Seizing the moment: the case of English literature studies Frances Christie frances.christie@sydney.edu.au

Arguments re SFL Ø  Have mainly concerned school subject English; Ø  Have resisted apparent “technicality” in talk of language i.e.

grammatical terms; Ø  Have challenged the apparent affront to personal freedom

and/or personal choice in learning to use language either to create or respond to text types or genres.

Ø  Have claimed a serious constraint on children’s learning & proposed the need for reasonably unfettered opportunity for children to learn to listen, speak, read & write, in the interests of protecting/preserving individuality.

Ø  Have included claims for allowing an apparently spontaneous response to literature, unfettered by teacher intervention.

School English Literary Study Ø Appeared first as the study of poetry in late 19th

century, but soon extended into the study of other literary forms.

Ø Was intended to refine & transform persons, causing them to reflect on language and the human condition as revealed in literary texts.

Ø Endures despite challenges from relativist traditions e.g. cultural studies.

Ø  In practice involves learning a Knower Code (Maton 2011)where this is understood in terms of what students must do to master the code.

Ø Hence involves cultivating a particular “gaze’ (Bernstein 2000) in order to evaluate literary texts & interpret their symbolic meanings.

Knowledge and knower codes.

Knowledge codes (ER+, SR-) “possession of specialized knowledge of specific objects is emphasized as the basis of achievement, & the attributes of actors are downplayed”. Knower codes (ER-, SR+) “specialized knowledge & objects are less significant & the attributes of actors are emphasized as measures of achievement….” ( Maton 2014: 30-31.)

How is the Knower Code cultivated? ü  The Merchant of Venice.(extract removed) How does this extract from The Merchant of Venice introduce us to the important ideas in Shakespeare’s play? In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text. ü  Othello ‘The plays of Shakespeare move us because they present us with realistic depictions of what it means to be human.’ Use Othello to focus a discussion on the extent to which this is true. You may confine your discussion to Othello or include other Shakespearean plays you have studied. ü  A Christmas Carol ‘Despite his mean and miserable ways, we never completely dislike Scrooge.’ Discuss. ü  Belonging ‘Understanding nourishes belonging…..a lack of understanding prevents it.’ Demonstrate how your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing represent this interpretation of belonging.

Other questions Wilfred Owen In what ways does the poet Wilfred Owen draw you into the world of his poetry? In your response make detailed reference to at least TWO poems. “Novels present flawed character(s) in challenging environment(s).” To what extent do you agree with this view? Respond to this question with close reference to one or more novels you have studied. “Central to the purpose of a novel is the presentation of a major theme.” To what extent do you agree with this view? Respond to this question with close reference to one or more novels you have studied.

Pedagogic practice & the ‘gaze’ Bernstein (2000) states: ü Pedagogic practices take knowledge, objects &

ideas & then relocate (“delocate”) these for teaching & learning.

ü  In acquiring a ‘gaze’, the student (or pedagogic subject) learns to select & value some knowledge and/or object, by following particular principles &procedures for viewing it, valuing it & using it.

ü Once acquired, he writes, the ‘gaze’ allows ‘the acquirer metaphorically to look at (recognize) & regard, & evaluate the phenomena of legitimate concern’. (Bernstein: 2000: 173)

In ELS The student gaze involves capacity: ü To read, interpret & evaluate experience

as expressed in literary texts. ü To build symbolic meaning from such

reading, interpretation & evaluation. ü To build abstraction about human

experience by reference to literary texts. Such capacity is cultivated & learned.

Semantic gravity & semantic density

Semantic gravity: degree of context dependence of meaning. May be relatively strong (+) or relatively weak (-) Semantic density: degree of condensation of meaning . May be relatively strong (+) or relatively weak (-)

Three literary text response texts 1) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ‘Major themes in the novel’. (Student in Year 7/8) 2) To Kill a Mockingbird ‘The use of the symbol of the mockingbird in the novel.’ (student in Year 9) 3) Belonging. ‘Understanding nourishes belonging…..a lack of understanding prevents it.’ Demonstrate how your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing represent this interpretation of belonging. (Student in Year 12)

Interpreting contextual experience: early adolescence

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (i) From context to abstraction

�  Huck is an uneducated young rogue [[who gets up to a lot of mischief and into a lot of trouble]]. … ……When he meets Jim....he becomes a good friend to the runaway nigger. He takes care of Jim, and doesn't turn him in…Huck learns how powerful friendship is, and for once in a long time, <<when he is with Jim>>, he feels accepted and wanted, and learns about loyalty to other people.

From Contextual Information (SG+/SD-)

To abstract understanding about life (SG / SD )

Interpreting themes in early adolescence

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (ii) From abstract ideas to principle

The two themes [[that I have selected]] from the novel are 'friendship' and 'racism'. Huck and Jim both express friendship throughout the novel, being loyal to each other. Despite the times [[when Huck has the opportunity to turn in Jim as a runaway nigger]], he remains loyal to Jim. Jim also looks after Huck…The novel tells us that friendship is powerful, and that you should be loyal to your friends and trust them.

�  Major themes/ abstract ideas (SG-/SD+)

�  Contextual information ( SG /SD )

�  Ethical principle (SG SD )

Interpreting themes in early adolescence

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (iii) From abstraction to principle

The novel also comments loudly on racism. Mark Twain uses the issue of slavery to focus on the evils of [[thinking that one race is superior to another]]. In Huck's society, white people are accepted as the natural masters…by the end of the book (Huck) has decided to do the 'morally right' thing and not the 'lawfully right' thing and help Jim to freedom. Racism is a theme [[which runs right through the novel]] and it is clear [[ that Mark Twain thinks it is deplorable]].

Ethical principle (SG-/SD+) Contextual information

(SG /SD ) Reaffirmation of ethical principle (SG /SD )

The shift in control of symbolic meaning in response to the text FROM THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXTUAL DETAIL: Huck is an uneducated young rogue He meets Jim He learns how powerful friendship is   TO WHAT ‘WE LEARN’: The novels tells us (about) the evils of slavery (that) racism (is) deplorable.

Interpreting symbolic meaning in mid adolescence

To Kill a Mockingbird (i) From principle to symbol

“You can shoot at all the popinjays [[ you like]], but it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” These are the instructions [[Atticus gives to his children]] when he gives them their first air rifles in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Throughout the book, Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird as a symbol of innocence as mockingbirds don’t do anything but sing all day. They aren’t a pest to anyone. She says that it would be a sin to kill one, as they hadn’t done anything wrong. She uses the innocent mockingbird symbol to describe two characters in her book, their names are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.

Principle established with direct quote (SG+/SD-) from context Symbolic meaning of the principle (SG + / SD- ) Explication of the symbolic meaning by reference to two characters (SG + / SD )

Interpreting symbolic meaning in mid adolescence

To Kill a Mockingbird (ii) From context to symbolic meaning

In the case on Tom Robinson, a black man, he is accused of rape by Bob and Mayella Ewell, two white people who have been known to be untrustworthy on many other accounts. He is sent to court, where Atticus defends him against a biased jury …

Throughout the court scene, it becomes more and more obvious that not only did he not do it, but he couldn’t have done it without great personal strain.. Against all the evidence, the jury (although not without consideration) convicts Tom and his case is to be taken to the high court. Before it can be dealt with though, Tom makes a desperate rush to freedom from the jail .. (He is shot)…..

Atticus describes this as senseless killing. “But he had a fair trial didn’t he Atticus?” asks Jem when his father tells him, “It wasn’t senseless because he had a chance!”

Atticus replies that although Tom was innocent of the crimes he was accused of, he was dead from the start. He didn’t have a chance in the world of winning his case, so he ran for it.

It was senseless because he was innocent and would’ve died anyway, by gun, or by electric chair.

He is like a mockingbird because he is innocent of what he is accused of and he is killed regardless.

Contextual information SG + / SD- )

Contextual information (SG + / SD - ) Affirmation of symbolic meaning (SG- / SD +)

Interpreting symbolic meaning in mid adolescence

To Kill a Mockingbird (iii) From context to symbolic meaning

The other person Harper Lee uses the metaphor of the mockingbird to describe is Boo Radley, the child of Arthur Radley who has been cooped up in his house for as long as the children in the story can remember. In Boo’s case the innocence varies because instead of being convicted, he is only confused and is innocent in the way that he has never had much experience with other people. He was only trying to save Jem and Scout, but he ended up killing Bob Ewell. …..

Eventually Heck (i.e. the sheriff) decides not to convict him as more than anything he had saved the lives of two young children. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing and he had to kill Bob to save them.

Heck says “to convict him would be like killing a mockingbird, to pull him and his shy ways out into the world would be a sin.”

In all, I think Harper Lee’s use of a mockingbird as her central symbol of innocence in the story is very effective because it gives the characters it symbolises more depth and makes a strong point about what is innocence and sin.

Contextual information (SG+ / SD- ) Contextual information (SG + / SD -) Affirmation of symbolic meaning with direct quote (SG + / SD - ) Personal response to symbolic meaning (SG – / SD + )

The shift in control of symbolic meaning FROM IMMEDIATE CON TEXTUAL DETAIL Atticus instructs: “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”…. TO SYMBOLIC MEANING OF TEXT Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird …. He is like a mockingbird ….. Heck says “to convict him would be like killing a mockingbird, to pull him and his shy ways out into the world would be a sin.” TO PERSONAL OPINION I think Harper Lee’s use of a mockingbird …. is very effective because it gives the characters it symbolises more depth and makes a strong point about what is innocence and sin.

Interpreting symbolic meaning in late adolescence

Belonging. From principle to context to principle

It is certainly true that understanding nourishes belonging’. People are united through systems of belonging such as gender or age groups or professional, personal or social interests. It is also true that lack of understanding of others’ circumstances and perspectives can lead to exclusion and ostracism.

These ideas are explored in Emily Dickinson’s C19th poetry & in Nikki Caro’s film North Country…

Dickinson explores the tensions between the individual and the wider world, SHOWING how knowledge & understanding can lead to both inclusion & a desire for isolation & separation. (Nicki Caro’s film)..SHOWS how discrimination & differences in values can lead to marginalizing, exclusion & divisions within families & communities. Both texts challenge some of the assumptions about belonging, particularly that it is good to belong, and that those [[who are excluded]] must be unhappy in their exclusion.

Abstract principle (SG- /SD+ ) Contextual information SG+ /SD ) Abstract exemplification of principle SG- /SD+ )

Interpreting symbolic meaning in late adolescence

Belonging (ii) From principle to context

Paradoxically, not belonging creates its inclusive group. Lack of understanding may have caused the initial exclusion, but [[those excluded]] understand each other’s plight and nourish each other. The women mine workers in North Country are united through the discrimination [[hey suffer]]… (They) band together & understand one another’s problems, gaining the strength [[to overcome injustice & become accepted]]. Dickinson makes the same point in ‘I died for beauty’.

Abstract principle (SG - / SD + ) Contextual information (SG + / SD - ) Contextual information (SG + SD - )

Interpreting symbolic meaning in late adolescence

Belonging (iii) From context to abstract idea

Josie in North Country…. realizes that she is not being true to herself by trying to fit in. …. Caro is clear in her views on marriage in North Country. Josie and her husband fail to understand each other’s needs and the marriage fails… In ‘What mystery pervades a well’ , Dickinson considers the paradox of knowledge- the more deeply we know and understand the more we understand how little we know. .. While it is true that understanding nourishes belonging and a lack of understanding prevents it, both Dickinson & Caro REPRESENT the idea of belonging in greater complexity than this in their texts. For both, there is a paradox in the effects of exclusion & in the fact that understanding can create fear or dislike & thus encourage exclusion.

Contextual information �  (SG +/ SD - ) Contextual information (SG / SD +) Abstract idea (SG - / SD +)

The shift in control of symbolic meaning FROM ABSTRACT IDEA …understanding nourishes belonging. TO WHAT IS SHOWN Caro shows how the women are united in suffering.. Dickinson shows how knowledge & understanding can lead to inclusion & a desire for isolation. Both represent the paradox that understanding can lead to exclusion or fear

Learning the ‘gaze’: an idealized view

A developmental shift into increasingly abstract realms of experience: The text tells us.. The text shows us… These texts represent this interpretation of..

The Knower Code & the gaze for ELS The student gaze involves capacity: ü To read, interpret & evaluate experience

as expressed in literary texts. ü To build symbolic meaning from such

reading, interpretation & evaluation. ü To build abstraction about human

experience by reference to literary texts. ü To shift from immediate detail to abstract

idea, moving between the immediate & the more remote.

References Bernstein, B. (2000) (2nd ed.), Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity. Theory, Research, Critique. Rowman and Littlefield: Boston and Oxford. Christie F. (in press), ‘Secondary English literary studies: an example of a knower code’. In K. Maton, S. Hood & S. Shay (eds.) Knowledge Building: Educational Studies in Legitimation Code Theory. Routledge: London & New York. K. Maton (2014), Knowledge and Knowers. Towards a Realist Sociology on Education. Routledge: London & New York.