In class, we were talking about who decided what authors went into the canon. The decision-makers felt bad for not including women among the Dead White Men. It reminded me of affirmative action. In Contemp, we talked about how Americans felt bad for excluding blacks in the past and not including blacks in schools and in the workplace now. So the US came up with affirmative action. But the consequence is that some people question the merit of the minority. "Are they in that high position because they actually are that smart, or were they helped along the way by affirmative action laws?"
In both cases, it's difficult to tell why the particular group was included. Both were included because the arbitrators were looking at posterity, not wanting to be judged as racist or sexist. I think that even if Bradstreet was chosen because she was female, that's okay. The canon should bring in a woman's point of view. In addition, her work is valid and has merit too, so her inclusion in the canon should not be questioned.
-- tori
It's hard to conclude whether affirmative action is right or not since it's advantageous to only some people. So some people might think that it's okay if she were chosen because she was a woman and some would think that it's totally not fair.
ReplyDelete-Joanne
I'm not so sure that, if she was only included because she was a woman, Bradstreet's inclusion can be considered affirmative action as much as a it can a guilty reaction. Affirmative action seems to me to benefit only the living. And I'm not so sure inclusion in cannon is really a benefit or not. To me being considered cannon honors the work first, then the author. Affirmative action directly promotes the status of a person, which indicates to me that it has to provide a direct benefit. Guilt reactions, on the other hand, are more empty in impact and are more about making us feel better.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought. I do agree that her position in cannon should not be questioned though.
-Melissa C.
I agree with Melissa that Bradstreet's inclusion would be more the result of a guilty reaction than affirmative action. When I think of affirmative action, I think of government policy. However, in the case of Bradstreet, university professors and academics were the ones making the decisions pertaining to what authors belong in the canon of Puritan literature.
ReplyDelete-Bryce Cody
I agree that Bradstreet's inclusion is a guilty reaction. However, I think affirmative action is also a guilty reaction. We employ minorities becasue we had previously excluded them and now feel bad. Women had previously been excluded from literature so now extra effort is put in to include them just like extra effort is made to hire minorities. So, in a way, they are the same thing.
ReplyDelete~Becca