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Teaching Literature: Canon, Controversy, and the Literary AnthologyAuthor(s): Barbara MujicaSource: Hispania, Vol. 80, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 203-215Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/345879Accessed: 28/09/2010 15:09

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TEACHING LITERATURE

Teaching Literature: Canon, Controversy, and the Literary Anthology

Barbara Mujica Georgetown University

ABSTRACT: Anthologies have evolved from literary collections of the Middle Ages, reflecting changes in scholarship, attitudes, and pedagogical needs. Their use brings up questions of canon, content, pedagogical apparatus, types, and focus. Although postmodernist critics reject the notion of canonicity, anthologies continue to be popular teaching tools.

Key Words: anthologies, teaching literature, canon

nthologies of Spanish and Portu- guese literature have been around for centuries. Ever since King Den-

nis of Portugal (1259-1325) compiled the Cancionero de Ajuda, editors have been gathering together literary selections into collections. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries produced the Canzionero portoghese da Vaticana and the Canzionere portoghese Colocci Brancuti, which contain cantigas de amigo and de escarnio, and the fifteenth produced the earliest Castilian poetic anthology, the Cancionero de Baena (1445), a collection of courtly poetry, which was followed by the more inclusive Cancionero de Estifiiga (c. 1460-63). These anthologies, which combined into one volume songs and lyric poetry by several different poets, or sometimes by just one, ini- tiated a long-lasting tradition. Early in the sixteenth century, ballads began to appear in collections, such as the Libro en el qual se contienen cincuenta romances, published in Barcelona around 1525. The Antwerp printer Martin Nucio launched a trend with his Cancionero de romances around 1548. Collections of poetry, and later of plays, were published throughout the Golden Age.

Early anthologies, however, were quite different from those produced later on. In a study of the development of anthologies in early modern England, Barbara M.

Benedict distinguishes between anthologies and "miscellanies." Anthologies in the modern sense are historical surveys of literature, that is, compilations of canonical texts; miscellanies, on the other hand, are diverse writings pulled together from contemporary, fashionable material (3). Benedict points out that the term "miscellany" comes from the Latin miscellane, meaning "a dish of mixed corn." A miscellany is a medley, an unordered gathering of writings on the same topic or of the same genre, rather than a selective compilation. Miscellanies were, and sometimes still are, created by editors with an eye toward sales. Their object was not to canonize certain texts or authors. In fact, early compilers sometimes solicited contributions from the general public and published them anony- mously (Benedict 7-9). The medieval cancioneros, like today's collections of writing by women or minorities are closer to the miscellanies tradition.

"Anthology," in contrast, is from the Greek word for "collection of flowers," a term implying selection. The very format of an anthology prompts canon formation, for while a miscellany invites short, discon- nected readings, an anthology invites pro- longed study. Anthologies convey the notion of evolution (the succession of literary movements) and hierarchy (the recognition of masterpieces). They create and reform

204 HISPANIA 80 MAY 1997

canons, establish literary reputations, and help institutionalize the national culture, which they reflect.

Golden Age Spain did not produce true anthologies because it lacked two elements essential to the genre: a large, diverse volume of printed literature and an extensive reading audience able to buy books and devote time to them (Benedict 14). It was not until the eighteenth century in England and the nineteenth in Spain that conditions were propitious for the flowering of the modern anthology. At that time, the compilation of texts began to pass from the do- main of booksellers and editors to that of scholars. With the professionalization of literature, the anthology became a vehicle through which a cultural elite could incul- cate critical literary values. "As anthologies reprint material in different settings and according to different principles," writes Benedict, "they strip it of its historical and political contexts. Texts become dehistori- cized, depoliticized, and hence 'timeless,' immortal..." (6-7). Such works become institutionalized into a canon that helps define the national culture. They are taught to school children, perpetuating the nation's sense of collective identity.

In Spain, the Biblioteca de Autores Espafioles was instrumental in this process. Started in 1846 under the direction of Carles Aribau and Manuel Rivadeneyra, the BAE provided the most extensive collection of Spanish literature then available. It included collections of works representing a variety of writers and periods. By 1880, when publication ceased for the first time, the BAE had published 71 volumes. After Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo took over as director of the series in 1898, the BAE made tremen- dous strides. Editions such as those of the Cr6nica general,' by Menendez Pidal, and the Libros de caballerias, by Alonso de Bonilla, contributed immensely to the national consciousness of a Spanish literature. Taken as a whole, the series formed an ex- tended anthology, significant not only because of its breadth and textual accuracy, but also because each volume included introductory studies and notes, thus making

it an important tool for the scholar and student. In this sense, these books became the forerunners of the modern teaching anthology.

The intellectual climate in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spain gave rise to a cornucopia of general and specialized anthologies, such as Men6ndez y Pelayo's Antologia de poetas liricos castellanos (1890-1908). Since the late eighteenth century, when August and Friedrich von Schlegel and then J. N. Baihl de Faber focused their research on Spain, German scholars had compiled anthologies. Follow- ing Btihl de Faber's Floresta de rimas antiguas castellanas (1821-25) and Teatro anterior a Lope de Vega (1832), both produced in Germany, Wilhelm Junemann published Historia de la literatura espafnola y antologia de la misma (1921), also in Ger- many. Equally significant are the contributions of the French Hispanist Raimond Foulch&-Delbosc, founder of the Revue Hispanique (1894-1933) and the Biblioteca Hispainica. As editor of the Biblioteca, Foulch&-Delbosc prepared or oversaw 80 critical editions of major Spanish works, including a Cancio-nero castellano del siglo XV. Early in the century, several anthologies of Latin American literature were also compiled, among them Miguel Rivas' El libro de oro de la literatura hispanoamericana: antologia de los mejores poetasyprosistas de nuestra habla, precedida de un resumen hist6rico de la literatura espafiola (1933).

The spirit of investigation spurred the publication of a plethora of histories of Span- ish literature. Projects such as Men6ndez y Pelayo's Historia de las ideas esteticas en Espafia (1883-84) and Origenes de la novela espafiola (1905-10), as well as Menendez Pidal's numerous studies of the medieval epic and romanceros, contributed greatly to the development of the consciousness of a Spanish literary history. Historia de la literatura espaniola (1898), by the British Hispanist James Fitzmaurice Kelly, and Foulch&-Delbosc's Manuel de l'hispanisant (1920-25), prepared in collaboration with Barrau-Dihigo, became important sources

TEACHING LITERATURE: CANON 205

of information for students. The anthologies of the late nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries, produced by academics, were used as teaching tools in secondary schools and universities in Spain and also found a market among the cultured reading elite. Designed for Spaniards, they generally included introductions and notes but did not offer extensive guidance to the non-native student. As Spanish literature increased in popularity as a subject in American schools early in the twentieth century, anthologies and histories began to be published in the United States. One example is Miguel Romera-Navarro's Antologia de la literatura espafiola, desde los origenes hasta principios del siglo XIX (1933), published by D.C. Heath, in Boston. During and after the Civil War in Spain, many of the country's intellectuals settled in the United States and became professors at American universities, boosting interest in Spanish literature.

Around mid-century, several influential anthologies of Spanish and Spanish Ameri- can literature appeared in the U.S. and Spain, among them Angel del Rio's Anto- logia general de la literatura espafiola (1953, 1960), Guillermo Diaz-Plaja's four-volume Antologia mayor de la literatura espan~ola (1958-61) and Antologia mayor de la literatura hispanoamericana (1969), German Bleiberg's Antologia de la literatura espa*0ola, Martin de Riquer's Antologia de la literatura espafiola e hispanoamericana (1965), Enrique Anderson-Imbert's Literatura hispanoamericana (1970), and Jose Maria Carrascal's Antologia de la literatura espafiola (1976). These volumes were, in their day, instrumental in establishing which texts would be studied in Ameri- can universities.The most widely used was Angel del Rio's two-volume Literatura espan~ola, published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston and popular throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies. In conjunction with Del Rio's two-volume Historia de la literatura espafola, originally published by Holt in 1948 and reedited repeatedly, these anthologies constituted a complete course in Spanish literature, providing generations

of scholars and students with a reference tool that served not only in the classroom, but beyond.

Although Del Rio taught for over thirty years in the United States at New York Uni- versity, Columbia, and Middlebury, his anthologies and histories were similar to those produced in Spain. They were written entirely in Spanish and directed at a student population fluent in the language and con- versant with the culture; they evidenced little awareness of linguistic or cultural difficulties that American students might encounter or regard for course level. Del Rio's anthology was used as a textbook in survey courses, and also as a reference source for graduate students. A mammoth endeavor that took decades to compile, it included more material than could be covered in any course. It was therefore up to instructors to select those readings appropriate to their needs and make them com- prehensible to their students.

In contrast, anthologies prepared by American academics usually offered introductions and copious notes in English. An- thologies such as Representative Spanish Authors I and II (1942, 1963, 1971), by Walter T. Pattison and Donald W. Bleznick, and An Anthology of Spanish American Lit- erature I and II (1946), by E. Herman Hespelt et. al., unlike the Del Rio volumes, clearly targeted the survey course. They contained short, manageable selections that could be covered in a class period, notes designed specifically for American students, and in some cases a Spanish-English vocabulary, but few other pedagogical aids (content questions, themes for discussion and composition, etc.). A major drawback was that editors omitted important works because of space or format concerns. No play by Tirso or Calder6n appears in Repre- sentative Spanish Authors, andAn Anthology of Spanish American Literature omits the late nineteenth- and twentieth-century novel because, as the editors explain in the Pref- ace, they were unable to find short, coher- ent, representative segments. Another problem was that the English framework seemed to decontextualize the readings. In


the 1950s and 1960s foreign languages were often taught through translation. Literature courses were not seen as part of the total language-learning experience, and many American Spanish professors lectured in English, so the anthologies reflected the predominance of English in university Spanish programs.

Anthologies reflect changes in scholarship, attitudes, and pedagogical needs. For example, in 1980, aware that scholarship had advanced considerably since the publication of these then-standard anthologies, I undertook the compilation of a new anthology, the first two volumes of which were published by John Wiley and Sons in 1991 asAntologia de la literatura espaiola: Edad media (edited in collaboration with Amanda Curry) and Antologia de la literatura espaiiola: Renacimiento y Siglo de Oro. The anthology expands the canon through the inclusion of selections from significant texts omitted from the Del Rio anthology-for example, Libro de los enganos, Libro de los gatos, El caballero del cisne, Alonso Ntifiez de Reinoso's Los amores de Clareo y Florisea, and Gabriel de Corral's La Cintia de Aranjuez. Francisco Delicado's La Lozana Andaluza, for years considered too risqu6 to include in teaching anthologies, is also represented, as are the works of several previously neglected women writers, such as Leonor L6pez de C6rdoba and Teresa de Cartagena. Another important inclusion is La picara Justina, attributed to Francisco L6pez de Ubeda. Future revisions would necessarily have to incorporate selections by the women cancionero poets and Golden Age playwrights like Ana Caro and Maria de Zayas, whose work has been the subject of important new scholarship.

The third volume, to be published in 1998 and prepared with Eva Florensa, like- wise reflects recent research on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Spanish literature and advances a more accurate vision of the period than previous collections. It contra- dicts the long-held notion that the novel was not a significant genre during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by providing ample examples of the fiction of

neglected writers such as Pedro Monteng6n, Ignacio Garcia Malo, and CQndido Maria de Trigueros. The historical novel of the early nineteenth century is represented by Francisco Navarro Villoslada and Manuel Fernandez y Gonzilez, as well as by the more commonly studied Enrique Gil y Carrasco. The novela de costumbres contempordneas of the first half of the nineteenth century, absent from Del Rio's anthology, is represented by Estanislao de Cosca Vayo and Gertrudis de Avellaneda. The volume also demonstrates that baroque did not end with Calder6n through examples taken from transition poets such as Alfonso Verdugo y Castilla and Jos6 Porcel, and dramatists such as Jose de Cafiizares. Although specialists have long recognized the staying-power of baroque, existing anthologies ignore the late-baroque writers. The volume further includes authors like Maria Gertrudis de Hore and Concepci6n Arenal, who were appreciated in their day but are ignored in modern anthologies.

Writers of anthologies have to make tough decisions about which authors to include, a task that is particularly difficult in twentieth-century studies. For example, the twentieth-century volume of the Mujica anthology includes an up-to-date selection of texts. In addition to a substantial array of authors of the post-Franco period-Fran- cisco Nieva, Esther Tusquets, Antonio Gala, Jose Luis Alonso de Santos, Eduardo Mendoza, Pere Gimferrer, Soledad Puertolas- it contains works of younger writers, such as Javier Marias, Rosa Montero, Jon Juariste, Antonio Mufioz Molina, and Juan Manuel de Prada.

Another new general anthology that pur- ports to incorporate contemporary authors into the canon is Literatura espaniola (1995), by David William Foster, which neverthe- less omits the major fiction writers (Laforet, Matute, Sinchez Ferlosio, etc.), dramatists (Casona, Buero Vallejo, Sastre) and poets (Celaya, Bousoiho) after Luis Cernuda and Ram6n Sender, both born in 1902, and skips to Adelaida Garcia Morales (194?) and Paloma Pedrero (1957).

Today's anthologies take into consider-


ation the linguistic abilities and cultural formation of American students. Antologia de la literatura espaniola, for example, provides in-depth introductions in simple Spanish and glosses that clarify not only obscure words and historical references, but also a host of vocabulary items, literary terms, names, and dates unfamiliar to most non- native students.

While large, multi-volume anthologies that cover a wide spectrum of writing were once the norm in American colleges and universities, in today's market their appeal is more limited. They are still used in highly competitive universities for undergraduate surveys, but in other types of institutions they are often reserved for advanced courses. In some universities instructors have selected texts from general anthologies and adapted them to the needs of their students, adding questions and study guides. Some prefer large, general anthologies because these provide a wide range of material from which to choose, thereby giving them flexibility in designing their courses. Multi-volume anthologies are es- pecially adaptable to period courses-for example, Medieval Literature, Twentieth- Century Literature.

Recent trends have been away from the massive, Del Rio-style, general anthology and toward the one-volume, course-specific anthology. The principal aim of such books is not to establish or expand the general canon (although some do so through the inclusion of new writers), but to provide instructors with a serviceable teaching tool. Of limited length and scope, these anthologies define what Wendell Harris calls the "pedagogical canon"-the selective body of works commonly taught in classrooms (113). Most target the undergraduate survey or third-year composition and literature courses. Easily adaptable to a one-semester, two-semester, or trimester format, they contain a limited number of short readings, most of which can be covered in one or two class periods. While the general anthology provides little assistance to the instructor, these anthologies usually include one or more of the following: an introduction in

English or simple Spanish, extensive notes not only to clarify obscure terms but also to translate difficult lexical items, content and thought questions, guides to facilitate literary analysis, themes for composition, bibliographies suggesting further reading, and a Spanish-English glossary. Recent examples of this type of anthology include Voces de Hispanoam6rica, by Raquel Chang- Rodriguez (1996); Hispanoam"rica en su literatura (1993), by Nicholson B. Adams, John E. Keller, John M. Fein, and Elizabeth Daniel; Espaia en su literatura (1991), by Nicholson B. Adams, John E. Keller, and Rafael A. Aguirre; my own Texto y vida: Introducci6n a la literatura espafiola (1990) and Texto y vida: Introducci6n a la literatura hispanoamericana (1992). Market research shows that for beginning literature courses, instructors favor books with a well developed pedagogical apparatus and ample selections by contemporary writers. These preferences are reflected in anthologies such as the newest edition of Espana en su literatura, by Adams et al., which provides a limited but representative selection from all periods, with a broad choice of contemporary writers, including Jose Maria Guelbenzu, Carme Riera, and Rosa Montero.

Editors of anthologies must take into account that such books are designed to be marketable and profitable for the companies that publish them. Because high production costs reduce profit margins, publishers engage in extensive market research to determine the length and con- tents of a book, and impose restrictions with regard to the amounts that can be spent on permissions, illustrations, even paper. Since permissions for the use of works by best- selling authors such as Camilo Jose Cela, Gabriel Garcia Mairquez, or Isabel Allende (represented by the Carmen Balcells Liter- ary Agency) can run into thousands of dol- lars, editors are forced to limit the number of pages devoted to these authors or to omit their work entirely. Furthermore, publishers routinely restrict book length, forcing editors to exclude some worthwhile writers.

Although anthologies represent an "au-


thoritative selection," they do not assume a passive audience. From the beginning, anthologies have always invited comparison and judgment, as readers formulated their own preferences from the offerings. In the case of teaching anthologies, as instructors make their favorites known, point out lacu- nae, and supplement the textbook, they contribute to the process of reformulation of the canon. Furthermore, they influence the process through their purchasing power; those anthologies that respond to the market's wants and needs are the ones that sell.

In recent years the nature and content of anthologies have come into question. Post- modernism, with its emphasis on subjectiv- ity, diversity, and decentralization of power, is at odds with the very principle of anthologies, which propose a hierarchical classification of literature as determined by an intellectual elite. Foucault's exploration of the nature and essence of order and his insistence that our inherited systems and stratifications are not the only ones have been influential in provoking a new scrutiny of the instruments our society uses to safe- guard its institutions, including its literary institutions. New historicists argue that the traditional notion of history of literature is too exclusionist. They reject the concept of "timeless" art and universal truths, alleging that ideals commonly promoted as "universal" are those of the power elite. By canonizing some texts and omitting others, they argue, professionals propagate and perpetu- ate the values of the ruling class. Teaching anthologies and histories of literature are actually instruments of indoctrination, they contend, inculcating these values in the next generation and thereby preserving the structure and inequities of society. Jane Tompkins has been among the most influential purveyors of the notion that a writer's entry into the canon reflects above all else his or her conformity with the ideals of the dominant political and intellectual elite.

Participants in the debate are divided into two main camps: those who defend the teaching of the canon and those who argue

for a more open approach to teaching literature. With unusual good humor in a controversy that often degenerates into invective, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar describe the controversy as a soap opera in their hi- larious book, Masterpiece Theater. An Aca- demic Melodrama. They describe the play- ers as either "Back to Basics" advocates, champions of a stable curriculum based on humanistic wisdom and defenders of the canon against the onslaught of the "new barbarians," or as "Into the Future" gurus who fear that the "canonists" will return society "to a basically white, middle-class, and masculinist definition of culture" (xv). Gil- bert and Gubar describe the quandary of many academics: they are committed to intellectual innovation and are sympathetic to the concerns of feminists and minorities, yet are put off by the vehemence and irra- tionality of some of these groups' defenders. And while they are revulsed by the self-righ- teousness of some traditionalists, they are attracted by the modesty that shapes the "Back to Basics" attitude toward great art and authors.

The advocates of inclusion have scruti- nized teaching anthologies and found them lacking. For example, Barbara Pace con- cludes that these books bolster the power structure by omitting dissenting voices. John Sandman notes that not only writing by women and African-Americans is miss- ing from teaching anthologies, but so is ex- perimental fiction. Arthur N. Applebee, in a study of 42 high school anthologies, con- cludes that the pedagogical canon has actually narrowed: Volumes for use in grades 7 through 10 did expand their selections to include more works by women and non- Western writers, but those intended for upper-grade courses in American or British literature still contain few works by women and people of color. Although these studies focus on English courses, analyses relevant to Spanish courses have been done as well. Edward J. Mullen, in 'The Teaching Anthol- ogy and the Hermeneutics of Race," exam- ines the position of the Cuban writer Pltcido. Joan L. Brown and Crista Johnson surveyed graduate reading lists of 58 lead-


ing universities and found that both in courses on Spanish and Spanish American literature, women are hardly represented.

Brown and Johnson come to another, equally significant conclusion: with respect to contemporary fiction, no canon actually exists. Only one Spanish novel and three Spanish American novels appeared on the lists of 75 percent of the programs surveyed. In Literature, Culture and Society, Andrew Milner raises the issue of film in the canon, concluding that, since film can never be included among the "sacred texts," it may be time to give up on the idea of canon altogether (178). Increasingly, academics- Cornel West, Jan Gorak, Paul Julian Smith-are advancing the notion of multiple, minority, or alternate canons, or are proposing to abolish the canon completely. Literary studies are giving way to "cultural studies," which require a different breed of textbook-or no textbook at all. Anthony Easthope argues that although "pure" literature remains institutionalized, it is dying; yet, a more comprehensive analysis of culture is still struggling to be born. He advocates a curriculum that consists of a combi- nation of literary-including traditionally canonical-texts and more popular forms of expression.

Actually, the so-called traditionalists have never seen the canon as a fixed body of literature, but as an ever-evolving corpus formed of works that stood the test of time on esthetic grounds. Alastair Fowler differ- entiates among different types of canon. The potential canon includes all literature; the accessible canon, those books that are available; the selective canon, specific works that have been singled out for study, such as those that comprise anthologies; the critical canon, those works that have the subject of critical study; the official canon, books that fall into the second, third, and fourth categories; and the personal canon, the preferred readings of a given individual. These categories are not distinct and iso- lated, but overlap; the canon is not static, but changes and develops as new works become accessible and then subject to critical scrutiny and classroom study.

Following along the same lines, Harold Bloom argues in The Western Canon that works are canonical not because they represent a particular ideology or teach moral values, but because they are aesthetically superior and have borne the test of time. These are works that serve as models of excellence and warrant being studied because of their aesthetic qualities. "Nothing is so essential to the Western Canon as its principles of selectivity," he writes, "which are elitist only to the extent that they are founded upon severely artistic criteria" (22). Like Fowler, Bloom sees the canon as fluid, with new works entering continually. How- ever, he opposes admitting works on any but aesthetic grounds and rails against those who value diversity above excellence.

Edward Said, although an avid defender of non-Western cultures and of cultural diversity, defends the canon, arguing that "one of the great fallacies ... has been the one that suggests you, first of all, show how the canon is the result of a conspiracy-a sort of white male cabal.... I'm very conser- vative in the sense that I think that there is something to be said ... for aspects of work that has persisted and endured and has acquired and accreted to it a huge mass of differing interpretations" (52-53). He al- leges that replacing the traditional canon with one composed of marginalized writers only reinforces the concept of canon, sub- stituting one authority for another, and pro- poses broadening and neutralizing the canon by assimilating into it other "contra- puntal lines" (53).

Like Gilbert and Gubar, many scholars have sought a middle ground, a rational compromise between traditionalists and multi-culturalists. Biddy Martin warns against the dangers of extremist positions, which ultimately paralyze dialogue. While sensitive to the aims of cultural studies, she argues that students also need "knowledge that can only be acquired slowly and through reading texts of all kinds, notably literary texts" (12). Jerry McGuire also calls on the academy to balance the claims of the two groups, both of which he sees as legiti- mate.


In an effort to please everyone, some instructors may attempt to "cover" the clas- sics, while at the same time incorporating works by women and non-white writers into their syllabi, using a standard anthology and then supplementing it with extra readings. As Martha J. Cutter points out, this results in "overstuffed" courses. Cutter's solution is to view the canon as a palimp- sest, a text that is constantly rewritten, re- vised, erased, and repeated. This, argues Cutter, would allow us to avoid the para- digm of teaching either classic or marginal texts. The purpose of the survey course would become "not 'covering' a specific body of texts (whether classic or not), but uncovering dialectical relationships between texts and subtexts" (121). However, it is not clear exactly how this will be achieved if students are not already famil- iar with a wide range of canonical works. John Sandman's response to "overstuffed" courses is to toss out traditional anthologies in favor of single author collections, which allows instructors to examine fewer authors in greater depth.

The issue is not only what should be taught but also how it should be taught. The apologists of postmodernism claim that old- style anthologies do not develop critical thinking, fostering passive acceptance of authority with their pre-packaged literary "gospel." For some, the method of analysis is more important than the text itself. Criti- cal theory-the system of assumptions that underlies our approach to a text-is not new; Terry Eagleton points out that modem criticism began to develop in the eighteenth century in England as a cultural force among the emerging liberal bourgeoisie (10). In other words, critical theory developed about the same time as anthologies themselves. Early literary historians and anthologists such as Men6ndez Pelayo certainly had their own critical theories, although they did not always articulate them as such. But now critical theory has taken on a life of its own; the critical mold within which one works is a topic for heated argu- ment at professional meetings. Even in undergraduate survey courses, some instruc-

tors assign more readings on critical method than actual works of literature. As a result, Spanish majors may graduate with- out ever having read Calder6n or Clarin or Baroja. At my university, graduate students whisper that it really isn't essential to read the works on the reading list; what you need to know is the criticism.

According to Edward Said, the passion for theory is subsiding:

Look at the result of all the massive infusion that ... cultural studies ... have received through 'theory' in the last thirty years: structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, semiotics, Marxism, feminism, all of it. Effectively they're all weightless, I mean they all represent academic choices and a lot of them are not related to the circumstances that originally gave rise to them.... Most students... the good students... are really no longer interested in theory. They're interested in these historical cultural contests that have characterized the history of the late twentieth century. (56)

William J. Savage, Jr. points out that critical approaches can themselves become canonical. He argues that New Critical methods of reading, with their focus on text, their view of the literary work as a discrete unit, and their emphasis on close reading to find hidden meanings, have become so widely accepted that they are rarely questioned, an idea echoed by Peter J. Rabinowitz in his article "Against Close Reading." Ultimately, argues Savage, neither the approach nor the texts really matter, as long as instructors adhere to the canonical methodology, that is, as long as they present their material through lectures, with the opinions of the professor constituting authority. Whether they use anthologies or compose their own reading lists, professors dissect, decipher and interpret the text, then impart their findings to students, who accept them passively. Savage argues for a noncanonical way of teaching that does not fix authority exclusively with the professor but rather creates an atmosphere of open-mindedness that stimulates questioning and makes students open to others' experiences.

Elaine Millard also argues against New Criticism, preferring methods that relate texts to the broader culture and highlight


instances of intertextuality, while Peter J. Rabinowitz calls for "pluralism"-the use of a variety of perspectives and interpretive strategies that vary according to the text and the reader's purpose. What is the role of anthologies in promoting new critical approaches? What kind of apparatus should they include in order to engage students actively in critical analysis while at the same time keeping their focus on the text? Most high school anthologies, notes Arthur N. Applebee, provide little apparatus for devel- oping students' critical thinking ability. While the selections may be thought-provoking, pedagogical devices to elicit discussion are lacking. The Texto y vida anthologies address this problem through a section after every reading called "Hacia el anAlsis literario," the purpose of which is to intro- duce diverse ways of approaching a text. In another of my anthologies, Premio N6bel (1997), each literary selection is preceded by an introduction by a different critic, which provides students with examples of various methods of analysis. Thought questions require students to focus on the introductions as well as the literary selections.

While instructors of foreign literatures grapple with many of the same pedagogical issues as their colleagues in English depart- ments, they must also deal with special issues, namely, their students' lack of linguistic and cultural proficiency. The survey is usually the first literature course that undergraduates take. Most are not fluent in the language; yet at this point, their instruction in oral Spanish stops if the instructor ad- heres exclusively to a lecture format-one that is still widely used in literature courses. In order to ensure that the survey course remains an integral part of the students' language-learning experience, instructors need to incorporate strategies for develop- ing speaking as well as reading competence. Even when the textbook provides a pedagogical apparatus, it is still up to instructors to integrate oral production into their courses.

Instructors using anthologies must also develop reading strategies. Betsy Keller stresses that acquiring literary competence

in a foreign language may seem as difficult to non-native students as learning the language itself. In traditional survey courses, students are asked to read the text only once, and inevitably, they misinterpret and overlook significant amounts of material. Keller suggests a number of pre-reading and out-of-class reading activities that take into consideration the students' own intellectual and cultural formation, thereby en- hancing class discussion and strengthening the language component of the literature course.

Like the literary and critical canons they represent, anthologies evolve, incorporating new texts, information, and pedagogies. Today, in spite of the objections of some theorists, teaching anthologies continue to be enormously popular, for they are convenient and much cheaper for students and school systems to buy than large numbers of individual books. Furthermore, they provide ample opportunities for analysis and comparison. Most Spanish anthologies now offer an up-to-date selection of authors, as well as a variety of pedagogical aids.

As Barbara Benedict points out, anthologies tell us as much about the cultures that produce them as about the writers they showcase. The anthologies of the 50s and 60s reflected a patriarchal vision and respect for intellectual authority. The redefinition of society and culture now tak- ing place has led to a plethora of new anthologies, many of which were not conceived as teaching tools, but which can be incorporated into the curriculum either as supplements in surveys or as primary texts in monographic courses. In many ways, these new collections are reminiscent of the early miscellanies. However, while the miscellanies resisted canonizing, the object of many of these new volumes, generally compiled by academics, is to expand the canon or to offer an alternate canon.

A significant development is the profu- sion of new anthologies of Spanish Ameri- can writing in English. As the global village shrinks, as national literatures become uni- versalized, and as concern for diversity grows, these collections are used increas-


ingly in English department courses. At the same time, many new anthologies are available in Spanish or in bilingual editions.

The following are some types of anthologies available today.

National and Ethnic Anthologies These bring together the works of au-

thors of a common national or ethnic back- ground, as in Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writing-An Anthology (1995), by Roberto Santiago; Remaking a Lost Har- mony: Stories from the Hispanic Caribbean (1995), by Margarite Fernandez Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert; and Contempo- rary Short Stories from Central America (1994), by Enrique Jaramillo Levi and Leland H. Chambers, all published in En- glish

These collections were not conceived primarily as teaching tools, but as affirmations of a national or ethnic literature. Santiago sees his book, according to the Introduction, as a validation of a culture that has often been marginalized by the American literary mainstream. Many of the selections deal with the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, and the fact that he published Boricuas in English attests to the importance he at- taches to reaching a broad North American readership. Similarly, Jaramillo Levi and Chambers point out that, with the exception of Asturias, fiction writers from Central America have not enjoyed international ac- claim, a situation they hope their anthology will help rectify.

Roberta Kalechofsky's widely read Echad: An Anthology ofLatin American Jew- ish Writing (1980) brought to light a wealth of literary contributions by Hispanic Jewish writers whose work had been largely over- looked in their native countries, as well as abroad. Her Global Anthology of Jewish Women Writers (1990) brings some of those authors into the literary mainstream, as does Elba Birmingham-Pokorny's An En- glish Anthology of Afro-Hispanic Writers in the Twentieth Century (1994) for black His- panic authors.

Although national and ethnic antholo-

gies published abroad target local readers rather than American students, many are appropriate for use in courses in the U.S. During the past two decades every Latin American country has produced anthologies of national literature. Although it would be impossible to name even a fraction of them, two fairly recent examples are Antologia del cuento corto colombiano (1994), by Guillermo Bustamante Zamudio and Harold Kr6mer, and Antologia del cuento chileno (1987), by Alfonso Calder6n, Pedro Lastra, and Carlos Santander. Be- cause plays in Spanish are often difficult to find, of particular significance are the theater anthologies published by the Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica: Teatro venezolano contempordneo (1991), Teatro mexicano contempordneo (1991), Teatro uruguayo contempordneo (1992), etc. National and ethnic anthologies provide a convenient overview of the evolution of the writing of a particular group or of a particular genre cultivated by that group. In Latin America, as in the United States, ethnic anthologies sometimes serve to highlight minority literary traditions within the mainstream national culture. A case in point is La literatura oral tradicional de los indigenas de Mixico (1983), by Liliin Scheffler.

Some anthologists include writers simply because they belong to a particular national or ethnic group, but many impose rigorous standards. They perform an invaluable service by familiarizing readers with little known but highly gifted writers who have poor access to large commercial publishers, which are often reluctant to issue books by newcomers with no name recognition. These anthologists are sometimes responsible for establishing new, expanded national canons that include broader spec- tra of writers. Ultimately, the best of these writers may find their way into the international arena.

Thematic Anthologies, Anthologies of Women's Writing, Focus Anthologies

Thematic anthologies bring together writings on a particular topic, providing diverse perspectives on an issue and showing


how different literary artists-poets, dramatists, essayists, fiction writers-treat a theme. The range of topics covered by such anthologies is enormous. Mirza Gonzdlez's Literatura revolucionaria hispanoamericana (1994), Robert Marquez's bilingual Latin American Revolutionary Poetry (1974), Mauricio Lee Gardo's Confesiones para un genocidio: antologia de la represidn en Latino America (1987), and Anibal Iturieta's El pensamiento peronista (1990) are anthologies organized around political themes. Sometimes such volumes are prepared by political organizations seeking to advance their cause, as in the case of La mujery el movimiento obrero en el siglo XIX (1975), published by the Centro de Estudios Hist6ricos del Movimiento Obrero Mexicano.

A completely different type of thematic anthology is Laura Freixas' Madres e hijas (1996), on mother-daughter relationships, a topic that was practically inexistent in Spanish literature before this century. Madres e hijas features stories by respected Spanish women writers, from Rosa Chacel (1898-1994) to Luisa Castro (1966-). In- deed, collections of women's writing are among the fastest growing types of anthology, responding to feminist concerns and market demand. An important factor is research, cited by Freixas, showing that the majority of readers of popular fiction, in Spanish-speaking countries as in the United States, are women (8). Two examples are Ang6lica Gorodischer's Mujeres de palabra (1994) and Ana Maria Fagundo's Literatura

femenina de Espaila y las Americas (1995). Marjorie Agosin's collections in English,

Landscapes of a New Land: Short Fiction by Latin American Women (1989), Secret Weavers: Stories of the Fantastic by Women of Argentina and Chile (1992), and What Is Secret: Stories by Chilean Women (1995), as well as her bilingual poetry anthology, These Are Not Sweet Girls (1994), give Latin American women writers exposure in the United States. Organized thematically, these anthologies highlight the bonds among women, their common obsessions, preoccupations, hopes, fears, and needs.

The "focus anthology" combines work by disparate writers united by some common element. The focus may be a prize as in my Premio Ndbel: Once grandes escritores del mundo hispdnico (1997), a particular period, as in Dennis P. Seniffs Antologia de la literatura hispdnica medieval (1992), or a particular generation or genre, as in Emilio Carballido's anthologies of young Mexican playwrights.

Anthologies of Critical Studies During the last two decades, collections

of critical studies, among them conference proceedings and Festschriften, have bur- geoned. This type of anthology is helpful to professors who teach literature as well as to graduate students and undergraduates in upper-level courses who may wish to supplement their readings. They may be dedicated to a particular theme (The Golden Age Comedia [1994], edited by Charles Ganelin and Howard Mancing), author (Jorge Luis Borges [1986], edited by Harold Bloom) or period (Rewriting the Renais- sance [1986], edited by Margaret W. Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan, and NancyJ. Vickers).

Anthologies cover a wide range of functions and objectives in relation to teaching literature. Today, ethnic, thematic, and women's anthologies have been instrumental in forcing a reevaluation and expansion of the canon. Many have been commercial successes. Some American publishers, such as White Pine Press, have begun to specialize in anthologies of Hispanic writing, and most major American educational publishing companies offer at least one teaching anthology. However, large-scale anthologies are in danger, and not only because of controversy over the canon. Many publishers are no longer willing to under- take massive projects that require years to realize and large investments in editorial time, permissions, printing, and paper, es- pecially when, according to editors I con- sulted, market research indicates that instructors favor one-volume anthologies with a limited number of selections and a well- developed pedagogical apparatus.


Although commercial publishers may be concerned with incorporating the newest critical research and providing the most accurate view possible of literary periods, their primary interest is profit. This is not to imply that publishers do not care about quality and accuracy. On the contrary, every commercial company I have worked with has assigned highly qualified readers to my books-sometimes as many as twenty. These readers, all respected academics from major universities, have offered invaluable advice, which in many cases has led to my making revisions based on their up-to-the-minute research. Indeed, I have found both the acceptance and the editorial processes extremely rigorous in commercial publishing. Unlike most university presses, commercial publishers have ample resources to invest in staff and out- side readers, and because sales are their sole source of income, they must ensure the quality of their product. The point is simply that publishing is a business, and the first consideration of all commercial publishers is earnings. Publishers want their books to be top quality and accurate, but above all, they want them to make money.

According to the foreign language editor of one large New York publishing house, anthologies of the substance and breadth of Del Rio's no longer have wide appeal. "Call it the dumbing down of America or what- ever you like," she told me, "but students just can't handle the kinds of assignments they did thirty years ago. Teachers want short, easy-to-handle books that don't cost too much." Indeed, cost is a major factor. With paper and permissions prices skyrock- eting, the pressure is on to keep anthologies short and cheap. To those of us who teach Spanish litera-

ture, this development is cause for concern. Surely, marketability must

be a factor in deciding which books to publish, but should it be the only factor or even the principal factor? There is certainly a place in our best university classrooms, in our libraries, and on our reference shelves for large-scale anthologies that offer more than a quick overview. Anthologies that of-

fer meaty introductions, a wide selection of readings, a variety of critical perspectives, and ample bibliographies perform functions that short, limited anthologies cannot. They furnish samples of a huge range of writing, propose broad revisions in the canon, provide easy access to less available texts, and stimulate the intellectual curiosity of students. Such anthologies speak to the needs of scholars and students at different levels. Perhaps putting these works on CD ROM would be one way to continue producing them while still keeping costs down. But one thing is certain: If we allow commercial considerations to eliminate this type of anthology completely, we do future generations a grave disservice.

* NOTES

1Due to space constraints, anthologies mentioned are not listed in Works Cited.

0 WORKS CITED

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