Question: I hate "World Lit"!?
I think American Lit is far superior and feel that "world lit" is far too broad a topic to be seriously studied!. In fact, I'll only read it if forced to, or I find it referenced in American Lit!.
What do you say to that!? Am I missing out!? Losing the joy of being globally cultured!? Damning myself to narrow minded American Idealism!? Would I be a better person if I picked up a foreign novel every now and then!? Should it be punishable by death to be willingly narrow in one's approach to literature!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I think the "off with his head" approach is a bit extreme!. What punishment, then, do you mete out to those who never read!? How about someone who won't read anything that screams "literature," but will read other works!? Making these criminal offenses could decimate a society!.
Does reading world lit truly make someone a better person or globally cultured!? I have serious doubts about that, even though I love some works that would be considered world lit (a daunting term, in my opinion, because it is rather all-encompassing) !. You become more well-read not a better person!. There is a drawback to never reading anything considered world lit: you may miss the one book that you love above all others and never know it!
Since there are zillions of books from which to choose (slight exaggeration on my part), I say you should be as narrow as you want!. Read only what appeals to you and leave the rest to required reading assignments!. You may limit yourself, but you'll enjoy what you DO read!.
Whether we admit it or not, most people read what appears interesting to them without regard to its literary value!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I agree that World Literature is so broad that it is nearly impossible to study in its entirety!. But it is wonderfully rewarding!. If you like American Lit, try British Lit!. Then study Roman Literature, Greek and so on!. Whatever order you may choose, narrow it down for yourself so it's not so daunting a task!.
I think the biggest differences between American Literature and World Literature is the language!. Most of British Lit is poetry and if you start early it's middle English!. The language is unfamiliar, whereas America's short history allows for a more narrow variation of language!.
Overall, if you like American Literature, read it!. There is nothing wrong with having a preference!. It's your taste, embrace it!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Just based on reading some of your answers here on yahoo, I gather that you are rather well read!. That being said, I don't think you are missing out on anything inparticular by not studying "world lit" as a whole!. American Lit is a little more readily available and approachable living in the US!. I've studied and really enjoyed Brit Lit as well!. Studying the world as a whole in any subject is a pretty overwhelming feat and I don't think it allows one to get beneath the surface of things!. I like to read regardless of culture a variety of things!.
Bottom line, I don't think it's too narrow because you only get a narrow view of world lit by trying to study it as a whole!. Picking and chosing books from different places, cultures, and authors allows you to get deeper into it when you do read them!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Studying English, Journalism, Writing, etc!., is the cruelest thing a reader can do to themselves!. Reading should not be work! So yes, you'll have some shockers on your World Lit reading list, and it's your own silly fault for choosing that class!.
Being from Australia, otherwise known as the 'annoying younger brother' of America, I think you should read some non-American books just so you understand that when I write 'colour' instead of 'color', it's not a typo!
I say: Yep, you're missing out, but don't worry!. American culture is so widespread that it's wrapping itself around other cultures like a liana vine!. Soon it will strangle them all, and there'll be no difference between American and World Lit!. Until then, read some of the Brit Lit comedies if you can!. I've seen your posts, they suit your sense of humour!. (not spelled 'humor'!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com
You hate all of non-American world literature!? That's an awful lot of poems, plays, novels, short stories, essays, and other writings to hate!. Your way of thinking shouldn't be punishable by death, but you're punishing yourself by missing out on a lot of good reading experiences!. You've noticed that American writers frequently reference writers from other times and places!. Maybe those American writers know something that you'd be glad to know!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I'll just say this: you ARE shortchanging yourself!. Of course, we all are free to read whatever we want, but I wouldn't be the avid reader I am today if I had limited myself to American literature!. I loved the adventure books from Alexandre Dumas, I loved the Gothic romance of the Bronte sisters, I enjoyed the weirdness of realismo magico from Alejo Carpentier and Laura Esquivel!. In turn, I adore the plays from Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, I love Mark Twain's humor, and the heartwarming stories from Louisa May Alcott!. Why limit yourself when there is so much out there to read and learn from irrespective of an author's country of origin!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
You're missing a TON of excellent stuff!. British writers, original gothic and sci-fi works (think Frankenstein); oh my good golly the RUSSIAN writers - Tolstoy, Dostoyevski, Turgenev, Gogol, Chekhov, Pushkin!. There's an African writer named Chinua Achebe, a young Indian lady who wrote a magnificent story collection called Interpreter of Maladies, and indeed one of the very first novels ever written was by a Japanese woman named Lady Murasaki!.
Don't pigeonhole your reading habits!. You will never become a well-rounded reader or scholar if you do!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I've spent years trying to meet a gamekeeper here in New York!. If I only read American Lit, I never would have known about a gamekeeper - I never would have had those delicious fantasies!!! You might be missing something almost as wonderful!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
American and British literatures are far more widespread than others and they both influence most writers of other nationalities!.
Most writers nowadays have been Westernized, or rather Americanized and Anglicized, to the point where I pick up an English novel and I'd be surprised to know that it's written by a Japanese or an Indian!.
But here you're not taking into account great books such as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which makes Lord of the Rings seems pale in comparison; the romantic poetry of Sufi sages such as Jallaludin Rumi, who could laugh at Shakespearean sonnets; the complexity of the works of Haruki Murakami; Journey to the West; The Ramayana Epic; Bulgakov's Master and Magarita and Notes on the Cuff; Dumas; Hugo and so on!.
True, the only contemporary writer I've listed is Haruki Murakami and I read mainly American/British fiction but to be perfectly honest, I personally find the American literature to be lacking of cultural identity, barring references to politics and name brands and racial stereotyping!. That is to say, if you consider these as cultural identity!.
No, it is your choice to prefer American literature over others!. Most of the time, I do too because most other writers nowadays seem to be American ripoff!. But I prefer to keep my options open!.
Well that's me, anyways!. To each, his own, eh!?Www@QuestionHome@Com