The Study of “Literature” According to Some
The other day, my two daughters and my grandson and I were sitting around talking and we got on the subject of books (of course!) and that led to them educating me on the way English lit classes are taught these days in many high schools and colleges. Apparently, to be considered “the Big L”, meaning literature, the book mustn’t be targeted to young adults and so an author like, for instance, Neil Gaiman doesn’t qualify because (GASP!) he writes for all ages. 
Now, granted, he has written things like The Graveyard Book and Coraline, not to mention The Wolves in the Walls, etc., but are students supposed to just dismiss American Gods, Neverwhere, Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors? Other titles, while appropriate for young adults and perhaps even written for them, are certainly adult enough for me, such as Anansi Boys, Good Omens and Stardust. The Sandman series most certainly is adult—although I suppose graphic novels, being what they are, 
don’t count as the Big L and I understand that distinction.
Still, I was appalled at the idea that such a writer’s work is not deemed by educators–or at least some of them–as literature. A writer like Neil Gaiman, one of the top names in the book world both commercially and critically and one whose writing is often lyrical, does not deserve to be dismissed this way nor do potential readers sitting in a classroom deserve to be taught that he doesn’t merit their recognition, an example of bias against genre fiction at its worst. The pure joy one gets from reading his books, no matter which ones, should be enough to qualify him as a subject of study and
there are many other writers equally worthy but ignored by those who are mentoring our youth.
Have I mentioned that I love pretty much everything Neil Gaiman writes and, therefor, I have my own bias?
Next time, I’ll talk about the other part of this discussion that raised my hackles, the me-me-me-ness of the book world.
January 2, 2010
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
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