31–40 of 64 posts
The idea of a canon might be controversial, but you really can’t go wrong with anything on the list. Although the lack of Marx is questionable considering his immense influence.
I can't imagine anyone having read everything in this list. It would take more than a lifetime for me at my reading speed.
For example he specifically mentions the King James version of the Bible (rather than just "The Bible" in general). This translation had a large influence on the English language - just as say the translation by Martin Luther had on the German language.
For the non-English works, it is clear he has selected the ones which are known and influential in the English-speaking world, not necessarily the ones which are most influential in their home country.
Nothing wrong with that - he was en English professor after all - but calling it the Western Canon is a stretch.
If I'm overly simplistic, this seems to be 1/3 of an English degree. The remaining 2/3s being linguistics and history with cultural studies of the times. I'm still undecided how much I'd recommend someone else studying English (full time, as their only major). I enjoyed the studies though!
That said, we can all have a richer, more meaningful experience of ourselves and the world by spending time in great stories and myths, so I would still recommend it as an independent study for the average person, just not a degree.
Plus, in nations with high levels of social mobility, studying great works of literature may come in handy when you try to insert yourself into higher levels of society as an adult.
The idea of a canon might be controversial, but you really can’t go wrong with anything on the list. Although the lack of Marx is questionable considering his immense influence.
Marx is absolutely canon, one of the most important writers in history. I'm not sure how anyone can claim to understand the western tradition without Marx.
The idea of a canon might be controversial, but you really can’t go wrong with anything on the list. Although the lack of Marx is questionable considering his immense influence.
I can't imagine anyone having read everything in this list. It would take more than a lifetime for me at my reading speed.
EDIT: I'm a bit amused by the downvotes here. I've posted plenty of controversial opinions on HN and rarely get this many downvotes. This one seems pretty non-controversial by comparison: is there really some disagreement that reading a lot will result in becoming a faster reader? I'm genuinely confused.
If I'm overly simplistic, this seems to be 1/3 of an English degree. The remaining 2/3s being linguistics and history with cultural studies of the times. I'm still undecided how much I'd recommend someone else studying English (full time, as their only major). I enjoyed the studies though!
In most of the English speaking world a degree in English would include no linguistics[1] and courses in historical literature would not be offered in the History department nor would the History department accept them for credit. Look at the Oxford curriculum. All literature. https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admiss... [1] Unless you think studying only English grammar, morphology, syntax etc. qu…
The idea that as soon as you're studying linguistics of a particular language, you're not studying linguistics at all seems deeply flawed. Does studying applied math not count at studying math? Or, is studying the physics of light in crystals not really studying physics?
What I agree with is that if you decide to study linguistics, that doesn't mean you speak foreign languages (a common misunderstanding in largely monolingual countries, such as the USA). You study how the languages function, and how they are formed, linguistically speaking. But, studying linguistics of English surely counts as studying linguistics.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, but you’re misreading the context in which he said it. He disavowed some of the specific choices, maybe the idea of comprehensively enumerating them in a list. But he didn’t disavow the concept of a western canon or even most of the specific books in the list. “I did it off the top of my head. I left out a lot of things that should be there and I probably put in a couple of things that I now would like to kick…
The original post links to the list, the one he is disavowing. That's the context, that specific list.
You’re taking a narrow point made in the context of a discussion with literary nerds (“I don’t want to defend every jot and tiddle of this specific list”) and by presenting it without context, you’re making it seem like he’s rejecting that the list is in his view mostly accurate.
If I'm overly simplistic, this seems to be 1/3 of an English degree. The remaining 2/3s being linguistics and history with cultural studies of the times. I'm still undecided how much I'd recommend someone else studying English (full time, as their only major). I enjoyed the studies though!
English is for everyone, but as a degree it is really only for those that need concentrated experience with a vast amount of cultural wisdom and experience. I would recommend English to a wealthy student who is destined to oversee some sort of philanthropic, corporate, or political enterprise, but not the working class. That said, we can all have a richer, more meaningful experience of ourselves and the world by spen…
Isn't that a rather old-fashioned and even pre-modern POV? A bit like the idea that you should memorize the Confucian classics before being allowed to join the Chinese state bureaucracy. These days, a degree in the social sciences, public policy or the like might be more appropriate.