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Graywolf Annual #5
The Graywolf Annual Five: Multi-Cultural Literacy
The issue of cultural literacy has been the subject of intense debate in the past two years. Several bestselling books about the deficiencies of our educational system as well as changes in basic curriculum at more than one major university have contributed to the fervor of this debate. Fueling the national controversy is the question of what body of knowledge constitutes cultural literacy. While many argue for a return to a "back to basics" curriculum, equally energetic voices call for a revised curriculum, one which embraces both traditional western classics and the classics of non-European cultures, among them African, Asian, and Latin American. This volume brings together thirteen essays which suggest the range of knowledge truly literate individuals need to possess. Essays by such writers as James Baldwin, Carlos Fuentes, Michelle Cliff, Paula Gunn Allen, Ishmael Reed, and Wendell Berry enlarge our perspective to include a variety of voices and heritages which contribute to the vibrant culture of the United States. Also included is a beginning list of names, places, dates, and concepts which are part and parcel of a multi-cultural fabric.
- GenresNonfictionEssays
188 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1988
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 21, 2021
A mixed bag of essays. For the most part, the writing is academic and dense, but the concepts are important and I recommend picking it up if you encounter it at a book sale. Some of the essays remain more relevant than others, but they all push back against the blind spots of standardized American education.
I picked this up, despite its age, because it includes an essay by Paula Gunn Allen--an amazing Native American woman writer who has been excluded from mainstream literary history--and reading it between the assault on D.C. and President Biden's inauguration was an experience.
I found Allen's essay ("Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism") somewhat disappointing. As best as I can tell, she's attempting to counter the dismissal of indigenous cultures by focusing on the best points of Native American cultures, which is a reasonable response that doesn't need my validation. However, there's a certain amount of grouping most Native American cultures together and looking back with rose-colored glasses on pre-colonization civilizations. This could be a result of the time it was written, and again, I don't mean to disparage attempts to get Native American cultures the recognition they deserve or to hold white America accountable, but I never trust any "the past was amazing" narrative. America's struggle to let go of a rosy view of history played a clear role in the events of January 6, 2021, and I think the country needs to find ways of valuing the good parts and ideas of history without filtering over the darker realities. I'll still be picking up anything of Allen's that I spot in bookstores and sales, but this wasn't her best work.
From here on, I'll gloss some of the highlights/recommendations from the volume fairly quickly.
+James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" collected here in the late 80s, felt as relevant in January 2021 as anything.
+Michelle Cliff's "If I Could Write This in Fire, I Would Write This in Fire" and "A Journey into Speech" were very good.
+David Mura's "Strangers in the Village" is something I'm going to come back to for subsequent reads. His thoughts on anger were especially striking.
+Michele Wallace's "Invisibility Blues"
+Michael Ventura's "Report from El Dorado" was itself an impressive mix of moments where I felt he hit things I'd never noticed outright exactly on the head and moments where I felt he missed the mark by rather a lot. (As always, I may be wrong about this). There were way too many of them to go through them all in a brief review here (although if you want an article on the subject, let me know), but I recognize this may need an example.
So, for instance, he worries about the health of American music with its focus on love, rather than a wider range of subjects, and that's one of the moments where I'd say he's spot on. As an American, looking for non-love songs has usually meant finding niche musical genres. Then again, this essay from the 80s bemoans that musical artists are less likely to have real-world experience in live music venues and only get to see finished products, which is where I'd very much like to see the author revisit the subject in 2021; I think that the internet has changed things by giving artists from wider geographic ranges the option to learn their arts through YouTube videos and forums (yes, the internet is still exclusive based on internet access, but still).
+Full disclosure, I didn't finish Wendell Berry's essay on agriculture.
I picked this up, despite its age, because it includes an essay by Paula Gunn Allen--an amazing Native American woman writer who has been excluded from mainstream literary history--and reading it between the assault on D.C. and President Biden's inauguration was an experience.
I found Allen's essay ("Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism") somewhat disappointing. As best as I can tell, she's attempting to counter the dismissal of indigenous cultures by focusing on the best points of Native American cultures, which is a reasonable response that doesn't need my validation. However, there's a certain amount of grouping most Native American cultures together and looking back with rose-colored glasses on pre-colonization civilizations. This could be a result of the time it was written, and again, I don't mean to disparage attempts to get Native American cultures the recognition they deserve or to hold white America accountable, but I never trust any "the past was amazing" narrative. America's struggle to let go of a rosy view of history played a clear role in the events of January 6, 2021, and I think the country needs to find ways of valuing the good parts and ideas of history without filtering over the darker realities. I'll still be picking up anything of Allen's that I spot in bookstores and sales, but this wasn't her best work.
From here on, I'll gloss some of the highlights/recommendations from the volume fairly quickly.
+James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" collected here in the late 80s, felt as relevant in January 2021 as anything.
+Michelle Cliff's "If I Could Write This in Fire, I Would Write This in Fire" and "A Journey into Speech" were very good.
+David Mura's "Strangers in the Village" is something I'm going to come back to for subsequent reads. His thoughts on anger were especially striking.
+Michele Wallace's "Invisibility Blues"
+Michael Ventura's "Report from El Dorado" was itself an impressive mix of moments where I felt he hit things I'd never noticed outright exactly on the head and moments where I felt he missed the mark by rather a lot. (As always, I may be wrong about this). There were way too many of them to go through them all in a brief review here (although if you want an article on the subject, let me know), but I recognize this may need an example.
So, for instance, he worries about the health of American music with its focus on love, rather than a wider range of subjects, and that's one of the moments where I'd say he's spot on. As an American, looking for non-love songs has usually meant finding niche musical genres. Then again, this essay from the 80s bemoans that musical artists are less likely to have real-world experience in live music venues and only get to see finished products, which is where I'd very much like to see the author revisit the subject in 2021; I think that the internet has changed things by giving artists from wider geographic ranges the option to learn their arts through YouTube videos and forums (yes, the internet is still exclusive based on internet access, but still).
+Full disclosure, I didn't finish Wendell Berry's essay on agriculture.
May 26, 2020
1. Title: Multi Cultural Literacy edited by Rick Simonson
Topic: An Essay Anthology
Review: Man, I really wanted to like this book. It started off with James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers", which is a great read about teaching kids all of history, not just certain parts. But the essays quickly devolve into people saying that their culture is superior, and that it should be taught because of its superiority. The beginning made it seem like I would be introduced to how other cultures teach, or what they teach, and learn about books and readings that students in other countries read, besides "The Illiad, The Oddesy, Beowulf, and other Western Classics".
It was not.
Final score will be based on how many of the essays I thought were good: 4/10. Maybe 2 good essays, and a good introduction, but the rest you can skip.
Topic: An Essay Anthology
Review: Man, I really wanted to like this book. It started off with James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers", which is a great read about teaching kids all of history, not just certain parts. But the essays quickly devolve into people saying that their culture is superior, and that it should be taught because of its superiority. The beginning made it seem like I would be introduced to how other cultures teach, or what they teach, and learn about books and readings that students in other countries read, besides "The Illiad, The Oddesy, Beowulf, and other Western Classics".
It was not.
Final score will be based on how many of the essays I thought were good: 4/10. Maybe 2 good essays, and a good introduction, but the rest you can skip.
December 27, 2024
This book was written/collected a couple decades ago. It's an early Salvo against the Eurocentric educational system, and as such is a good start. Many of the contributors are names you may recognize as still teaching or speaking about these issues today.
Because I grew up alert in this era of questioning the status quo, I'm happy to see that I have learned many of the basic concepts proposed, and am still pursuing that long road. And I benefit daily from having expanded my education.
Because I grew up alert in this era of questioning the status quo, I'm happy to see that I have learned many of the basic concepts proposed, and am still pursuing that long road. And I benefit daily from having expanded my education.
June 25, 2019
I liked the diverse list of authors selected and it really gives you insight on how the things were back then so you can understand better how the things are now
February 10, 2013
interesting.
Read
December 12, 2012Re-reading a book that was assigned during my first year education program will hopefully provide me with a new understanding of the major themes at play
August 26, 2016
read for div III research
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews