University:
Boston University
Course:
CAS WR 320 | Community-based Writing
Academic year:

2023
Views:

192

Pages:

11
Author:

Camilla House

Our methodological contribution is to demonstrate how empirically-testable cultural artifacts help us to understand deep cultural influences on state-building and the evolution of political economies. Literature may either reveal or construct the same cultural predispositions embodied in political choices, as societies struggle to meet new social, economic and political problems. Our findings suggest that rising attention to education in the fictional works preceded the political reforms and focused attention on the issue. Cultural studies also have bearing on the legitimacy of systems of governance, in that fiction makes normative judgments about class inequalities in their depictions of the locus of control over success and failure, and attribution of blame. All political governance systems have distinctive contradictions, winners and losers, and coercive elements. Literature helps people to reconcile the contradictions embedded in governing structures and social orders, to accord legitimacy, and to respond to problems of marginal individuals. Our findings suggest that British authors both undermined and reinforced power relations and governing institutions. On the surface, they frequently served as reformers attacking the system, yet their narratives included assumptions about individual locus of control that blamed the victim and reinforced assumptions about individual culpability in society. Danish authors demanded that society be accountable for less fortunate members and conveyed support for social investments, yet they also readily accepted uneven hierarchies in education that reinforced status hierarchies. Literature also contributes to institutional continuity and change. Fictional works may shape the expressions of problems and solutions at critical junctures, and constitute a stabilizing continuity even at points of institutional and policy transformations. Thus the Nordic social investment strategy evolved from conceptions of society that predated institutions of electoral democracy, industrial relations and social protections. These lessons from literary engagement with historical educational development shed light on the current politics of social investment (or lack thereof) in low-skill youth. Our postindustrial “lean and mean” political economy makes a generation of young people scramble for a shrinking pool of good jobs. The hectic individualism of neoliberalism makes it easy for us to forget the youth that are left behind. Yet as today’s episodes of terror and instability constantly remind us, individual losers may well be society’s losses. APPENDIX GRAPH ONE EDUCATION WORD FREQUENCIES IN CORPORA (number, learn, history, knowledge, read, study, write, count, school, book, word, college, education) GRAPH TWO FREQUENCIES OF EDUCATION WORDS (number, learn, history, knowledge, read, study, write, count, school, book, word, college, education) GRAPH THREE FREQUENCIES OF INDIVIDUALISM WORDS IN EDUCATION SNIPPETS (individual, independent, person, character, liberal, self, himself, herself, myself) GRAPH FOUR FREQUENCIES OF FEEING WORDS IN EDUCATION SNIPPETS (concern, fear, love, dear, heart, human, feel, guilt, pity, joy, gratitude, remorse, fancy, anguish, innocence, hate, fool, rage, scorn, sweet, pang, hope, proud, forgive, doubt, tear, felt, glad, happy, afraid, cry) GRAPH FIVE FREQUENCIES OF POLITICAL GOVERNANCE WORDS IN EDUCATION SNIPPETS (law, power, nation, council, office, public, king, judgment, kingdom, emperor, judge, government, crown, throne, prince) GRAPH SIX FREQUENCIES OF SOCIETY AND COLLECTIVE GOAL WORDS IN EDUCATION SNIPPETS (war, enemy, battle, people, custom, peace, common, England or Denmark, English or Danish) GRAPH SEVEN FREQUENCIES OF UPPER-CLASS WORDS IN EDUCATION SNIPPETS (lord, lady, gentlemen, countess, earl, noble, captain, master) GRAPH EIGHT FREQUENCIES OF BRITISH “GIVE” AND DANISH “GIVER” TABLE ONE TOPICS IN BRITAN AND DENMARK 1720-1770 (proper names deleted) Britain 1: reader, person, wit, genius, large, sufficient, principle, return, treatise, follow, capable 2: good, great, lady, hand, think, brother, man, poor, dear, live, uncle 3: world, sir, master, private, public, great, education, learn, remember, man, believe 4: good, man, nature, great, thought, love, child, young, think, reason 5: public, master, great, man, universe, learn, gentleman, answer, work Denmark 1: people, learn meaning truth give wise right word wild/lost hand hold rector 2: discuss, part, Greek, writing translate Latin book philosophy learning indicate 3: man wild/lost right same/together old number people hold calling learning learn 4: king fault learn God church hold right less follow give love wise 5: hand, poem, learning, name, Latin man philosophy book write rector i This explanation also leads to the antecedent puzzle of why some countries have more clearly-articulated national identities. ii Although popular books may more readily reveal cultural assumptions, the content of these offerings is driven by market-strategies and audiences that are similar across countries and these may vary little (Corse 1279-81). iii I constructed a list of “classic” British works (rather than using Ted Underwood’s helpful list of British literature comprising about 20,000 works after removing replications) to correspond to the Danish list of “classic” literature.

Literature, Society and Cross-National Variation in Education Systems - Tables

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