What is Literary Value?

Literature: What has value? 

• Think of all the texts you engage with that you think have value and why. Brainstorm these in your workbooks before sharing as a class. 

• Why do these texts have value?

• Why do we still study texts such as Shakespeare. Why do these have value?  

What is literary value? 

Literary value refers to the significance, worth, and importance of a literary work, often based on its cultural, historical, and social impact, as well as its aesthetic and thematic qualities. It's not a fixed concept, as interpretations and judgments about literary value can evolve over time and across different cultures. 

What is the Western Canon? 

A definition: The literary canon is a list of the most important works of literature throughout history and these are usually divided into periods or ‘movements’.​ 

“Western Canon” as a container of—in the words of a famous hymn—“all that’s good, and great, and true”. 

The concept of the literary canon is somewhat controversial…. the idea that "someone" or even "an institution" decides what is "quality literature" is problematic (CAN YOU THINK WHY THIS MIGHT BE THE CASE?).

In English, we try to acquaint you with "the canon" (classic texts) as they represent not only the history of the craft of writing, but the modern writers that you may read and enjoy have most likely developed their love of literature and developed their craft of writing from reading the classics. Listen to this author explain her exposure to the literary canon here.

Just as if you interview a modern musician who is popular about their "influences" and they may reference The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other classic artists, so modern writers will identify their influences as being among the classics/literary canon. If you are to write well, you must be influenced by other quality writers.

Like most things, they begin somewhere. There was a moment in the past where someone decided that a novel (fiction) would be a great thing to publish rather than a series of essays (non-fiction). And the reason they decide this is because perhaps they are writing for themselves, or their family, and there was a moment they realised that others might enjoy this as well. Some of these historical examples became the "model" for future novels and created the standard that we hold novels to, even today.

Humans have been telling stories orally and through other artistic mean (painting, dance etc) since the dawn of time. However, the craft of fictional writing in a sustained novel form only really came into being in the 18th century, but more commonly during the 19th century, but there are other examples of the novel form that date back earlier than that (The Tale of Genji: The world’s first novel? (bbc.com).

Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930) is an American literary critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. ​ 

• Since the publication of his first book in 1959, Bloom has written more than forty books, including twenty books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and a novel.​ 

• Born in 1930 in New York City, literary critic and writer Harold Bloom is widely known for his original theories on the creation of literature, particularly poetry. He has taught at both Yale and New York University and has published numerous books such as The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages.​ 

• During his long career, Bloom has authored dozens of books. He first made waves in literary circles with 1973's The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry.​ 

• Bloom stirred up further debate with 1994's The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, which became a bestseller. At the suggestion of his publisher, he included a list of works to be included in the canon. The titles and authors featured in this list became a source of numerous disagreements. Bloom later explained to Vice, "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 out."​ 

NOTES: Origins of the word, "canon" 

• In religious terms, a canon is a standard of judgment or a text containing those views, such as the Bible or the Koran. Sometimes within religious traditions, as views evolve or change, some formerly canonical texts become "apocryphal," meaning outside the realm of what's considered representative. Some apocryphal works are never granted formal acceptance but are influential nevertheless.​ 

• ​In fiction and literature, the canon is the collection of works considered representative of a period or genre. The collected works of William Shakespeare, for instance, would be part of the canon of western literature, since his writing and writing style has had a significant impact on nearly all aspects of that genre.​ 

Virginia Woolf Discusses Women and Fiction​ (November 10, 1929) By LOUIS KRONENBERGER​ ( https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1929/nov/10/greatspeeches) 

The Manchester Guardian did not report Virginia Woolf's talks at Cambridge. This piece, from the New York Times on November 10 1929, is a review of Woolf's essay, based on the talks 

“​…But on reflection she saw that all she could do was to offer you an opinion upon one minor point - a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of women and the true nature of fiction unsolved.​”  

​”…What Mrs. Woolf has traced, of course, are the reasons for the very limited achievements among women novelists through the centuries. Why did they fail? They failed because they were not financially independent; they failed because they were not intellectually free; they failed because they were denied the fullest worldly experience. Mrs. Woolf imagines what would have happened to a hypothetical sister of Shakespeare (who possessed all his genius) because she lived in the eighteenth century; she insists that, whatever her gifts, no woman in that age of wife-beating could have written the plays. She shows what did happen in the nineteenth century to the Bronte's and George Eliot because they lacked full participation in life; even George Eliot, the "emancipated" woman, lived with a man prosaically in St. John's Wood, while Tolstoy roamed the world and lived with gypsies; and "War and Peace" was as impossible for a woman to write then as "Lear" three centuries before.​”  

Can we extend Woolf's argument?  

Discuss with a partner the following questions, make some notes in your workbooks, before we discuss as a class.  

1. Why might there be so few people of colour? ​  

2. So few poor authors?​ 

3. So few authors from non-European countries?​  

Question for discussion: Who decides what is important? 

Homework Activity: 

Read this article which interrogates Bloom's Western Canon- 

Make a list of three texts (from a variety of form), that could be considered to be "literary" but do not necessarily fit on Mr Bloom's list. 

1. Make a comment on each as to why you have included them. What qualities do they possess that makes them literary? Is it the style of the composer, the aesthetics, subject matter, or a combination of features? 

2. Share as a class. 

Reflect: Develop your own definition of Literary Value and write this in your workbook.