Carol Fountain

Formal Excellence v. Representative Inclusiveness

The choice of formal excellence and representative inclusiveness in multicultural encourages debate.  Language among humans has progressed from grunts and hand gestures to many different languages and dialects on each continent. Those Neanderthal men who relied on grunts and hand gestures may have thought that adequate, if not excellent, and those who speak the redneck language of our region (“I ain’t got” or “we have went”) are perfectly fine with that, and probably would write in this manner when given the opportunity. The difference is evident. The two types of people mentioned above would have to ask “just what is multicultural literature?” In my own experience, I find it difficult to teach Beowulf and Canterbury Tales to some who are barely proficient in English, their second language, as they are still attempting to become proficient in basic English. Nevertheless, the question is proposed not to Neanderthals or rednecks, but to students of literature who have a vested interest in the question of formal excellence or representative inclusiveness.

On the side of formal excellence, there is great value in teaching texts which provide brilliant examples of proper English and perfect grammar. I highly agree with providing these types of texts in teaching, but the difficulty lies in encouraging students to expand their language horizons, read things more than once, and reach a level of understanding that can be mimicked in their own writing. On the other hand, there is value in reading stories written with representative inclusiveness. Dr. White poses the question of how much it impacts a student-friendly way to teach culture and social skills. Students today wish to identify with literature that “reaches them where they are,” and this is the reason for the popularity of the dystopian novels which feature teenagers as heroes. They enjoy reading poetry and short stories that are written by people of their own race and heritage.  For this reason, the book of Tupac’s poems is pulled from my shelves often and read by students who enjoy and are surprised by his level of intelligence. They want to be able to identify with the authors and characters that they are asked to read, and this supports the argument for representative inclusiveness.

It would be difficult to read something like Uncle Remus’ Song of the South, which now appears on the banned book tables of bookstores, in formal English. The beauty of the language that is represented is in the fact that it comes from a rich and meaningful background which is that of the African-American minority. There are many examples of distinctive jargon in the stories that are offered in this class. Without the Yiddish dialect spoken by Yekl in his story of the New York ghetto, the narrative would lose its flavor of the Jewish immigrant experience.  Without the mix of both languages offered in “Poema para los Californios Muertos” the poem would lose its emotional feeling of loss. Without the colorful verbiage and descriptive nicknames that Sylvia uses in “The Lesson,” the story would not be nearly as indicative of the world in which Sylvia lives. The crisp and perfect English of the Asian-American narratives are indicative of the assimilation and acculturation of the speakers and mark the difference between the model minorities and those already mentioned.

The texts in this particular course are chosen for their readability and representation of certain cultures.  The phrase “universal excellence” is difficult to define. There cannot be a universal code of excellence any more than there should be a universal dress code or a standard of behavior for every country represented on this planet. Each of these have their own standards of excellence, and who are we, as the dominant culture, to assign a certain standard for each nationality? In school systems today, students are being taught to write using their own “voice,” as the backgrounds of students vary so much and no two students have had the same experiences.  For the same reason, the voices offered in the narratives deserve to be emergent voices and unique to the cultures they represent.

In regard to the opinion of the dominant culture who wish to establish universal excellence, the question arises of how we can call ourselves a melting pot society when we suggest that those who enter our country follow the same set of rules that we have chosen for ourselves. As important as those standards are to education and writing, demographic changes will continue to take place and the dominant culture’s standards are going to shift. The standards are shifting even as this is being written to adapt to the changing demographic of the population and even the onset of text-speak creeping into the writing of our students.  The values that we have held up to this point in time will continue to change for immigrant, minorities, and the dominant culture who put them into place.

The standards of formal excellence are indeed being challenged if not threatened by representative inclusiveness.  It doesn’t have to be a negative thing as long as we keep the standards of excellence.  There is a quote circulating today that “you can only break the rules after you know the rules.” As long as we continue to reinforce beautiful, excellent standards in reading and writing, we can allow for the true voices to emerge in multicultural literature.