical discussion these days without hearing
Foucault's name--and I've benfitted by reaidnt heir work!), likewise we have
Achebe, Walker, Morrison, Ortiz, Anzaldua, Cinseros . . . I love the work
of these writers, but my point is that we seem to canonize all the time.
That these canons have less longevity (which is yet to be proven) is
simply another set of evidence for the arguments that some postmodernists
make about the spiraling, non-controllable world of change in which we live.
Oh well, longer than I intended. but I hope you get the drift.
Pat
Patrick L. Courts
Department of English
State University College at Fredonia
Fredonia, NY 14063
courts@ait.fredonia.edu
716-672-5768 (home)