Do literature teachers like literature?

Sunday, January 8, 2006

If they conducted a study among literature teachers in Turkey, I wonder what proportion of them would be found following today’s literature. Do they limit their classes to the curriculum or do they go beyond and ask their pupils to read other books? Actually, do our literature teachers actually read literature?

  If they conducted a study among literature teachers in Turkey, I wonder what proportion of them would be found following today s literature. Do they limit their classes to the curriculum or do they go beyond and ask their pupils to read other books?

  Actually, do our literature teachers actually read literature? Or do they think it is enough to repeat the literature bound in a time capsule year in and year out? Unfortunately, the links to literature of most literature teachers is limited to the “past.” Usually, they were once in love with literature with youthful enthusiasm, conducting research in the area, but later on they gave up on reading due to daily travails. For them, literature is frozen in the past. They ask the same questions every year, finding no need to refresh their knowledge in the field. The literature class turns into an epitaph in which the same writers are analyzed and dead writers are talked about. There are such literature teachers that see any kind of literature work in “history” as a masterpiece, while dismissing all literature written today as another step towards degeneration. One needs to get old or die to be respected in this society.

  It is obvious that very few literature teachers feel the need to follow today s literature. Some high school literature curricula is so frozen in time that even students who have caught the literature bug can t take it and distance themselves from this passion. History teachers in Turkey are in charge of alienating students from history. Literature teachers are in charge of stamping out any creativity of students.

  However, I went to a high school this year that doesn t fit with this unfortunate state of affairs and gives one hope. I was at the private Koç High School to make a speech, and the teachers I met there gave me hope about the future of our literature and the way it is taught. The teachers of Koç High School don t limit themselves to the “past writers” but follow the current ones religiously. They select a new book every week for their reading groups and discuss it. They renew themselves constantly and follow the agenda. Reading groups, which are not too common in Turkey, are very important in the West in terms of popularizing literature. The teachers of Koç High School have established this system. Most importantly, the teachers there don t see literature as a burden. They love and treasure it. A teacher being passionate about what he or she teaches makes all the difference in the world. They talk about books, not the latest gossip. The text is discussed, not the writer.

  The students, from the series of political questions they passionately asked, appear more interested in the politics of the writer rather than their literature. At this stage, their interest in a writer depends on whether the writer s political opinions match with their own. There is a strange social comparison. In the United States, a novelist is responsible solely for his or her field and is a novelist before everything else. In Turkey, a novelist is expected to be an expert in politics, international economics, philosophy, religion, history and current politics. I personally am not too bothered about this. I believe the teachers deep love of literature and the students passion for politics will significantly contribute energy to Turkey s civil society.