READING LITERATURE CROSS-CULTURALLY

Damascus University

Higher Languages Institute

Language Teaching through Means of Literature

Course Instructor: Dr. Hanan Abou Hatab

Presented by: Abd Al-Rahman Al-Midani

Literature and Language Teaching: A guide for Teachers and Trainers, Ch. 4

Email :thedamascene@hotmail.com

OUTLINE

Relationship between Literature and Culture Cultural Accessibility of Literature

4.1 Being a student

4.2 A consideration of cultural aspects in texts

4.3 Strategies for overcoming cultural problems References

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

What is literature?Fictional or realistic texts (e.g., novels, poems, short stories etc…) which convey their message by paying considerable attention to language which is rich and multilayered. Literature might reflect aspects of the milieu of its production.

English literature is any literary work written in English language globally regardless of the culture in which the text was produced. What is culture?Edward Tylor defines culture as “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.

Careful reading of a work of literature will lead to a heightened understanding of the culture within which it was produced.

Culture and literature interact and inter-influence each other. Some Literary works claim to be a real record of their society such

as The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While literature may truly reflect certain cultural or ideological aspects of their society, such assumptions are not to be taken for granted. Instead, they must be thoroughly scrutinized and maybe refuted.

CULTURAL ACCESSIBILITY OF LITERATURE

Writer’s background is similar to that of the readers.

The text is from another culture, yet it tackles upon themes that are related to the readers.

Texts are not always culturally accessible because they might be enforced by the education system.

This is positive for the students because they are introduced to new a culture, values, ideologies… etc.

This may create cultural problems for the students. The aim of this chapter is to address these problems.

4.1 BEING A STUDENT

This section aims to come up with a working list of the culturally difficult aspects of literary texts. Extracts from Text A (Arrow of God): He beat his ogene GOME GOME GOME… The little children in Ezeuku’s compound joined the rest in welcoming

the moon. ‘Moon,’ said the senior wife, Matefi, ‘may your face meeting mine bring

good fortune.’ ‘Where is it?’ asked Ugoye, the younger wife. ‘But how is it [the moon] setting? I don’t like its posture.’ ‘I think it sits awkwardly– like an evil moon.’

‘Its [the moon’s] legs were up in the air’. ‘Does the moon kill people?’ ‘I did not ask you, ant-hill nose’

Extracts of Text B (Brideshead Revisited): Here discordantly, in Eights Week, came a rubble of

womankind…eating cucumber sandwiches… greeted in the Isis and in the Union by a sadden display of peculiar, facetious, wholly distressed Gilbert-and-Sullivan badinage.

‘for this was 1923 and for Lunt things can never be the same as they had been in 1914’.

Extracts of Text C (The Dragons Village) ‘A struggle was going within her: her duty to mortify the flesh,

as she had been taught was the right thing to do.’ ‘You mean– was I given to a man by my family and he passed

away like –––’ I looked down at the grave.

4.2 A CONSIDERATION OF CULTURAL ASPECTS IN TEXTSSome cultural aspects to be considered when presenting literature to students:1. Objects or products that exist in one society, but not in another;

2. Proverbs, idioms, formalistic expressions that embody cultural values;

3. Social structures, roles and relationships;

4. Customs/rituals/traditions/festivals;

5. Beliefs/values/superstitions;

6. Political, historic, and economic background;

7. Institutions;

8. Taboos;

9. Metaphorical/connotative meanings;

10. Humor;

11. Representativeness: to what slice or culture does a text refer? Does it describe a particular class or subgroup? How much does a text represent the society it aims to describe?

12. Genre – how far different genres translate cross-culturally? Will students understand if a text meant as an oral fable in form of writing?; and

13. The status of the written language in different cultures and the resulting strategies for reading a text– will students suspend their disbelief and accept the text as immutable and fixed? Will they feel comfortable to question and analyze it?

4.3 STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING CULTURAL PROBLEMS Personalization: A family gathering: relate a family gathering to the occasion in the

literary work. Think of a situation where somebody was sad. Why and could you help

him/her? Providing explanations/glossaries Provide short cultural information in notes to explain the story. Asking students questions to infer cultural information” Ex: Do you think that the ogene (text A) is:

A. A kind of leather drum used to summon people?

B. A musical instrument of some kind?

C. An iron gong which is beaten with a stick?

Making cultural comparisons Think about a celebration or festival held by students in the country

of the students and compare it with the story

Ask students about the peculiar beliefs of superstitions in their country pertaining to the same customs or items that are mentioned in the literary work. Ask them to discuss the customs/superstitions with a partner. Then read literary text again and compare and contrast the literary text with their perception of the same item.

The place of the literary work Your Country      Name of festival/celebration    Reasons for holding it    Where festival/celebration held    Way in which it is celebrated

Making associations: the teacher asks the students to go around a word or phrase that has a connotation or figurative meaning in the source culture then try to find if these associations take on any particular symbolic meaning in the source text. E.g., the moon in text A

Providing cultural background information as reading/listening comprehension

Ex: A brief reading text on the Chinese Revolution for text C. Extension Activities:

The teacher has to ask students, after they have read the text, to think critically about the cultural aspects of the text. Roleplay/simulation Discussion Project work

REFERENCES

Steffensen M.S., & Joag-Dev, C.(1984). Cultural knowledge and reading. In J.C. Alderson & A. H. Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a Foreign Language (pp. 48-61). New York: Longman.

R. M. Thomas, Conducting Educational Research: A Comparative View. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.

Thank You Very Much