“What should we read, how should we read it, and why?”: The cultural politics of English Studies in British Columbia’s Language Arts English (Graduation) Program
Date
1995
Authors
Depledge, Norma Elizabeth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Postcolonial critics such as Benedict Anderson, Robert Morgan, Homi Bhabha, and Ian Hunter explore the study of English literature within a context of nation building or as an element of the "Imagined Communities" which Anderson finds to be the essence of nationness. These critics connect the study of literature to the shaping of both individual and collective subjectivities and, in doing so, offer a framework within which to explore one facet of the politics of English reading.
It is within the context of postcolonial theory that this thesis examines the politics of British Columbia's Language Arts English (Graduation) program. It examines the values, attitudes, beliefs and assumptions--the ideology—about nationness embedded in policy documents, curricula and resources. The thesis takes its compass bearing from the questions of Francis Mulhern: "What should we read, how should we read it, and why?" It concurs with Mulhern that unexamined, unproblematized assumptions about the collective pronoun "we" settle in advance "[i]ssues of selection, procedure, and purpose" (Mulhern, 250).
The first chapter establishes a theoretical framework, one which recognizes the imbrication of postcolonial theory with poststructuralism and feminist theory. Chapter 1 also touches on current debates around multicultural and antiracist education. Chapter 2 applies the theory outlined in Chapter 1 to a study of curricula and policy documents. Chapter 3 examines officially approved resources, and Chapter 4 presents the findings of an empirical study carried out in high schools. That study examines ways in which teachers interpret, and either implement or resist the ideology embedded in curricula, and ways in which students receive and understand or refuse that ideology.