At a time when fewer and fewer English professors can actually answer questions about literature, college students in search of America’s literary tradition are more likely to find it in books such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature than they are, say, at the Modern Language Association annual convention.
“Culture is actually more important than politics,” is the philosophy of Elizabeth Kantor, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature. At the Eagle Forum Collegiate conference on June 22, Kantor recognized the small political and literary battles that Americans face today as “merely the tip of the iceberg” of gradual cultural and moral erosion. Warped teachings of English and American literature in college campuses across the country contribute to the growing apathy and misconceptions toward the American heritage.
Kantor went on to illustrate what students should be reaping from great literary works:
• The capacity to admire heroes—warfare is sometimes necessary (Beowulf)
• The understanding that Christianity is intellectually respectable (C.S. Lewis, John Milton)
• Chivalry, which is a uniquely Western arrangement between sexes (Chaucer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
• The moral lesson that the ends don’t justify the means (A Tale of Two Cities)
“Culture must be taught and transferred; we are not born into it,” said Kantor, and some teachers undermine literary merit, as they “politicize it and draw unbased conclusions.”
Kantor posed several questions to the conservative collegiate audience:
• Is human history essentially a story of liberation and freedom from oppression?
• Will war and oppression eventually be obliterated in the future?
• Are differences between men and women merely social constructs?
• Is all crime caused by an unjust social structure?
• Is poverty caused by wealth?
• Is Christianity a bad influence on society?
The author expressed concern that very many American scholars may say yes to these questions. “Students are too often not educated by solid tradition, but only by the leftist critics of them,” Kantor explained. “Fiction shows you noble deeds in their initial attractiveness.”
However, the speaker advised those entering the literary or education sphere to remain optimistic and proactive. “We can’t let ourselves become a defensive minority. We need to spend more time with the great men and women of the past who loved what we essentially love,” was the resounding conclusion to her lecture.
Mary Kapp is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
