An apparatus : teaching literature through language and vice versa

Abstract

In choosing texts to teach as literature or to teach language through literature, one may find that teachers feel uncomfortable using literature that is ‘linguistically or culturally obscure’. Linguistically, this ‘obscurity’ may be manifested through variant grammar and syntactical structures, use of ‘foreign’ lexemes or non-standard use of punctuation. Culturally, the literature may present ideas, concepts or mentalities far removed from the host environment and far removed from the teacher’s own cultural and social knowledge. What we are faced with here are questions of how to teach linguistically ‘variant’ literature as well as who to teach literature containing elements of cultural (social/religious) specificity. The questions of how and who may be tackled through the use of a particular apparatus for the reading of such ‘variant’ literatures. What is being suggested here is the adoption of a stylistics-based checklist which can help both teacher and student in their approach to these texts. It focuses on the students’ needs and facilitates the design of a task-based apparatus for literary texts. The following is an example of such an apparatus whereby we demonstrate how one may teach a ‘variant’ literary text whilst meeting specific teaching objectives in language and literature. The approach exposes the student to a structured approach to literary texts and thus serves as a guide both to the organisation of the analysis and the way in which it can be applied to a wide spectrum of texts. Below is a copy of the apparatus itself based on the chosen literary text: ‘Jesus Is Indian’, a short story by Agnes Sam (1989), illustrating how this can be achieved. Following the apparatus is a detailed account (rationale) concerning the decisions made in creating the apparatus with certain objectives in mind. The apparatus is based on John McRae’s stylistic checklist (McRae, 1991).